Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
It’s June – and I’ve got free tips and tools galore, bustin’ out all over!
I begin by thanking my generous sponsor, Bloomerang, for their continued support of my curation of content for you across the web – all with the goal of helping you in your quest to facilitate passionate philanthropy. If you find one or more articles, webinars or free downloadable guides useful I’ll be happy. And if you find Clairification useful …
Please consider enrolling in Clairification School to get 12 month’s of all the wisdom I have to share!
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.”
Let’s get right to this issue’s links!
Thank you for doing the important work you do
P.S. I try to make my content as close to free as humanly possible (without it costing me money). If you’re on the fence about enrolling, see what others say about why they’ve joined. If you’re not happy, I’ll refund you. How’s that?
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
Annual Giving
Click-it: Best practices in monthly giving – Q & A. One of the most effective fundraising strategies you may not be rocking as much as you could be is monthly giving. Time to get on board! This interview with Erica Waasdorp conducted by 4aGoodCause is your ticket to success.
Click-it: When you should NOT conduct face-to-face fundraising. Greg Warner of Market Smart offers this intriguing donor-centered perspective of in-person fundraising. The science cited is revelatory. Make sense to you?
Boards
Click-it: 10 Truths Every Board Member Should Know. Joan Garry of Nonprofits are Messy is one of my go-to gurus for advice on working with boards. This is super useful; I’ve already sent it to the board president of a board on which I sit.
Donor-Centered Content Marketing
Click-it: Donor-Centered Communications: Stop Fighting, Start Inviting. Do you work with folks who think mission work is ‘pure’ and fundraising is ‘dirty?’ Check out this article I wrote for the Bloomerang blog
Click-it: 2 Truths and a Lie About Annual Reports. Great article by Laura Ingalls on the Bloomerang blog. First ask “Why are we doing this?” Depending on your answer, proceed.
Click-it: Donor-Centered Nonprofit Annual Reports. Here’s my own take on revamping annual reports so they’re cost-effective and meet donor needs. Also on the Bloomerang blog.
Donor Retention
Click-it: 7 Proven Ways to Increase Member Retention Right Now. This article from Wild Apricot is particularly useful if you have a membership organization. These are actual tried and tested ideas!
Click-it: The Power of Auto-Renewal: Why Are You Waiting? Read this piece from Roger Craver on the Agitator-DonorVoice blog, and think about how you might apply some of this wisdom. Case studies reveal significant retention increases from donors on automatic renewal programs.
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: Why Nonprofits Need to Stop Making a Backup Plan. Nell Edgington of Social Velocity explains how Plan B comes from a scarcity mindset, and doesn’t do you any favors. Are you failing to reach for that big vision due to worries about lack of money? Read this.
Online Social Marketing
Click-it: Micro-Influencers: What They Are & Why Nonprofits Need Them Abby Jarvis at Qgiv talks about how to build an influencer social media ambassador program.
Click-it: Four Ways to Engage Nonprofit Staff in Communications. Maria Bryan talks about how to build a staff social media ambassador program. You’ll both engage staff and leverage your messaging. Win/win.
NOTE: Heed the advice in both of the above articles, and you should see a big engagement boost! Just be sure to incorporate strategies to convert engagement into other desired actions. Bottom line: You ultimately don’t just want likes, follows and clicks. You want email addresses, signers for your petition, ticket buyers, volunteers and donations.
Strategy and Management
Click-it: What is Google for Nonprofits? How is it different from other G Suites?. You may know about Google ad grants, but not about the other tools available to you. Times Square Chronicles says it can’t hurt to take a look.
Your Food for Thought
Click-it: It’s Time to Stop the War on Donors. Joe Garecht responds to attempts to characterize donors as misguided for giving to the ‘wrong causes,’ by making the case for donor-centered philanthropy. What do you think?
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!
Annual Giving
Click-it: How to raise undesignated funds in your appeal letters [Watch free 5-minute video]. Steven Screen, of Steven and Chris Davenport’s Work Less Raise More, shows you how to raise money for undesignated purposes, even while your appeal letter focuses primarily on one specific program.
