Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
As you’re planning ahead, and readying your year-end fundraising initiatives, take a little time to think about your communication delivery mediums. Not to mention your message content. Are you reaching the right audiences, and making it easy for them? Are you sharing messaging that’s relevant, and authentically you?
Take some inspiration from the inimitable Seth Godin:
On the West Side Highway in Manhattan, there’s currently a billboard for some sort of placebo supplement. In the corner is a QR code for more information.
Unless the person in the passenger seat has a telephoto lens on their phone, there’s no way in the world that this is going to work.
My late friend Jay Levinson said that the most effective billboard would say, “FREE COFFEE, NEXT EXIT.” A call to action, relevant to the viewer, easy to see and understand.
Actual billboards are a whole category of media, but now we’re surrounded by a new kind, a smaller, more evanescent and common one: Social media posts. You might see a thousand of these a day.
Social media began as text updates from one human to another, but thanks to photo sharing, some of the posts have become something else entirely. A chance to create consistent, actionable and clear reminders of what you are and what you stand for.
But keeping Jay’s edict in mind, they work best when they’re about the viewer as much as they are about you. They work better when they can be seen and understood from a distance. And they work better when they “sound like you.”
I publish the Clairity Click-it to offer all kinds of resources for all kinds of nonprofit consumers. Whatever your role, you’ll find something in this issue to nourish you. So, start digging through the curated content from across the web. I hope it will make your job easier, and more fulfilling. There’s lots to get curious about!
As always, a big thank you to my sponsor, Bloomerang, for making it possible for me to spend the hours of time hunting, gathering and choosing the resources I believe will be most useful to you.
It is my sincere pleasure and honor to help you find the ideas, strategies, templates and tools you need to make our world a better place.
Thank you for doing your vital work, and making our world a better place,
Claire
P.S. Please scroll down to see all my Clairification School sponsors who enable me to offer enrollment in ‘Clairification School at an affordable price. For a modest $100/year donation you get all my new blog articles, exclusive monthly tips, bonus e-guides, templates and worksheets, course and product discounts, and access to archived posts, webinars, and podcasts. I am deeply appreciative for your support! [If the enrollment fee is a hardship, please email me and we’ll work it out.]
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
SPECIAL FEATURE: Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Since 30% of annual charitable giving happens in December, year-end giving campaigns are critical for most nonprofits. In fact, 10% of all donor dollars are raised in the last three days of the year alone. Here are some resources to help you plan, segment, communicate, fundraise, and maximize the activities that will make your year-end fundraising campaign successful.
GUIDES
Click-it: Year-end fundraising campaign guide + timeline [Download free e-guide]. EveryAction has you covered! Use this guide to strategically plan your year-end campaign, optimize your time and monetary investment, and retain donors so you get the most ROI possible.
ARTICLES
Click-it: How to create donor segments for your year-end campaign. If you’re not segmenting your year-end mailings, you’re not putting your best foot forward. To help you consider segmentation categories, here are some suggestions from DonorPerfect.
Click-it: Our Top 5 Tips for a Profitable Year-End Campaign. Use the time between now and the end of the calendar year wisely. The Gail Perry Group has some smart ideas!
Click-it: The complete year-end guide to maximizing matching gifts. People love to leverage their giving, so why not let them know how easily they can do so with matching gifts? The folks from Double the Donation offers some best practices in this article on the EveryAction blog. When you don’t promote matching gifts, you leave easy money on the table.
Click-it: 6 Email Examples to Thank Year-End Donors. Don’t leave the thank you copy and design until after the donations start coming in. This is a critical strategy if you hope to retain your year-end donors. The folks at Classy have some terrific tips.
ARTICLES
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: Peer-To-Peer Fundraising: Everything You Need To Know. I consider P2P a “Top 10” strategy, but find too few nonprofits understand it, let alone engage in it. The folks at Eventgroove explain it all here, plus offer some campaign ideas. Note: You don’t have to do this as a campaign; consider setting up evergreen P2P fundraising pages you can more or less set and forget.
