Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Get the Clairity Click-it Ticket to Success!
Twice a month I collect and curate articles, whitepapers, webinars, templates and guides I encounter in my readings across the web. All are free to you thanks to my sponsor, Bloomerang. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy finding them for you.
As you may know, my motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it!”
That’s why I also offer my virtual year-round ‘Clairification School,’ with an extraordinarily modest tuition. Because I’ve got a LOT more to share with you based on my 36 years’ experience – 30 of them in the trenches – plus all the new things I learn every day in my practice.
If you find value in Clairification, please sign up now for all the benefits ‘Clairification School’ has to offer. It’s as free of a ‘public school’ as I can make it, while covering expenses.
Your support makes it possible and, truly, means a lot.
P.S. My popular Winning Major Gift Fundraising Strategies online e-course is now open for registration. Since 88% of dollars raised come from just 12% of donors, you owe it to yourself and your cause to check this out! See below for details.
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
Annual Giving
Click-it: Top 10 #donorlove design considerations. Here are some great tips to make your direct mail donor friendly. From Agents of Good.
Click-it: Make it Compelling. Simple, to-the-point example of how to write a better fundraising appeal. From Jerry Panas (may he rest in peace) of Panas Linzy.
Click-it: The lifetime value of the peer-to-peer event fundraiser. If you’re not engaging in P2P fundraising, this research from Donor Drive may persuade you of the benefits and show you how a single small P2P donor-fundraiser can be worth as much to you as a mid-level or major donor!.
Boards and Leadership
Click-it: How a CEO and Board Chair Can Build an Amazing Partnership. Check out this article from Joan Garry Consulting. She’s the expert on this topic!
Content Marketing
Click-it: 6 ideas for increasing your nonprofit’s blog traffic. I’m a huge proponent of blogs for nonprofits, as they’re a great way to drive traffic to your website and build relationships with current constituents. Get some tips here from 4aGoodCause.
Click-it: 5 Content Marketing Ideas that Inspire Action (With Examples). Some great examples of shareable online content from John Haydon.
Donor Retention
Click-it: What Everyone is Missing About the 2018 $410 Billion Giving Figure From Giving USA. A great article from Greg Warner of Market Smart about the need to deliver value if you want to attract and retain donors in the current zeitgeist.
Click-it: We’re still clueless about lifetime value. Seth Godin always makes me think. You should too. If you’re simply acquiring donors without considering what goes into keeping them, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. I talk about how to get a clue in How to Become a Donor Experience Transformist.
Online Fundraising
Click-it: Donor-Centered Digital Communications: How to Leverage the ‘Me-Cosystem’. Check out my article on the Bloomerang blog to learn to meet folks where they are — with content that makes them feel good.
Click-it: Be ready for disaster with an emergency relief campaign. You never want disaster to strike but, when it does, it’s best to be ready to help right away. Learn how in this article from Donor Drive.
Click-it: Google Search Donations: What Every Nonprofit Needs to Know Before They Sign Up for the Google Donate Button. Tim Kachuriak of NextAfter explains why if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. You’ll love Google if you believe in fundraising as transaction; not so much if you’re a believer in transformation.
Click-it: 14 Innovative Online Fundraising Ideas For Nonprofits & Charities. Fabulous ideas here from Tina Jepson of Causevox – get ready with your year-end fundraising plans!
Websites
Click-it: What Donor-Focused Websites Look Like, Jeff Brooks gives up the goods, including six randomly selected examples (some good, some not so good), on the Moceanic website.
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!
Online Social Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: Digital PR Basics for Nonprofits – How to Get Visibility for Your Cause. Julia C. Campbell is my ‘go-to’ social media guru, and in this webinar with Bloomerang she’ll share all the basics for creating a manageable Digital PR Plan for your nonprofit
Click-it: Social Media 101 for Nonprofits [Register for free webinar, 7-24-18]. Jay Wilkinson of Firespring presents practical tips and tools for extending your cause and mission via social media, with an emphasis on the biggies: Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.
