Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Easily distracted and mildly interested
We can either accept that this is the state of our audience and plan appropriately…
Or do the very difficult work of changing their state.
–Seth Godin
This is the time of year, more than any other season, when it’s imperative you attract and sustain attention. Beyond that, you must make it easy for folks to engage with you. And, particularly, to donate. That means optimizing for mobile, creating a user-friendly and compelling donation page, and assuring you’re driving folks to that page from multiple channels (website, email, social media, QR codes, and events). It also means crafting compelling stories, replete with outcomes folks can visualize. Invite people into your cause and community with specific actions they can take – actions that will make them feel like the good human beings they are.
This issue of the Clairity Click-it is filled with a curated mix of ideas and resources to help you generate the philanthropy you need to fuel your vision, mission and values. As you peruse the available selection, I invite you to look for just one idea you might try or adapt. Don’t stand still. Grow.
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 eclectic resources I believe will best meet the needs of the diverse range of folks who comprise our critically important social benefit sector.
Thank you for doing your vital work, with gratitude,
Claire
P.S. If you’re already a Clairification School student, your OCTOBER TIPS are live. If you’re not yet enrolled, please consider helping me cover my costs. [This is a labor of love – it’s all done by one person — so your support through enrollment is greatly appreciated! PLUS, this month’s tips are super useful. They’re all about reframing your approach to asking at this critical time of year – and there are links to tons of practical resources.]
Is $100 for a whole year a good investment for having someone (me) do your homework for you? Articles, monthly tips, newsletter, webinars, and even bonuses. You get them all.
My motto: “If I know it I want you to know it!”
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
SPECIAL FEATURE: Talent Retention
ARTICLE
Click-it: Why Your Best Fundraisers Are Leaving. In case you missed it, I recently published an article in Nonprofit Quarterly about the retention crisis no one want to talk about. Seasoned fundraisers are leaving in droves. Why? Because we’ve shifted the sector’s resources and attention to data and metrics, inadvertently creating fundraising cultures that make it harder for people to do the very thing philanthropy requires most: build genuine human relationships. When fundraisers don’t have the time, autonomy, or support to do the work they know how to do, this becomes a consequential threat to the long-term health of the philanthropic sector. If we want to retain the people who know how to build transformational philanthropy, we need to stop treating talent retention as an HR initiative and start treating it as a fundraising strategy. I suggest how that might look in this essay.
Articles
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: Fundraising Scripts: Best Examples to Earn More Donations. This comprehensive article from Bloomerang explains the best way to have a genuine, open conversation both you and the donor will enjoy. Plus, you’ll find commentary from me on the best ways to use (and not use) fundraising scripts.
Boards
Click-it: Nonprofit Boards Are Failing the Sector. Here’s How to Fix Them. This Nonprofit Quarterly article by Aparna Rae reimagines the architecture of board recruitment, management and governance – which too often burns out both staff and board — to optimize mission delivery. It’s a redesign of what a board is for, with four recommendations – in order of difficulty. This one is real food for thought!
Click-it: How Connection is the unexpected ingredient to nonprofit board success. This article, part of a series from the Ross Collective, lays out the importance of taking intentional steps to build connections for your board. There are many different ways to accomplish this.
Click-it: Every Board Member Has An Excuse. Gail Perry has published a new book, and Roger Craver of the Agitator/DonorVoice reviews it here. In my 45 years in this field, this is EXACTLY how I counsel boards to proceed — and Gail has brought it all together beautifully. What I really love about this is it’s so very HUMAN. It’s a great way to reframe the yucky task of “fundraising” for boards.
Data
Click-it: Unlocking Beautiful Donor Relationships Through the Power of Data. Taking care of your data means taking care of your donors – and your mission. Mary Cahalane, Hands-On Fundraising has a great article about the why and the what, including software suggestions.
Donor Retention
Click-it: The Many Benefits of Segmenting Your Donors. The more you show donors you know them, the more likely they are to stick with you. Segmenting appeals and thank you’s helps enormously, because your message is personalized to what you know about the donor. Here Ann Green suggests some useful strategies for your consideration.
Click-it: How To Write a Personalized Thank-You Note. I always say everything I learned about thank you letters I learned from my Mom and Miss Manners. This article isn’t directed towards nonprofits per se, but it’s solid, foundational advice. If you follow it, I guarantee you’ll retain more donors – and deepen your relationships.
Click-it: Before the Year-End Feeding Frenzy, Try Saying Thank You. This is valuable advice, as always, from Roger Craver at the Agitator/DonorVoice. It is not only strategically smart, it is also decent. And human. Just make sure to make this genuine and as personal as possible. And… no ask, no links, no gimmicks.
Events
Click-it: Nonprofit Gala Run of Show: A Template for Event Night. Soapbox Engage put together a run-of-show template that maps out the night from setup and check-in through the program, fund-a-need, auctions, and checkout, with clear owners and contingency notes. Steal the structure, make it your own.
Major, Capital and Legacy Giving
Click-it: The Art of “Surprise and Delight” Throughout a Capital Campaign. I often write about the importance of surprising and delighting donors, so I was happy to see this post from the folks at Capital Campaign Pro. They note there’s a big difference between asking “What’s our stewardship plan for this donor?” and “What might delight them?” Read this; then, start looking for your opportunities.
Click-it: Moves Management Was Never About the Moves. Moves management was designed as a one-to-one discipline. Because everyone has a reason for giving that belongs to no one else. Nathan Chappel of Virtuous explains how the advent of AI offers you the opportunity to give the whole portfolio the sequence once reserved for the top. Nathan walks through identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship, naming what AI changes at each step, and what does not change.
