Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Here comes your bi-monthly collection of curated goodies I’ve found for you across the web — great articles, free webinars, podcasts, downloadable guides, templates and all sorts of actionable tips plus thought-provoking ideas. I dare you not to find one great take-away that will help you do your job more effectively! (If you find one, I’d love it if you would let me know).
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.” Life’s too short, and our problems are too big, to keep information all to oneself. Which is why I want to send a big shout out to my awesome sponsor, Bloomerang, for making it possible for me to continue to offer this to you for free.
Let’s get right to this issue’s links!
Thank you for doing the important work you do.
P.S. If you find Clairification helpful, I hope you’ll consider enrolling in Clairification School to get a full year’s worth of ALL the wisdom I have to share!
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
Annual Giving
Click-it: Annual Fundraising: Influence “Yes” Using Psychology and Neuroscience. Writing on the Bloomerang blog, I outline some of the smart tools you can use to persuade folks to respond to your compelling call to action. Let me know what you think!
Click-it: 3 Foolproof Ways to Supercharge Year-End Donations. See what I have to say about helping donors do three things they love when they make a philanthropic gift. On the Bloomerang blog.
Boards and Leadership
Click-it: Let’s Stop Undervaluing Our Nonprofit Leaders. Nell Edgington of Social Velocity always writes provocative articles, and this is no exception. She highlights a number of things nonprofit leaders are worthy of, including funders who are real partners, nonprofit boards who show up and more. See what you think.
Data Management
Click-it: The Donor Responds: Are You Listening? Amy Bobrick of Merkle RMG suggests how much value may be attached to your donation processor and/or to the response devices you receive back in the mail. Pay attention to these important indicators!
Donor Retention
Click-it: Getting donor feedback: Q&A. If you want to keep donors connected, you’ve got to get to know them. That’s how all lasting relationships work. Ronald Pruitt of 4aGoodCause offers some great tips for getting the input you need to show donors you know them.
Click-it: How the Federation Lost a $1 Million Dollar Donor. Read, and heed, one donor’s cautionary tale. From the eJewishPhilanthropy blog.
Click-it: How to do a Thank-A-Thon. Note: This is not a phone calling event. It’s a series of emails designed to predispose donors to give when you ask. An intriguing idea that comes from Katie Roth Mylenbusch, KRM Fundraising Solutions, who is guest posting on the Qgiv blog, where you’ll find tons of other useful content as well.
Grants
Click-it: List of Top Volunteer Grant Companies. If you have volunteers who work for any of these companies, you should apply for funding. Thanks to Double the Donation for this list!
Management and Strategy
Click-it: If fundraising matters, you need to invest in it. Sager words than Mary Cahalane’s of Hands On Fundraising were never uttered. One of the most important pieces of wisdom is people are your best resource. If you pay them poorly, and lose them, you’re only kidding yourself. That’s not a cost-effective strategy. Nor is buying the el cheapo donor management system that won’t make your life easier in the long run. The list goes on. Read.
YOU
Click-it: How to Get the Most Out of Working in a Nonprofit. Check out my article on NonProfitPro. I’d love to know if you have additional thoughts.
FREE AUDIO-VISUAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
The more you learn, the more you grow.
Finding webinars you’d like to attend that overlap? Note that for many of these webinars you can obtain a copy of the recording if you’re unable to join live – as long as you register!
Data and Metrics
Click-it: When Is Testing NOT Worthwhile in Fundraising? [Download free 6-minute video]. Sean Triner interviews Adrian Sargeant for Moceanic about when/when not to test. One thing I learned is you need to have at least 300 responses in each test segment. So you need to send to enough people, based on your usual average response rate. Helpful, no?
Management and Strategy
Click-it: 7 Steps to a Written Fundraising Plan [Register for free webinar, 9-27-18]. Join Sandy Rees of Get Fully Funded and Firespring for this session complete with goal setting, action plans, ways to keep your plan on track, plus some worksheets and checklists
Click-it: The Non-Obvious Guide to Improving Employee Engagement [Register for free webinar, 9-26-18]. Join Jamie Notter on Nonprofit Hub for this dive into a new model that just might drive positive change for your organization.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: Marketing Bequests: The Delicate Art of Asking for That Final Gift [Register for free webinar, 9-27-18]. Don’t miss this one! Veteran fundraiser Tom Ahern joins Bloomerang to teach you a proven way to elicit bequests from your current donors. Tom will tell you the right words, style, and tone to use.
Online Social Fundraising
Click-it: 5 secrets to turn Facebook fundraisers into a sustainable revenue stream [Register for free webinar, 10-3-18]. The good folks at Turnkey have put together this useful session featuring Jeremy Berman, from GoodUnited, who’ll talk all about tools and tricks to turn one-time transactional Facebook Fundraisers into repeat fundraisers.
Storytelling
Click-it: How to Tell Stories Like Charity: water [Free, on-demand podcast]. Vanessa Chase Lockshin of The Storytelling Nonprofit offers five tips in under five minutes.
FREE DOWNLOADABLE MATERIALS
Annual Giving
Click-it: 18-Point Annual Fundraising Appeal Checklist [Download free resource]. With the right number of positive responses, you can get the support you need for your mission. If not, you’re in trouble. With that much at risk, you need an effective strategy for writing the type of appeal letters that clearly tell your story, generate empathy and get donors to share your passion for making a difference. Grab the template I’ve created for you on the Bloomerang blog.
Click-it: Donor Offer Value Checklist [Download free guidelines]. All fundraising is based on a value-for-value exchange. What do you offer donors in exchange for their support? Greg Warner of Market Smart offers up some suggestions.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Getting To Know You [Download free e-Guide]. Research shows donors like being asked questions about themselves. Knowing that information can be invaluable in guiding your relationship building efforts. Get this Bloomerang Guide for creating, sending an using surveys.
Storytelling
Click-it: Back to Basics: Storytelling 101 [Download free template]. A story that motivates your audience to take action is the foundation of your success as a nonprofit leader. Use this interactive template from Network for Good to get your creative juices flowing!
Website
Click-it: Donation & Landing Page Optimization [Register for free online, on-demand course]. You really want to take advantage of this terrific opportunity being offered by NextAfter. It will help you drive more donors to places on your website where they’ll want to take action. Every tip is informed by research.
Did You Miss My Recent Articles?
If I know it, I want you to know it!
Here are links to my most recent articles. Enroll in ‘Clairification School’ to get access to every single article I’ve ever written – with new ones delivered weekly straight to your in-box! You’ll also get free monthly tips from your own “My Clairification” dashboard.
- 5 Truths: How Often Can You Mail Appeals to Nonprofit Donors?
- How to Fight Nonprofit ‘Resting on Laurels’ Syndrome
- 10-Step Annual Appeal from Start to Finish
- Forget about Building Nonprofit Loyalty. Deliver Meaning.
- Fundraising Appeal Q & A: 6 Concrete Tips to Overcome Common Challenges
If you find value in Clairification, your support via enrollment in Clairification School means a lot! See what others say about why they’ve joined. It’s literally just pennies a day, and it will help you raise (and earn) more.
PLEASE let me know if you found just one thing helpful in this edition of the Clairity Click-it. I’m just an email away at claire@clairification.com.
Hope to see you in Clairification School!
