Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Let’s kick off the new year with a big batch of useful, free resources! There’s lots to be done in this imperfect world. Thankfully, the world has you to make a positive difference.
From the words of Desmond Tutu: “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
The world is counting on you. On all of us.
With that in mind, I’ve collected some wonderful materials to help you create a better, stronger, safer, healthier, more just and more caring future. As you fulfill your mission, never forget the work of the philanthropic sector is uniquely human.
Philanthropy means “love of humanity.”
This is not easy work. Yet it’s necessary, especially during times where the world seems out of control. Remember why you do this. To restore balance to a wobbling world.
Let us resolve in the year, and decade, to come to embrace the very best practices we can muster, wherever we find them. I invite you to join me!
Once again, thank you to my sponsor, Bloomerang, for making it possible to offer this biweekly newsletter to you for free.
What you do matters. A lot.
Thank you for doing it, and always striving to be better,
P.S. Registration for my popular, rapidly-filling 8-week e-course, Winning Major Gifts Fundraising Strategies, closes January 18th. Claim your spot now – and assure you’re able to fulfill your mission to the greatest extent possible, today and tomorrow. Questions about whether this course is right for you? I’m just an email away.
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
Annual Giving
Click-it: Planning Your Monthly Giving Strategy For The Year: A Step-By-Step Guide.There’s no better expert on monthly giving than Erica Waasdorp of A Direct Solution. If you think you could be doing a better job, this is a must read.
Donor Retention
Click-it: 7 Frequently Asked Questions From Donors — And How to Respond. This is a super useful article from the Heroic Fundraising blog. Make sure you share with anyone who answers the phone when donors call.
Click-it: Put Donors First, Even When It Seems Like a Pain. Think about this one. Just like you want to message everywhere your donors receive their information, you also want to accept payments according to their preferences. From the smart Sean Triner at Moceanic.
Click-it: Increase Donor Giving & Retention in 2020. Lori Jacobwith, Ignited Fundraising, offers up a succinct list of tips – complete with an infographic you can post next to your computer. These sound simple, and maybe obvious, but I’ll wager you could be doing a much more effective job in each of these areas. And I agree with Lori it will make a huge, bottom line difference over time.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: New Year’s Resolution: Prioritize Major Gifts, Beginning in the Donor Database! I’m offering a series of nonprofit resolution articles on the Bloomerang blog as we embark upon a new calendar year. In this one I explain why a number one priority is embracing major gift fundraising from individuals. For most nonprofits this will be where the lion’s share of your philanthropy should be coming from. If it’s not happening for you now, you’re likely leaving money on the table.
Click-it: New Year’s Resolution: I Will Proactively Identify Major Donor Prospects. This is your next in my new year’s resolution series on Bloomerang. Without the right prospects, it doesn’t matter how good your case for support is or how intrepid you are about asking. And here’s the thing: there are fewer and fewer donors generally, and less small donors specifically. This article explains what you can do to get your piece of the philanthropy pie moving forward.
Click-it: How Your Giving Platform Can Help You Identify Potential Major Gift Donors. If you’re not using your donor database or CRM this way, now’s the time to begin! Learn how in this article from Abby Jarvis at Qgiv.
Click-it: Donor Recognition for Capital Campaigns: 3 Points to Consider. Useful advice about naming recognition from Andrea Kihlstedt of Capital Campaign Masters.
Trends
Click-it: I’m a Millennial Donor. Here Are Five Things Cultural Entities Should Know. This is an important article that may shift your perceptions about how to prioritize identifying, qualifying, cultivating and soliciting Millennials. It certainly opened my eyes. Thanks to Colleen Dilenschneider, the Know Your Own Bone blog.
Year-End
Click-it: Year-end tips for the beginning of the year. You’re thinking, wait a minute… the year is just beginning! True, but you can never start planning too early. Grab these great tips and sound advice from Mary Cahalane of Hands-On-Fundraising.
YOU
Click-it: How to Deal with Constantly Feeling Overwhelmed. This feeling isn’t unique to social good sector work. Check out what Rebecca Zucker has to say in the Harvard Business Review, and ask yourself: “What one or two things, if taken off my plate would alleviate 80% of the stress that I feel right now?” It’s an illuminating question!
Click-it: 20 Big Ideas that will change your world in 2020. This is a fascinating LinkedIn Pulse article with 20 big idea trends. A lot is relevant for nonprofits (see #13 re zebras, not unicorns) – plus just generally helpful if you live in our world.
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: Monthly Giving Made Easy: The 7 Fundamentals [Register for free webinar, 1-14-2020]. Did you know monthly donors give 2–4 times more than non-monthly recurring donors? Join Erica Waasdorp, monthly donor guru, and Firespring to get a complete road map to generate a monthly donor program.
Click-it: For Good or For Ego? Changing Motivations for Philanthropy and Their Impact on Funding [Register for free webinar, 1-22-2020]. Join the folks at Stanford Social Innovation Review for this dive into donor motivations. I always find this stuff fascinating!
