Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
How about links to 25 free, carefully curated (by me!) resources to help you with your nonprofit fundraising, marketing, and more? Plus, as always, I share links to all my most recent original articles on Clairification.
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it!” So twice a month I collect and curate articles, whitepapers, webinars, templates and guides – all free – that I encounter in my readings across the web. They’re my gift to you, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy finding them for you.
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Thank you for doing the important work you do. Now… let’s get right to this issue’s links!
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
Annual Campaign
Click-it: Direct Mail Isn’t Dead, But Volume as a Strategy Is. You’ll always find thought-provoking posts on the Agitator-Donor Voice blog, and this is no exception. Read this, and the article by Erica Waasdorp on Charity Channel to which it refers, and start planning more strategically.
Capacity Building
Click-it: Nonprofit Capacity Building: A Multiple-Capitals Approach. This is a broad and useful perspective published in Nonprofit Quarterly on the value of building capacity – which can take multiple forms, including monetary resources, infrastructure, human, symbolic and political and relational resources. Especially read, and take time to digest, if you’re a CEO or board president. What should come as no surprise is an inclusive, participatory approach is key.
Content marketing
Click-it: How to Create a Monthly Newsletter. Check out this post from Amy Hall on Neal Schaffer’s blog. It’s not nonprofit-specific, but it has tons of useful, applicable tips.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Secret to Upgrading Nonprofit Donors? Personal, Not Personalized. I’m sharing another tried-and-true tip with you, over on the Bloomerang blog. People tired of sameness long ago. All you need to do is take two words to heart. Find them in this article, embrace them, and you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of the competition!
Events
Click-it: Engage Bidders and Add Oomph to Your Auction. Use these tips from the experts at Qgiv to keep bidders bidding at your event. There are so many great ideas here, I dare you not to find one that is useful.
Major Gifts
Click-it: How to Ask For a Gift. Do You Really Have to Ask? Does the notion of ‘asking’ sometimes feel too aggressive to you? Greg Warner of MarketSmart offers an alternative way to think about major gift philanthropy facilitation. I think you’ll find it interesting, and helpful.
Online Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: Demystifying Digital Marketing. Discover 7 digital marketing terms from True Sense Marketing and learn how to track that your digital fundraising campaigns are on the right track. Knowing what these terms mean will allow you to create the perfect blend of digital marketing efforts and help you understand the overall effectiveness of your campaigns and digital presence.
Click-it: 10 ways to connect with your donors through email. The next time someone suggests to you “email is dead,” share this article from 4aGoodCause with them. It was hard to big a favorite, but maybe ##1, 4 and 8?
Click-it: 22 Social Media Influencer Strategies Nonprofits Can Use. Wondering how to increase your nonprofit’s reach on social media? Check out these social media influencer strategies I’ve put together for you on the Bloomerang blog. You’ll find they can be more powerful than ads, because they’re perceived as more authentic.
Psychology of Giving
Click-it: Neuroscience Meets Fundraising: Gentle Art of Teaching JOY of Giving.Learn about how philanthropy can be addictive in this article by yours truly on the Bloomerang blog.
Website
Click-it: 11 Web Design Issues That Hurt Nonprofit Website Conversions. Wired Impact lays out 11 mistakes you may be making on your website that are destroying your conversions. If you want folks to find what they’re looking for, and do what you want them to do, take heed!
Click-it: Why your website is not converting into sales. I love to borrow best practices, and research about what works/doesn’t work, from outside the nonprofit world. Lilach Bullock is one of my favorite online marketing gurus, and this article is a treasure trove for improving your donor and sales conversions.
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!