Click-it: Following up IS fundraising. Short, sweet and to-the-point from Marc Pitman, the Fundraising Coach. Don’t leave your would-be donors alone until you’ve at least tried to follow up. They may not want to be left alone.
Boards
Click-it: 15 Ways Board Members Can Help Raise Funds. This article by Tracy Vanderneck on NonProfitPRO neatly lays out the role of board members in assuring your organization has the financing you need to fulfill your mission. It also makes clear it’s your job to help board do theirs.
Content Marketing
Click-it: Nonprofit Mission Statements: How to Write One (with Examples!). If you’ve been tasked with doing this, look no further than this roadmap from Yearly. And if you’ve not taken a look at refreshing your mission and vision statements for a while, take this opportunity. Learn how, and why, they’re much more than a simple tagline to include on your website or brochure.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Nurture New Donors Using this Onboarding Email Series Outline. If you’re not simultaneously planning how you’ll both acquire and retain your donors, you’re not doing your job. Plan ahead to stay in touch with those who’ve recently given gifts using this tips from Social Impact Solutions.
Giving Tuesday
Click-it: 10 Giving Tuesday FAQs for Fundraising Success. It doesn’t seem it could possibly be time to think about this but, if you’re planning to fundraise on this date, you’ve got three months to devise your strategy. You need all three months! This article from Soapbox Engage is thorough, walking you through everything you’ll want to consider.
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: Make it Meaningful: 3 Questions to Help Move Your Donor Relationship Forward. Just setting up a meeting does not a meaningful connection make. Jeff Schreifels, the Veritus Group, outlines three preconditions to a useful donor encounter.
Online and Mobile Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: Case Study: The Salvation Army Great Lakes Division. Rally Corp presents this great case study showing how one organization leveraged the power of text messaging and key words to increase their online revenue.
Click-it: How to Power Up Your Marketing With Member Text Messages: 5 Examples. When you send text messages to members, it’s a near guarantee that you’ll get their eyes on it! Learn more about and how to text folks, especially if you have a membership group, in this article from Wild Apricot.
Storytelling
Click-it: The Many Forms of Nonprofit Stories. This is an excellent piece from Ann Green which I hope will inspire you to begin leading all your nonprofit communications from the perspective of storytelling. And please take this advice to heart: “Your stories aren’t about your organization.”
Strategy and Management
Click-it: Nonprofit CEO: committed or “just dating?” This article from Saad & Shaw explores the critical role of the E.D. in fundraising. “If you are a board member or nonprofit fundraiser you don’t want to be blindsided by a CEO who doesn’t know what “commitment” looks like.”
Website
Click-it: How adding a “give monthly” button to the main navigation menu affects recurring donation rates. Nathan Hill of NextAfter reports on an A/B test where addition of a monthly donation button resulted in a 143% increase in conversions! The article has links to other tests as well, plus you can visit their archive to find oodles of ideas to rev up your engagement and, ultimately, revenue.
Click-it: 8 Nonprofit Website Myths to Help Your Boss and Board Overcome. If you’re having trouble convincing your leadership to invest in a new or improved website, read this from the Wired Impact blog.
Writing
Click-it: Six Golden Writing Rules. If you enjoy words, as I do, you’ll find this piece from the Agitator-DonorVoice lovely.
ONLINE CONFERENCE OR COURSE
Click-it: NIO Summit 2023, September 20-21 [Register for free access to the Live Stream]. This is an unbelievable opportunity! If you can’t make it to Dallas in person, this year the generous folks at NextAfter are making the Live Stream available – at no charge! Grab this amazing opportunity to learn from every single inspirational cutting-edge live speaker, and engage in live chat with other attendees. Learn the latest in digital fundraising, and much more.
WEBINARS, PODCASTS, ROUNDTABLES & ON-DEMAND AUDIO RESOURCES
If you can’t attend live, or are interested in sessions happening at overlapping times, note many are available via recording – but ONLY if you REGISTER!