Click-it: Cause awareness days 2020: A list of dates and planning tips. They’ve got ‘cause’ in their name, so it’s no surprise the folks at 4aGoodCause have developed this list of cause days and tips for turning these dates to your advantage through targeted mini-campaigns. You’ll also find a handy downloadable PDF with all the 2020 cause days. I’m partial to ‘Random Acts of Kindness Day’ myself!
Boards
Click-it: 2020 Board Trends in Ambassador Fundraising [Register for free webinar 1-22-2020]. Join Boardable with Kelly Velaszquez-Hague from OneCause for results from the 2nd Annual Board Engagement Survey – with examples of ways to engage your own board as ambassadors and P2P fundraisers.
Events
Click-it: Spring Fundraising Best Practices [Listen to free On-Demand Webinar]. Abila hosted this expert panel to answer frequently asked questions about fundraising events and keeping donors engaged after the event is over.
Click-it: Amplify Your Fundraising Events: Get Latest Donor Trends and Preferences [Listen to free On-Demand Webinar]. Learn from Abila about the top reason donors attend, along with important expectations they have of fundraising events. Learn about how event experiences impact donations, how technology can improve fundraising events, and the importance of engagement before, during and after events.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: What You Need to Know about DAFs for 2020 [Register for free webinar, 1-22-2020]. Donor advised funds represent a huge potential for philanthropy for nonprofits of any size or shape. Learn to be more proactive about accessing this growing resource in this session offered by MarketSmart with guest presenter Keith Curtis, President of The Curtis Group.
Management and Planning
Click-it: How Nonprofits Can Take Advantage of the 2020 Election Cycle [Watch quick video]. Joan Garry offers inspiration, plus ways to think about messaging in 2020 when presidential candidates will likely be talking about issues relevant to your mission. Why not avail yourself of this opportunity to shine a light on your mission?
Online Fundraising
Click-it: The Digital Tipping Point: Online Fundraising and Giving Trends [Listen to free On-Demand Webinar]. Join Abila for a focused look at trends from their national online survey. This will help you create a plan to increase donor loyalty and contributions.
Click-it: 6 Fundraising Hacks [Register for free webinar 1-21-2020]. Join Kevin Peters, NextAfter, to get the right tools, technology, resources, and know-how to implement strategies for both acquiring and retaining donors in today’s digitally-revolutionized environment.
YOU
Click-it: This is how to take a mind-boosting break in 20 seconds [Download 64 second video]. Dan Pink of Pinkcast is one of my favorite thinkers/authors. Here’s what he has to say: “Your ability to focus will be your most important skill” in 2020, says one workplace sage. Yet being able to focus depends on being able to regularly replenish our attention. And that requires taking breaks. So, for the first Pinkcast of 2020, I explain the simplest, easiest break I’ve encountered. It takes less than a minute and doesn’t require leaving your chair.”
FREE DOWNLOADABLE MATERIALS
Donor Retention
Click-it: Experiences Matter: Digital Trends For Nonprofit Marketers [Download free report]. Donors are consumers, and nonprofits face the same competition for attention and increased expectation for customer experience as for-profits. You may think few of your donors play Fortnite, but there’s probably more overlap than you think. In fact, St. Jude and American Cancer Society, among others, have embraced the gaming trend as a platform for fundraising. This paper from Merkle reviews emerging digital trends and offers recommendations to harness data, identity, creativity, and technology to deliver relevant experiences that meet constituent expectations.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: Top 10 Tips for Landing More Meetings with High Value Major & Legacy Donor Prospects [Download free report, or listen to quick video]. Learn from the experts at Market Smart how to get over the valley of distrust, make pure engagement calls, give power to donors and leave value-added voicemails that get results (see tips #4 and #9).
Click-it: Your Digital Marketing Directory [Download this free handbook]. Do you still have a 20th century legacy giving program? If so, you should check out this great resource from Stelter. It will help you take control of your digital presence and craft a digital marketing strategy that grows your donor base and increases your planned legacy gifts.
Check out the new “Ask CharityClairity” feature on the Bloomerang Blog.
Whenever you’ve got a question, no matter how small it may seem, feel free to ask your question here! They say one person with a question means at least 10 others have the same question, so… be brave and help yourself and your peers. Your identity will be kept anonymous, so… no fears. You can also send them to me directly at claire@clairification.com.
Click-it: Ask an Expert. Check out the current Q & A here. More are coming soon, so why not bookmark this page!
Did You Miss My Recent Articles?
Here are links to the most recent articles on the Clairification blog. I think you’ll find these fairly practical. Hope so!
- Easy-to-Implement Legacy Giving Strategies for Small Nonprofits – Do’s and Don’ts
- Two Ways Nonprofits Get Donor-Centered Fundraising Wrong
- 7 Things Nonprofit Major Gifts Programs Need to Succeed
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. If you’re not yet an enrolled student, you can get in on the fun here!
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