WANT A FOOL-PROOF SYSTEM TO DEVELOP MAJOR GIFTS? Just in time for year-end fundraising, a new cohort of the certification courses in Major Gifts & Mid-Level Fundraising begins October 19th! There’s also a companion course – the Certification Course for Fundraising Managers and Executives –– so everyone can get on the same page. Take advantage of my exclusive Clairification Community discount code – CA5. Questions? I respond personally to every email.
Strategy, Planning, Management and Leadership
Click-it: Are Your Nonprofit Committee Meetings Effective? You’ve no doubt heard the critique, “Seems like it was written by a committee” — when everything was boiled down to the point where it really doesn’t say anything novel, groundbreaking or even interesting. Is there a better way to run a meeting? Decidedly, yes. And that’s precisely what I discuss in this article I wrote for NonProfitPro.
Writing
Click-it: Subject Lines, Teasers, and Headlines. Here are some useful tips from Steven Screen, the Better Fundraising Co. They’re important, because they make your messages and appeals easier to read. And your fundraising can’t inspire anyone to give… if nobody reads it.
Website + Landing Pages
Click-it: Why Donors Abandon Your Nonprofit’s Donation Page (and How to Fix it). For every 100 visitors who land on a typical donation form, roughly 89 leave without giving. That gap between “visited the page” and “clicked donate” has a name — donation form abandonment — and it’s one of the clearest opportunities to improve online fundraising. This article from 4aGoodCause tells you precisely what to do!
Writing
Click-it: How To Write Fundraising Emails That Hook Readers. Vanessa Chase Lockshin, the Storytelling Nonprofit, explains how the first 120 to 150 words of a fundraising email are prime real estate. She then offers examples, from which you can borrow.
Year End
Click-it: Why Donors Actually Give at Year-End. If you don’t want to lead with things that don’t work, read this article on the Moceanic blog. Hint: it’s mostly not the tax deadline. You can also grab their free Calendar for Successful Year-End Fundraising.
Other Learning Opportunities
ONLINE CONFERENCE, WEBINAR SERIES OR COURSE
Click-it: Fundraising.AI Global Summit [Register for free virtual 2-day event, 10-14 & 15]. Presented by Virtuous and GivingTuesday, this includes two keynotes, two breakout tracks (leaders; practitioners), and session recordings after the event.
Click-it: Deep Dive Capacity Building Bootcamp [Register for free sessions, 10-20 to 10-22, 2026]. You’ll get three days of high-energy sessions designed to spark fresh ideas, solve real operational headaches, and give you practical tools you can implement immediately. It’s sponsored by the Nonprofit Cooperative.
Click-it: Nonprofit Social Media Summit [Register for free online 2-day event, 11-17 & 18, 2026]. Julia Campbell brings nonprofit communicators and fundraisers together for two days of practical strategy, all action, no fluff. Live Q&As, in-session chat, polls, games, whiteboard and brainstorming sessions are all part of the fun.
WEBINARS, PODCASTS, & 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!
Content Marketing
Click-it: Beyond Compliance: Why Your Audit and Form 990 Matter to Funders [Register for free webinar, 10-21-2026]. Your audit and IRS Form 990 are more than compliance documents—they’re powerful tools for building trust and securing funding. Join Your Part-time Controller to learn which sections funders review most closely, how to avoid common pitfalls, and practical strategies for using these reports to strengthen your case for funding.
Events
Click-it: The Dirty Dozen: 12 gala mistakes you don’t know you’re making [Register for free webinar, 10-14-2026]. Join Sherry Truhlar, Red Apple Auctions and Auctria for this practical session that will help you avoid pitfalls you may not have even been aware of.
Year-End
Click-it: 7 Ways to Steward Year-End Donors [Register for free webinar, 10-9-2026]. 3 out of 4 first-time donors never give again. Unless… you embrace these 7 stewardship moves from Virtuous. Learn: Top outreach moves to build loyalty; Strong year-end follow-up sequence; How to individualize stewardship plans and run them in a busy month, and when to make the recurring ask (and when it’s too soon). Good, practical stuff!
Click-it: Jumpstart Your Q4 [Register for free webinar, 10-13-2026]. Q4 is the biggest fundraising quarter of the year — GivingTuesday, year-end appeals, annual reports and holiday donor outreach all land in the same 90 days. This Firespring session with Kiersten Hill is your kickoff: a practical walkthrough of what you need to lock down now (dates, channels, messaging, website readiness) so your team spends October building momentum instead of playing catch-up in December.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, PAPERS, TEMPLATES & OTHER RESOURCES
Website + Landing Pages
Click-it: Donation Page Audit Checklist [Download for free]. Here’s a great resource from 4aGoodCause. It includes 96 best practices across 13 key characteristics of a successful donation page. What a great way to make sure your page is ready for year-end fundraising!
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.
🌟 Key “Secret” to Making a Good First Impression on Nonprofit Donors
🤝That to which we commit, especially publicly, becomes congruent with our self image.
💖 10 Secrets to Major Gift Fundraising Success: The Second 5
❤️10 Secrets to Major Gift Fundraising Success: The First 5
🎯 Why Your Small Nonprofit Needs Planned Giving – and How to Quickly Launch
🔍 5 Secrets of Psychologists: How to Get Donors to Say “Yes”
💡Finally… if you have a question, any question…
Ask your question here. And check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! You can bookmark the Ask an Expert page for any time you have a question. Here’s one: What Gen Z and Boomers Have in Common as Nonprofit Donors
Clairification Members: Log in to your “My Clairification/Subscriber Dashboard/Monthly Tips” to grab your exclusive, timely tips for each month. OCTOBER TIPS are live. Your support is much appreciated, and helps me to support you. Thank you!
And now… from my walks over the past two weeks.
Starting to get a little spooky in my neck of the woods… You?
Found this lying on the ground… and it expresses how I feel about you!
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