I’m happy today, because both I and my son are Friday the 13th babies. It’s my lucky day, and I always find a way to celebrate! Why not share in the celebration with me by checking out some of these free articles, webinars, podcasts, e-guides, cheat sheets and reports? Pour yourself a beverage of your choice; then settle in for a good read or a listen.
It’s my pleasure to curate content for you across the web – all with the goal of helping you in your quest to facilitate passionate philanthropy. I couldn’t do this without the support of my 2018 sponsor, Bloomerang, so please join me in sending them a virtual shout out and hearty thank you!
Enjoy, and may your day and week be lucky,
P.S. I’ve got lots more wisdom to share, and hope you’ll take advantage this year. Clairification School gives you a full year of tips! If you’re on the fence about enrolling, see what others say about why they’ve joined.
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
Content Marketing
Click-it: 3 Tips to Improve Your Newsletter. Vanessa Chase Lockshin of The Storytelling Nonprofit makes it simple for you to tweak and improve your processes so you see a return on your investment.
Click-it: How Vulnerability Increases Connection and Fundraising. Do you fail to share your organization’s most powerful stories due to concerns of “client confidentiality?” If so, read this newsletter article from Renee Rubin Consulting and ask yourself: Who am I really protecting? By not sharing your most compelling stories, you fail to generate the passionate investment that will give these stories happy endings. There are ways to share honorably. Contact me if you want to discuss.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: Characteristics of Planned Giving Donors. This is a quick and useful list from the esteemed Jerold Panas. Pay attention to any prospect with seven or more of these characteristics.
Management and Strategy
Click-it: Who’s meeting is this? A simple checklist for holding a meeting that’s worth your time, or not. From Seth Godin.
Online Fundraising
Click-it: 4 Easy Fixes that Will Supercharge Your Online Fundraising. Michael Rosen of ML Innovations offers four ways you can enhance your “Donate” button or tab to get superior results.
Online Social Marketing
Click-it: How Twitter is Changing the Rules for Social Media Marketing On March 27, 2018, Twitter changed the rules of automated posting, sharing, liking and following in order to combat misuse of their platform by malicious players. Melanie Tamble explains what happened on the Maximize Social Business blog, and gives you seven strategies for coping with these inevitable changes to social media marketing.
Click-it: Facebook Group Features. Facebook has recently shifted its focus to groups. In this article for the Maximize Social Business blog, social media marketing expert Nikhil Premanandan discusses how you might consider using Facebook Groups as a tool for building relationships with your constituents.
Click-it: The Facebook Scandal and What It Means for Your Nonprofit’s Digital Strategy. If you were hoping you could use the data breach as an excuse to abandon social media, Beth Kanter explains why you better rethink. Plus… your digital strategy is a lot more than just Facebook. Right?
Overhead vs. Investment
Click-it: Overheads or Investment? A New Perspective on Nonprofit “Admin” Costs. In the ongoing challenge to demonstrate that, yes, investing in fundraising does result in more money going towards the cause – a “bigger pie” – Lee Durbin offers a thoughtful article on the Holly Palmer Consulting blog with a concrete case example. I’ll add that you must invest to grow. When you deliberately starve yourself to “look good,” aren’t you really acting anorexic? Just saying… it’s a bit pathological.
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!
Boards and Leadership
Click-it: Engaging your Board Members in Fundraising [Register for free webinar, 4-24-18]. Join Abbie Von Schlegell for this Donor Search Flash Class on how to get your board members engaged in fundraising.
Click-it: Getting board members excited to say “Thank You” to donors [Listen to free videocast]. If you’re having trouble getting board members to ask, begin by asking them to say thank you. Listen in to this brief videocast by Marc Pitman on Movie Mondays to learn a great way to get folks ready to rock thank you out of the park!
Management and Strategy
Click-it: How to Build a Thriving Nonprofit [Register for free workshop 4-17-18] Joan Garry will offer a step-by-step blueprint. She has done this. She’s taught others to do this. And now she’s here to teach you. Take advantage of her many years of wisdom and down-to-earth smarts.
Online Fudraising
Click-it: Donors Have Seized Control of the Giving Process [Register for free webinar, 4-19-18]. Acquisition is getting harder, donor demographics are shifting, and understanding the value of ‘digital’ and ‘multi-channel’ strategy has become a full-time job. Join Donor Trends and Jeff Patrick, Chief Analyst of COHORT3, as he reveals their research on critical shifts in giving behavior.
YOU
Click-it: The Nonprofit Sector Has Serious Money Hangups [Listen to free podcast]. How you feel about money, and wealth, will impact how you approach fundraising. And how the people you manage and coach will approach fundraising. Listen to Belinda Rosenblum on Joan Garry’s blog to learn to identify, and perhaps reframe, your relationship with money.
FREE DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES
Annual Giving
Click-it: 20 Questions e-book [Download free “test” about donor communications best practices]. Tom Ahern is the bomb when it comes to fundraising communications. Take this quiz to see how you’re doing, and where you can improve. It’s both fun and informative!
Donor Retention
Click-it: The Fundraiser’s Guide to Loving Lapsed Donors (Download free eBook]. A donor is a terrible thing to lose! Make sure you don’t by following the tips you’ll find in this great resource from Bloomerang.
Management and Strategy
Click-it: 2018 Modern Donor Contours Research [Download free report]. Did you know donors under the age of 72 are more likely to learn about you through online research than from a mailing you send to them? This report from COHORT3 reveals just how much donors have seized control of the giving process. They operate largely on their own timeline, within their preferred channels. Only 9% say materials sent by the charity triggered their first gift!
Online Fundraising
Click-it: 2018 State of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising [Download free report]. Want to know the latest best practices? Grab this annual report, courtesy of Donor Drive and Top Nonprofits.
Social Media
Click-it: Social Media Managers Tool [Free download]. M+R created this Cheat Sheet, complete with recommended responses should folks offer negative (or positive) feedback — just for nonprofits!
Did You Miss My 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.
Here are links to my most recent articles.
- Create 5 Donor Experiences to Boost Online Fundraising
- 3 Content, Online and Social Media Venues for Every Nonprofit
- Donors Give to Big Visions. What’s Yours?
- Top 10 Nonprofit Monthly Recurring Gift Strategies
Hope to see you in Clairification School!
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it!”