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: Maximizing Fundraising Impact: Supercharge Your Efforts with Matching Gifts [Join free webinar, 8-15-2023]. Learn how you can effectively market these opportunities to donors and drive their matches to completion. Join the matching gift experts from Double the Donation in this session hosted by NX Unite.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Relationship Fundraising: New Thinking and Ideas [Register for free webinar, 8-30-2023]. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Dr. Adrian Sargeant and Jay Frost explore what we can learn from the science of how human beings form relationships to inform how we might build stronger, loving and more fulfilling relationships with our supporters. They’ll draw on the science of Philanthropic Psychology to look at the concepts of identity and wellbeing, showing how they can be leveraged to double your income. Sponsored by DonorSearch.
Click-it: Myth or Truth: The Leading Fundraising Trends Revealed to Grow Donor Retention [Register for free webinar, 8-30-2023]. Join Virtuous for this unveiling of findings from a national fundraising research study on the biggest trends impacting nonprofit leaders. There will be special emphasis on the most effective tactics to increase donor retention, and the ones no longer serving you.
Events
Click-it: The Storyteller’s Guide to Event Excellence From Start to Finish [Register for free webinar, 8-30-2023]. Do you view storytelling as an integral part of your event strategy, or just a line in the event program? The event experts at Auctria want you to fully embrace nonprofit storytelling, before, during and after your event. you are guaranteed to boost registration, captivate your attendees, and raise more funds. They’ve invited Carly Euler, Marketing Manager at MemoryFox, to share all the ways you can. She’ll also share real life examples.
Website
Click-it: Convert Supporters with Powerful Landing Pages [Register for free webinar, 9-12-2023]. I’ve attended this webinar with Jay Wilkinson of Firespring, and it’s one of the best. You’ll come away with clear, actionable tips you can put to work right away – guaranteed to make a demonstrable difference in the numbers of folks who actively engage with you. Don’t miss it.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, PAPERS, TEMPLATES & OTHER RESOURCES
Technology
Click-it: Buyer’s Guide to Donor Management Software [Download free e-guide]. Buying a new donor management system can be stressful. Which is why the folks at Bloomerang have put together this comprehensive guide to help you determine your needs and navigate the process of purchasing your first solution or making a switch.
Click-it: AI for Nonprofits: The Comprehensive Guide to Enhancing Fundraising Communications [Download free e-guide]. AI provides a jumping-off point for writing routine fundraising content and saves resources wasted on menial tasks. And studies show implementing AI in your marketing can increase your ROI by up to 30%. Learn more in this resource from Donor Perfect. Included are 5 specific examples of how to use AI for your fundraising communications.
Did You Miss My Newest Articles?
Here are links to the most recent articles on the Clairification blog. Remember, your goal is not simply to squeeze money out of people. It’s to give donors a squeeze and a hug for being caring and generous. This will make them feel good, which will move them to continue sticking with you.
- Progress is transformational. When you arrive, you feel good.
- Top 10 Strategies to Navigate the Current Cloudy Nonprofit Landscape
- Take Heed Nonprofits: The Sky is Not Falling, but it’s Cloudy
- 10 Tools to Give You and Your Nonprofit Donor Space to Co-Create — and Change the World
- Online Will Planners: Should Your Nonprofit Have One?
- You want change. They want to be change agents. Your job is to make a match!
Finally… if you have a question, any question…
Check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Ask your question here. And bookmark the Ask an Expert page for any time you have a question! Here’s one: Next Steps After Purchasing Donor Analytics.
REMINDER for Clairification School students: Don’t forget to log in to your “My Clairification/Subscriber Dashboard/Monthly Tips” to grab your exclusive, timely tips for each month. SEPTEMBER tips will be live soon! If you’re not yet an enrolled student, and don’t have direct, immediate access to ALL my blog articles, monthly tips, webinars, podcasts and much more, you can get in on the fun here — and grab your 10th ANNIVERSARY BONUS! There’s never been a better time to enroll.
And now, what I found on my walks this week.
I’ve walked by this a hundred times, and never before noticed this statue of a deer. Pretty cool.
This cause a quick “eek!” on my part, until I realized someone had painted the little critter on the wall.
Please support my extraordinary sponsors (see below). The Clairity Click-it content is free, and Clairification School is affordable, because of their generosity.
