Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.”
This extends to “If I read it, and like it, I want you to read it.” Or listen to it. Or watch it. Sometimes I even search for resources in particular areas around which I receive a lot of questions. Then I compile a curated selection of articles, whitepapers, webinars, podcasts, templates and guides that have spoken to me recently in my travels across the web. Hopefully some will speak to you as well.
Make your choices and click on the resources that resonate right now! This newsletter is free to you thanks to my sponsor, Bloomerang.
Thank you SO MUCH for doing the important work you do,
Claire
P.S. Speaking of sharing, the esteemed fundraising guru Ken Burnett is gearing up for a 500 mile trek (at the age of 70) to generate awareness and raise funds for SOFII (The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration), the treasure trove of fundraising resources made available for free to fundraisers worldwide. Hat tip to Agitator-DonorVoice for bringing this to my attention. Ken’s goal is to raise $10,000 and Chip Grizzard, Grizzard Global Consulting and Idearaising, will match your contribution up to an additional $10K! Want to do something to give back to fundraisers everywhere? 5 or 10 cents a mile? 50 cents a mile? $1 a mile? Let’s cheer Ken, and SOFII, on! Click here to join me and your colleagues in sponsoring Ken and raising money for SOFII.
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
OPINIONS FEATURE
This Issue: Ethics in Civil Society
Click-it: What’s the purpose of fundraising? Mark Rovner of Sea Change Strategies weighs in on the reasons for raising money, and the professional and personal ethics and values underlying the pursuit.
ARTICLES
Content Marketing
Click-it: Top 2021 Fundraising Strategies: Mastering Relevant Content Marketing [Part 3 of 6]. I’m outlining my top six fundraising strategies for the year on the Bloomerang blog. This article is all about showcasing how what you do relates to what’s top of mind for folks. I offer five examples of content you can easily share, suggesting ways to make it super accessible. Learn how relevant content can create cash and community! You can read part 1, part 2 and part 3 here.
Boards
Click-it: 8 Ways Your Board Can Fundraise Without Asking. One of the most common complaints I hear is “our board doesn’t do anything” and “they won’t help with fundraising.” Here Amy Eisenstein offers simple, concrete suggestions to get board members more engaged – which really is part of your job!
Donor Retention
Click-it: Top 2021 Fundraising Strategies: Increase Your Donor Lifetime Value [Part 4 of 6]. Make this the year you truly master personalized, customer-centered mid-level and major donor philanthropy facilitation. While donor acquisition is essential, donors are valuable to you based on their lifetime value. Sadly, on average, one-time gifts have no monetary value at all. Learn more about this critical strategy on the Bloomerang blog, and read part 1, part 2 and part 3 here.
Major Gift Fundraising
Click-it: Evaluating Donor Giving Potential Without Wealth Data Information. I’m often asked about the value of purchasing wealth screening, which is why I’m sharing this useful article from the Veritus Group. Here you’ll learn about alternative, super-effective ways to narrow down your major donor prospect portfolio. This article is well worth your time.
Online Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: How to Put Marketing Automation to Work for Your Nonprofit’s Fundraising. If you’ve ever wondered about using technology to systematically support your donor cultivation, read this article from Market Smart’s Greg Warner. You’ll learn about two types of information you need to collect, and what to do with it to create attractive “offers,” not just asks.
Psychology of Giving
Click-it: The Now or Never Effect. Kevin Shulman, the Agitator-DonorVoice, makes the point that deadlines notwithstanding, “In the digital world (email and text) either people donate immediately after being asked or they don’t donate at all.” Deadlines can make a difference sometimes, but my take-away here is you’re wiser to email more often than just once or twice with a deadline.
Click-it: To Match or Not To Match? The Phil Psych™ Way. This is a super-interesting article from Profs. Adrian Sargeant and Jen Shang, Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy. Matches can be useful, but sometimes other strategies are better. And matches can be done poorly or well. Take a look and think about how you might use this wisdom for your fall fundraising.
Strategy and Management
Click-it: Top 2021 Fundraising Strategies: Mastering an Analytical Approach to Strategy and Planning [Part 5 of 6]. Make this the year you master an analytic, numbers-based perspective to strategy and planning. If you don’t use analytic tools, it’s impossible to know how many people are engaging with your content and what, if any, action they’re taking after that engagement. Without that information, you won’t know what you need to adjust, scrap, or continue doing. This is important stuff, so please check out my article on the Bloomerang blog.
YOU
Click-it: How to Not Take People for Granted [Listen to on-demand podcast]. As I listened, I thought about adapting this approach for nonprofit donors. Too often, alas, we really do take them for granted. We shouldn’t. Enjoy this resource from the Greater Good Science Center community
WEBINARS, ROUNDTABLES & 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!