Advocacy
Click-it: Tips for a Successful Hill Day [Listen to free, on-demand and podcast]. If your nonprofit engages in advocacy days with your elected representatives, then you’ll want to listen to this helpful podcast from the folks at npENGAGE.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Donor Cultivation: Strategies and Tactics from 199 Nonprofits [Register for free webinar, 9-5-2019]. Discover what the team at NextAfter learned from analyzing 3,556 emails sent to new subscribers and donors from 199 organizations over the course of 45 days. You’ll get answers to all sorts of questions, including the most common time to ask a new subscriber for a donation, how often nonprofits ask for a 2nd donation, types of content used to cultivate new donors, and strategies proven to impact donor retention.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: Discover Your Major Donors’ Passions and Interests [Listen to free on-demand podcast]. The answer to bringing in more net revenue from your major gift program is to get to know your donors so well you know their passions and interests and why they have them. In this podcast from the Veritus Group, Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels talk about how to align what you do with what your major donor prospects care about.
Online Social Fundraising
Click-it: It’s a Peer-to-Peer World [Register for free virtual conference, 9-12-2019]. Where else will you find 5 free webinars in one day, all offered by industry experts? This amazing opportunity is sponsored by five companies that serve nonprofits. Check it, and them, out!
Website
Click-it: Convert Supporters with Powerful Landing Pages [Register for free webinar, 9-11-2019]. Firespring has some of the best webinars around, and this one is no exception. With great landing pages, your donors, volunteers and supporters are 10 times more likely to donate, sign up, register or engage with your nonprofit. In this session, they’ll share what they’ve learned from studying hundreds of nonprofits and their landing page designs. Plus they’ll offer real-world landing page examples that increase conversions.
FREE DOWNLOADABLE MATERIALS
Annual Campaign
Click-it: Navigating the Challenges of Fundraising [Download free white paper]. Making a positive first impression sets the course for lasting donor relationships. Learn how to convert first-time donors into loyal, long-term supporters in this white paper from Merkle RMG.
Culture of Philanthropy
Click-it: Nonprofit Culture of Philanthropy Checklist [Download free checklist]. Do you have a culture of philanthropy at your nonprofit? Use this checklist I created for you and Bloomerang to find out. Hold this mantra close: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If your donors or team members are sending love your way, it’s incumbent on you to send love back their way.
Database and Metrics
Click-it: Simple Fundraising Analytics for Nonprofits [Download free Fundraising Report Card]. MarketSmart now offers free access to an insightful data analytics tool used by thousands of nonprofits. You’ll be amazed you can get this much analysis about important metrics like retention, and all for free! Watch the quick intro video, and don’t hesitate to get started leveraging your own data to raise more money. This should be a no-brainer.
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: Your Digital Marketing Directory [Download free resource]. Grab this directory prepared by planned giving experts at Stelter to take control of your digital presence and craft a digital marketing strategy that grows your donor base and increases your planned gifts.
Peer to Peer Fundraising
Click-it: Understanding the True Financial Potential of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising [Download free white paper]. P2P is a great way to bring in new donors, and to increase the value to you of the donors you already have. The folks at Classy take a mathematical approach to uncovering the value of P2P fundraising and offer pro tips to build your program for maximum success.
Storytelling
Click-it: Storytelling for ACTION [Download free e-book]. You can’t do better than Jim Shapiro and Steven Screen of The Better Fundraising Co. One of the best ways to raise more money is to use stories. Grab three big ideas here that nobody ever told you about!
Click-it: Story Collection Activity [Download free worksheet]. You can’t share what you don’t have. Towards that end, Julia C. Campbell has put together this useful resource to collect and craft the best stories to share on social media – and all your content marketing.
Website
Click-it: The State of Nonprofit Donation Pages [Download free report]. Grab this amazingly useful report from the folks at NextAfter. They analyzed findings from reviewing landing pages at 203 nonprofits, and the lion’s share are making rookie mistakes. If you want new strategies to help increase online giving, this is the place to begin.
Did You Miss My Recent Articles?
Here are links to my most recent articles.
- 3 Ways to Get More of Your Donors to Match Their Gifts
- Improve Major Donor Fundraising to Grab a Larger Piece of Philanthropy Pie
- If You Get Nonprofit Donors to Ask this Question, You’re Home Free
- Nonprofit Gift Planning: Do You Use the Language of Love?
- Can You Smoke What’s in Your Major Gift Pipeline?
- Do You Want to Stop Failing to Close Major Nonprofit Gifts?
- Do You Want More Major Donors? Read This!
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