Click-it: Be Smarter & More Engaging With Email [On-demand webinar]. Daniel Esrig of Klaviyo discusses on the Qgiv website how nonprofits can use email to re-engage inactive supporters during the last couple of months of the year. As you plan for critical year-end fundraising, put some of these tips into your mix!
Storytelling
Click-it: What is Our Money Story? And How Do We Tell It? [Register for free webinar, 8-16-18]. Join veteran fundraiser Lori Jacobwith and Bloomerang to reduce “talking about money” discomfort and combine your “money story” with a mission moment.
FREE DOWNLOADABLE MATERIALS
Annual Giving
Click-it: Donor Offer Value [Grab free checklist]. The heart of effective fundraising is making donors an offer they can’t refuse. Greg Warner of Market Smart created this list to help you assure your offer is relevant and compelling.
Events
Click-it: Fundraising Event Ideas [Download free eBook]. Get this checklist of event ideas, including ways to create greater engagement from attendees, from the folks at Mobile Cause.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: Everything We Know about Legacy Giving In 2018 [Download free research review]. Over the past decade, our knowledge about who leaves legacy gifts and why has increased dramatically. That’s why Legacy Voice commissioned Professor Adrian Sargeant and Claire Routley at the University of Plymouth Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy to carry out a review of papers on issues as diverse as fundraising, psychology, psychiatry and behavioural economics to find out what is most effective. I’m not surprised by their finding that legacy fundraisers could be more successful if they focused on understanding donors’ lives rather than bombarding them with information about their charities. Nonetheless, the information is interesting and persuasive.
Management and Strategy
Click-it: Elements of the Perfect Fundraising Plan. This comprehensive view of everything you need to consider to create a plan that will get you where you want to go is from Seth Rosen on the Joan Garry Consulting blog.
Click-it: Evaluating Disaster Readiness {Download white paper]. How would you process donations in the event of disaster. The folks at Merkle RMG want you to think about it, and plan ahead.
Did You Miss My Recent Articles?
Here are links to my most recent articles. Enroll in ‘Clairification School’ to get access to every single article I’ve ever written – with new ones delivered weekly straight to your in-box! You’ll also get free monthly tips from your own “My Clairification” dashboard.
- Why it Pays to Be Kind to Your Nonprofit Donors
- One Key to a Successful Nonprofit Social Media Strategy
- Philanthropy, Not Fundraising – How to Begin the Transformation
- 10 Ways to Slay Sharing Nonprofit Content on Social Media
- Declare Your Independence Day – Information Overload Be Gone!
- Accountability: One Big Secret to Reach Your Fundraising Goals
WINNING MAJOR GIFTS SCHOOL: ENROLLMENT OPEN!
Want to Attend Major Gifts Wizard School?
You can’t afford not to ask for major gifts. Over an 8-week period you’ll learn everything you need to succeed in finding, cultivating and soliciting those philanthropists who are likely to account for 80 – 95% of your total fundraising. Don’t be pennywise and pound-foolish here. Did I mention major gift fundraising is, by far, the most cost-effective way to raise money? Plus research shows for every training like this you take, you’ll increase your contributed income by $37,000 on average. That will more than cover your tuition.
If you’re serious about fundraising – no matter your size — you’ve got to get serious about investing in major gifts solicitation. Learn how with my online course: Winning Major Gift Fundraising Strategies. It’s a struggle to figure out how to do it on your own, and it wastes time. Enroll yourself and your team (up to six people per organization for one fee).
SAVINGS ALERT: If you haven’t yet joined Clairification School, now is the perfect time to do so! You’ll more than make up your $100 annual tuition fee with the $200 discount you’ll receive on the 8-week E-Course. Get an extra $100 off by registering NOW for the ‘early bird’ deal. You can enroll + get the e-course discounts with one click HERE.
Questions? Just ask me. claire@clairification.com