Donor Acquisition
Click-it: Nonprofit Lead Generation Q&A Session [Register for free live session, 8-25-2021]. If you constantly struggle with how to find new donors, and how to turn leads into ongoing supporters, you’ll want to attend this special Q & A led by the Firespring director of strategic marketing. Examples from other nonprofits will be shared so you can borrow their successful ideas!
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: Weaving Planned Giving Into Your Donor Conversations [Register for free webinar, 9-8-2021]. There is no reason for you to feel you can’t offer legacy giving opportunities to your major donor prospects just because you don’t have a law degree or tax planning experience. The planned giving experts at Stelter have invited philanthropic consultant Melanie J. Norton, CFRE, MBA, to discuss comfortable ways to incorporate different giving options into your major donor conversations.
Online Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: How Nonprofits Can Leverage Social Media Data & Analytics to Attract New Donors [Register for free webinar 8-24-2021]. Ever wonder what made you pause on that post, hit like to engage, or donate? The key to building a digital strategy that works is data. This webinar co-sponsored by Nonprofit Tech for Good and Equa+ion will guide you through a DIY Social Media Audit to leverage your online data to attract new donors or cement relationship with current ones.
Click-it: 7 Strategies to Use Text Messaging to Supercharge Nonprofit Donor Engagement [Register for free webinar + Q&A, 8-25-2021]. I’ve written recently about text giving programs and received questions. So… I invited James Martin of Rally Corp to chat with us about how it works, why you should consider it, and how to get started. Specifically, he’ll be sharing seven specific strategies to increase donor engagement using this as a tool. I’ll be participating too! [Oh, and we’re giving away a free year of Clairification School if you join us.]
Strategy and Management
Click-it: We’re Better Together: Attracting Large Numbers of Donors, Volunteers, and Subscribers [Register for free webinar, 8-26-2021]. The pandemic period revealed the value of balancing your portfolio of major donors with a growing base of smaller funders. Join Bristol Strategy Group and Qgiv for this session discussing the importance of diversification, how to build a large following and get followers to act, and how to get younger donors to engage.
Trends
Click-it: Social Giving: Online Giving Lessons from the Pandemic [Read or Listen to on-demand podcast]. Ephraim Gopin, 1832 Communications, hosts this podcast with Kelly Velasquez-Hague sharing results from the 2021 Giving Experience Study by OneCause. The focus is on social giving, how this can be a pathway to ongoing and loyal philanthropic commitment, and what happened with this type of giving and fundraising during Corona. The episode also covers what motivates social donors to give again and how to make giving easy for them.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, WHITE PAPERS & OTHER RESOURCES
Major Gift Fundraising
Click-it: Creating Strategic Plans and Goals for Every Major Donor [Download free White Paper]. It’s the time of year you should be planning your major donor cultivation and solicitation for calendar year-end gifts. This is the perfect step-by-step road map, put together by the awesome team at the Veritus Group. I’ve never read anything from them that isn’t super helpful. Don’t leave home without this!
Midlevel Fundraising
Click-it: Mid-Level Giving: A Million Dollar Missed Opportunity [Download free White Paper]. This is an important paper because you’re likely leaving a lot of money on the table if you don’t have a targeted, strategic mid-level donor program. The folks at Merkle work with hundreds of nonprofits and see what happens when donors who give $1,000 – $10,000 are treated similarly to those who give $25 or less. They also understand why it happens. In this paper they address common challenges and missteps and offer a pathway forward.
Trends
Click-it: Giving Outlook [Download free White Paper]. The good folks at Pursuant prepare this annual outlook filled with a summary of current conditions, precautions, industry-specific trends and benchmarks, how digital giving is transforming the philanthropic landscape and action steps you can take to maximize growth.
Website
Click-it: 7 Types of Friction That Are Killing Your Donations [Listen/watch free on-demand webinar]. Donation landing page friction is a pet peeve of mine. It absolutely drives me nuts, both personally and professionally, when I can’t complete a donation easily. I don’t want this happening to your nonprofit, because it’s likely causing you to lose a lot of money you can ill afford to lose. If you want to stop the madness, pay attention to what’s in this webinar from the good folks at NextAfter. Anything they have to say is not just opinion; it’s well documented.
Did You Miss My Newest Articles?
- So You Want More Major Gifts This Year? Here’s the Secret!
- Reframe Fundraising: Responsibility, Privilege and Opportunity
- Top Strategies to Overcome Fear of Nonprofit Fundraising
- Top 10 Questions to Answer before Asking for a Nonprofit Major Gift
- How to Supercharge Nonprofit Major Giving Using the Language of Love
- How to Get Donors to Ask You, Not Vice-Versa
Finally… if you have a question, any question…
Check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Ask your question here. Or email me with it directly. And bookmark the Ask an Expert page!
Please support my extraordinary sponsors (see below). Clairification School is affordable because of their generosity.
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. BONUS August tips are available now! If you’re not yet an enrolled student, you can get in on the fun here!
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.” Don’t miss out.
Hope to see you in Clairification School!
