Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
This is a great month to do something you’re proud of. And to support others who are showing their spirit and pride. Actually, every month is good for these things!
Which, as it often does, brings me to share a bit of wisdom from the sage Seth Godin.
Doing your job vs doing your work
“If you’re not sure of the difference, you’re probably just doing your job.
Perhaps, if you’re fortunate, your job is in sync with your work.
But most of the time, our work is something we have to fight for. It’s not something we’re given, or apply for. It’s what we choose to do.
The change we seek to make, the people we seek to serve, the decisions we insist on being responsible for.
Doing our work is a calling.
Doing our job is an offer to follow someone else’s instructions.”
How do you see your work? As you navigate funding uncertainty, policy changes, economic burdens, and rapid change, what are you doing today to change tomorrow?
As we enter a big holiday weekend in the U.S., I am reminded of all who came before us. Those who fought for important human rights, who challenged the status quo, and who practiced love, empathy and caring for their fellow human beings. I am grateful for all who have served us – in every imaginable capacity.
It can, at times, be challenging to do our work. To follow our callings. Especially in the face of tremendous pressures – both internal and external. But something as rare as a semiquincentennial should be our opportunity to stop and think about what we value, and what we can do – individually and together – to assure those values live on.
As others served us, so is it our responsibility to serve those who will come after us.
This issue of the Clairity Click-it brings together a carefully curated mix of ideas and resources to help you invent a better future. You’ll find content to support leadership, decision-making, communication, and fundraising — all organized by category so you can easily scan for what’s most relevant to you right now. Or come back when your priorities shift.
As you read, I invite you to look for just one idea you might try or adapt. If something resonates, save it, make a note, and put it on your calendar so it’s there for you when the moment is right.
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 an enrolled Clairification School student, your JULY TIPS are live. If you’re not yet enrolled, please consider helping me cover my costs. [This is a labor of love, but if the enrollment fee is a hardship, please email me and we’ll work it out. I want you on board!. My motto: “If I know it I want you to know it!”]
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
SPECIAL FEATURE: What Disruption Asks of Us
ARTICLES
Click-it: When Disruption Hits: Making Hidden Risks Visible to Meet the Moment and Move Our Missions Forward. How do you govern through a disturbance you don’t yet know how to interpret? The author of this Nonprofit Quarterly article, Dax-Devlon Ross, explores the situations many nonprofits have found themselves in. An environment where what was once proudly said out loud now seems fraught with danger. And where people are grappling with which commitments are fundamental, and which are secondary to the mission. This tells a story of how disruption becomes instruction, and culture becomes capacity. And it begins by asking how you’re interpreting risk, and whether you’re responding from fear, confusion, caution, urgency, ideology, memory or something else. This “Risk Posture Spectrum” becomes the lens through which organizations can find the right stance, for them, to achieve true resilience.
Click-it: The Populist Revolution Now Underway. This Robert Reich “guide to the perplexed” offers some relevant wisdom for those – nonprofits included – seeking to find a better pathway to prosperity and equality for all. He exhorts us to challenge a system that does not focus on makinghomes affordable, making healthcare accessible, and putting childcare and eldercare within reach of the average working family.
Click-it: Here’s How Philanthropy is Responding to an FBI Raid on an Ohio Voting Registration Organization. This piece published in Inside Philanthropy shows how some funders are responding to attacks on civil society and its citizenry. It outlines the perils, and suggests how we can all look ahead. Together.
Articles
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: A Thorough, Complete Argument for Why You Should Include a Reply Card. The short answer is you’ll receive less gifts if you don’t. To learn why, read this article from Steven Screen, the Better Fundraising Co.
Click-it: 13 Quick tips for your next fundraising appeal. Read this tried-and-true advice from Mary Cahalane. These are the fundamentals.
Content Marketing
Click-it: When Donors Ask AI Where to Give, Will Your Nonprofit Show Up? The difference between traditional search and AI-assisted discovery changes how supporters find your organization. Big time. Adaam Ortman writes in NonProfitPro about how to make a few small, consistent improvements to help both donors and AI systems better understand your work. Learn how to get discovered!
Donor Acquisition
Click-it: “Our Donors Are Different” Is Hurting Your Acquisition. Jeff Brooks writes on the Moceanic blog about how to acquire more donors once you’ve completely fished your original pond. You won’t get them the same way as your early donors.
Donor Advised Funds
Click-it: Demystifying donor-advised funds: How to secure a DAF grant. Securing a DAF grant starts with being findable and credible. Here are some steps your nonprofit can take to attract more donor-advised fund grants—starting with your Candid profile.
Events
Click-it: Beyond the Gala: How Events Fit Into Your Bigger Fundraising Strategy. Learn from Auctria where events fall in the total donor journey. Plus how you can measure success beyond just the money raised at the event.
Click-it: 12 Features to Look For in Event Ticketing Software. Event ticketing software is the system that lets you sell tickets, register attendees, check guests in at the door, and pull the reports that tell you what’s working. Eventgroove has provided a checklist of 12 features to look for when considering your options.
Legacy Giving
Click-it: How To Encourage Donors To Make Bequests to Your Nonprofit. Learn how to introduce the concept of legacy giving with your prospective supporters in this article on Ann Green’s Nonprofit Blog.
Major and Capital Giving
Click-it: Your First Visit With A Prospective Donor: What Can Go Right and What Can Go Wrong. Grab some useful tips from Jim Langley on the Market Smart blog.
Click-it: Moves Management: How to Cultivate Donor Relationships. This Donor Search article explains how to keep track of all your major donor prospect relationships so you can approach each current and potential donor in a way that resonates with them.