Click-it: Building a recurring donor program that works: A conversation with charity: water [Access free on-demand webinar]. If you don’t yet have a robust monthly giving program, the time to build one is now! Learn from the best in this conversation between Funraise and Charity: water.
Capital Campaign Fundraising
Click-it: Do you need a capital campaign consultant? Andrea Kihlstedt and Amy Eisenstein of the Capital Campaign Toolkit chat with Sarah Durham of Big Duck about an exciting new model for managing your campaign.
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: How to Win Your Donors Hearts, Minds & Wallets [Register for free webinar, 6-18-2019]. Want to learn the secrets of high performing gift officers? Join Rachel Muir and Nonprofit Hub to learn the biggest mistakes you don’t know you’re making.
Click-it: Integrating Charitable and Family Legacies [Register for free webinar, 6-26-2019]. Join The Stelter Company and Lorraine del Prado, CSPG, CFRE, FCEP, got this dive into helping your supporters think holistically about the legacy they want to leave.
Online Social Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: Grow Your Social Media Presence [Download free video course]. Want to discover proven methodologies to grow your social strategy? Grab these four hours of social media ‘how to’ content – 27 distinct lessons — from Semrush and social media influencer and guru, Neal Schaffer. Lessons, additional materials for self-study and even quizzes!
Website
Click-it: Put Your Website to Work: A Deep Dive Into Digital Trends {Register for free webinar, 6-12-2019]. The folks at Firespring are website whizzes, and they’re going to share tips to simultaneously lighten your work load and generate more donations. You won’t want to miss this!
FREE DOWNLOADABLE MATERIALS
Annual Giving
Click-it: 10 Great Ways to Find New Donors for Your Non-Profit [Download free e-book]. There are thousands of ways to find new donors… but only a few are really effective for finding new prospects without breaking the budget for small and mid-sized organizations. That’s why Joe Garecht, The Fundraising Authority, wrote this book for you.
Click-it: New Donors: You Need Them More Than They Need You [Download free white paper]. Amy Bobrick of Merkle RMG talks about diminishing rates of retention and acquisition, and what you can do to refine your approach and reap greater rewards.
Interviewing
Click-it: Advanced Interviewing Secrets [Download free list of open-ended questions]. This is something you can use for everything. Whether you’re writing a donor story, interviewing an event honoree, visiting a donor or interviewing for a job, these questions curated by Lisa Sargent will get you started – and keep you going!
Online Social Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: Top Five Twitter Tips for Nonprofits – Fundraising Statistics and Ideas [Download free infographic]. Easy-to-implement Twitter Tips to help you grab the attention of supporters and successfully leverage the unique opportunity for engagement this popular platform offers. Courtesy of Mobile Cause.
YOU
Click-it: Online Personality Assessment: Introvert/Extrovert [Download for free]. One of my favorite books is To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink. It’s filled with information that will help you with fundraising. One of his key points is that the best sales people (aka fundraisers) don’t have to be extroverts. They can be introverts (who actually make much better listeners than extroverts). And most folks function somewhere in the middle as ‘ambiverts.’ Figure out where you fall by taking this quick online quiz (I scored as an ambivert).
Did You Miss My Recent Articles?
Here are links to my most recent articles.
- Leverage Millennial Marketing Strategies to Woo ALL Nonprofit Donors
- Are You Rocking Donor Retention 101?
- How to Use Donor Personas to Identify New Prospects
- Fundraising Do’s and Don’ts: Email Sharing Strategic Plan
- Impatience is Virtue: Key to Sustain Nonprofit Relevancy and Fundraising Effectiveness
- 3 Ways to Remove Psychological Barriers to Philanthropic Giving
Please support my extraordinary sponsors (see below). The Clairity Click-it content is free, and enrollment in ‘Clairification School’ is ridiculously affordable because of their generosity. Go ahead… Scroll down and take a look. These companies deserve it, as they’re all awesome! Enjoy your June.
P.S. If you have companies you’re loving, please let me know. I hand pick all my sponsors, and recommendations are always appreciated.
Hope to see you in school, and thank you for doing your important work!