HOW ABOUT THIS: Tell your boss you want them to take a course so they can hold you accountable. That ought to get their attention! This Veritus Group Certification Course for Fundraising Managers and Executives is specifically designed for staff who manage major gift officers. It runs in tandem with the certification courses in Major Gifts & Mid-Level Fundraising, so your entire team can learn the same language and implement a consistent system. Depending on your budget, you can sign up for the course that most meets your needs. OR… take advantage of the generous 20% discount if you enroll three or more from your team. Email me for details on the group pricing.
NOTE: The next cohort begins August 24, 2026, and you save $200 if you register before July 24th. And make sure to use my exclusive Clairification Community discount code – CA5 — to save an additional $100 no matter what you choose!
Strategy, Planning, Management and Leadership
Click-it: Bridging the Gap Between Legacy Governance Practices and Digital Transformation. Digital transformation doesn’t just change how staff work. It changes what boards must oversee. If governance stays stuck in “legacy mode” while the organization moves forward, the gap becomes apparent. This Nonprofit Hub article explains how to modernize governance, so the board can do its job effectively.
Technology as Tool
Click-it: AI Won’t Fix the Mess You Feed It.Roger Craver, who had six decades of fundraising experience, suggests on the Agitator-DonorVoice blog that you listen to practitioners, not self-described “gurus,” when it comes to figuring out how AI can actually help you. Listen to people with decades of understanding about what actually moves donors, what builds retention, and what produces net revenue versus what merely produces activity. Did you know while upward of 90% of nonprofit staff report experimenting with AI, fewer than 10% report any meaningful improvement in organizational capability?
Click-it: Can fundraisers tell the difference between AI and human written thank you letters? This SOFII article explores what a research study revealed about this question. The answers may surprise you, as will their distinction between thankfulness and gratitude. AI helps with one better than the other.
Writing
Click-it: Are You Making Sure Your Audience Understands You? Too often, we inadvertently overcomplicate things or use insider language or jargon. This will stop a reader dead in their tracks! Learn how to connect easily with your would-be supporters in this article from Ann Green’s Nonprofit Blog.
Other Learning Opportunities
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!
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: The Free Offer That Tripled Donor Conversions [Watch 60-second video]. Could creating value before asking for a gift change how donors respond? The folks at NextAfter walk through a test where a nonprofit explored two different approaches to engaging visitors. One of them had a 199% increase in conversions!
Donor Advised Funds
Click-it: Unlock Major Giving with DAFpay: What It Is and How to Make It Work for You [Listen to free, on-demand webinar]. Learn from 4aGoodCause and Chariot about the latest DAF trends (from the 2025 DAF Fundraising Report), how DAFs can elevate your major gifts strategy, and how DAFpay makes giving via DAF simpler for your donors—and easier to manage for your development team.
Psychology of Giving
Click-it: Amp Up Your Appeal’s Persuasive Power with Research from Psychology and Neuroscience [Listen to free, on-demand webinar]. Here’s a learning session I offered for Bloomerang on the topic of understanding how donors make decisions. If you know what encourages/discourages giving, you can hugely influence donor choices. Here are some of my favorite “tricks” to help you connect with triggers most likely to influence would-be donors to say “yes” to your fundraising offers. They’re not manipulations; just smart, research-based tools you could be using to improve messaging and calls to action.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, PAPERS, TEMPLATES & OTHER RESOURCES
Storytelling
Click-it: 2025 Ethical Storytelling Report [Download free resource]. Nonprofits are under growing pressure to tell powerful stories while navigating rising concerns around consent, dignity, bias, and AI-generated content. The MemoryFox 2025 Ethical Storytelling Report is your practical guide to collecting, using, and sharing impact stories responsibly in today’s rapidly changing landscape.
Strategy, Planning, Management and Leadership
Click-it: 2026 Nonprofit Benchmark Report [Download free resource]. This Report from Virtuous outlines the seven core metrics (with sub-metrics too) that drive nonprofit resilience and growth. Read this to reduce your blind spots, see how each metric affects the other, and get specific strategies tied to every metric.
Technology as Tool
Click-it: 12 Best Nonprofit Fundraising Tools: New for 2026 [Download free Report]. This article will give you an overview of what Charity Engine considers to be the best fundraising tools for nonprofits. It’s a comprehensive overview of the many strategies you should be considering.
Website + Landing Pages
Click-it: What Does Your Donation Form Actually Need? (And What You Should Cut) [Free guide]. Every extra field on your giving form is one more decision your donor has to make. And small decisions add up. So, Ronald Pruitt, 4aGoodCause, put together a guide that walks through: The 5 fields your donation form actually needs to process a gift; 8 fields you can safely cut (with the reasoning behind each), and how to collect the donor info you still need—without cluttering the form.
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.
💡 Fundraising Do’s vs. Don’ts: Online Memorial Donation Example
🌱 Bottom Line: Philanthropy Culture Improves Fundraising
💖 Top Strategy to Get 100% of Nonprofit Board to Give Passionately
🔥 How to Inspire Passionate Philanthropy with Humility, Concentration, and Gusto
🎯 Act Fast, Raise Big: The Skills You Need to Win Major Donors Today
💸Major Gifts Fundraising: Pie in the Sky, Pie in your Face or Your Piece of Pie
📈Why Creating Donor Engagement Opportunities Boosts Fundraising
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: How To Tell A Compelling Fundraising Story.
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. JULY TIPS are live. Your support is much appreciated, and helps me to support you. Thank you!
This week I’m sharing painted telephone boxes found around San Francisco on my walks. Turning ugly into beautiful!
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