Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Did you know the odds of filling out a perfect NCAA basketball bracket are one in 9.2 quintillion, and you’re more likely to die an excruciating death by vending machine, become president, win the Mega Millions jackpot or die from incorrectly using products made for right-handed people (if you’re a lefty)? Nonetheless, millions of Americans will fill out March Madness brackets this month (Here’s an idiot’s guide, if you’re determined to play]. If you want to continue working in ways the odds are stacked against you, go right ahead. I can’t stop you. What I can do is stack the odds so you’ll definitely achieve greater fundraising success in the coming year!
Clairity Click-it is my free gift to you — made possible thanks to my 2018 sponsor, Bloomerang. I’ve got lots more wisdom to share, and hope you’ll take advantage this year by also enrolling in ‘Clairification School’. You’ll get access to ALL my content for a full 12 months, including original weekly articles, bonus webinars and more, in the most cost-effective way I’ve found to deliver it – literally just pennies a day.
Your support means a lot, and makes it possible for me to offer useful insights and “how to” tools for those who can’t afford the cost of coaching, conferences or consultation — but can’t afford not to work smart!
Enjoy… and hope to see you soon in school.
P.S. Questions? Just ask! I read and respond to every single email.
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
Annual Individual Giving
Click-it: Why simple fundraising always works — and 2 ways everybody screws it up. Truer words than Jeff Brooks of Future Fundraising Now were never spoken.
Data and Metrics
Click-it: A Beginner’s Guide to Testing and Measuring Your Donor Campaigns. Check out this guest article by Jessica Barrett Halcom on the Hands-On-Fundraising Blog. There are super useful tips on how and what to measure. And it’s not just about retention. When it comes to acquisition, be sure to measure conversions and not just opens and clicks.
Donor Retention
Click-it: It’s Time for You to Evaluate Donor Retention For the Past Year by Abigail Harmon of Mersky, Jaffe & Associates is a reminder to figure out where you stand; then put in place strategies to remedy what’s not working.
Events
Click-it: Top 29 Event Marketing Ideas the Pros Use. While not meant for nonprofits per se, this article by Anna Dizon for Fit Small Business collects terrific advice from top marketers about best ways to promote your event. See if you can find at least one tip to borrow.
Management and Strategy
Click-it: Why Do Nonprofits Give Their Staff Such Terrible Job Titles? This blog post is one of Market Smart’s most popular, so I thought I’d share. If you want my take on the subject, scroll down through the comments – towards the bottom.
Click-it: How to Get Millennials to Give to Your Nonprofit as Told by a Millennial. Check out Zach Shefska’s refreshing take on how not to fundraise from millennials. This falls into the category of: It takes one to know one. On the re:charity blog. Might all generations be alike in this regard? Hmmn…
Online Social Marketing and Fundraising
Click-it: 10 Ideas driving the future of social media marketing. I love to keep abreast of what the for-profit world is tracking, especially when it comes to areas where they have resources most nonprofiteers do not. Here is Mark Schaefer, marketing strategist extraordinaire, and his take on where we’re headed.
Trends: Tax Law
Click-it: A prediction for nonprofits in 2018. Gene Takagi is an attorney in my home town who specializes in charitable giving. Here’s what he has to say about the rise of 501(c) (4) nonprofits, and how this may influence giving to your cause – especially if you’re a social change organization.
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: How to Optimize Your Donation Page to Grow Giving [On-demand, free webinar]. Noah Barnett of CauseVox shares awesome tips. Really practical stuff to help you make some simple changes to boost your fundraising results.
Boards and Leadership
Click-it: Asking for Money Isn’t Sexy… But Philanthropy Is [Listen to podcast]. Joan Garry and I discuss a range of topics, from building a philanthropy culture… to clarifying board and staff roles… to eliminating siloes… to overcoming fear of fundraising.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Why your donor segmentation and lack of real donor journeys cost you donations [Register for free webinar, 4-4-18]. Nick Ellinger and Kevin Schulman of DonorVoice walk you through how to move past RFM and demographic-based segmentation to use more targeted donor identities to increase your revenues.
Events
Just Added! Click-it: Events in a Digital Age: How to Maximize Offline Events in an Online World [Register for free webinar, exclusive for Clairification community, 3-27-18]. I’m delighted to welcome Dana Ostomel of Firespring back to Clairification for this special session where she’ll join me to answer all your questions about streamlining your next event by giving it digital legs from from day one.
Major Gifts
Click-it: Nervous about the Ask? [Free on-demand video] Watch this quick Movie Mondays video by Chris Davenport where three in-the-trenches fundraisers talk about their own experiences asking for gifts.
Click-it: How to Use Donor Surveys to Raise More Money [Free on-demand webinar] Market Smart offers this terrific session by Dr. Russell James, the expert who studies the neuroscience behind planned and major giving.
Management and Strategy
Click-it: Creating a Better Workplace Culture [Register for free webinar, 3-27-18]. In a quick 30 minutes, learn from Delia Rey, author of The Little Book of Self Care, how to develop and retain your staff to ensure greater success. Hosted by Mazarine Treyz of Wildwoman Fundraising.
Online Marketing
Click-it: Marketing Automation [Register for free webinar 3-28-18] Media Cause President Cody Damon is offering a 3-part series of webinars sponsored by Salsa. If you enjoy this one, sign up for the next two on smart digital media buys and peer to peer fundraising. They’re just 30 minutes a pop.
YOU
Click-it: Rising In Your Nonprofit Career [Register for free webinar 3-20-18]. Wildwoman Fundraising hosts the author of Get the Job! Your Fundraising Career Empowerment Guide, to offer up advice on getting your next job – whether you’re coming in from the outside or seeking to get promoted from within.
FREE DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES
Boards and Leadership
Click-it: Board Retreats Done Right [Article plus free sample agenda] The awesome Joan Garry explains the five things that can derail a retreat; then offers five keys for success. You can also download a sample retreat agenda!
Content Marketing
Click-it: Donor Communication Strategy Report [Free downloadable report]. Thanks to Donor Trends, here is actionable advice around how often to contact your donors to maximize fundraising success.
Click-it: Digital Marketing Plan for Nonprofits: The Definitive Guide [Download free template]. This guide from Jason Firch at Nonprofits Source will walk you through how to use Google Analytics to track where your referrals come from, and also how to juice up these referrals and organic search. For example, did you know the phrase, “where to donate furniture,” is searched 990 times per month? Knowing this generated 10,000 visits/month for Habitat for Humanity.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Donor Love and Loyalty Plan [Download free worksheet]. Use this template – written by me and made free to you by our good friends at Bloomerang — to build your year-round cultivation, engagement and relationship-building plan so you retain and upgrade more donors. Bottom line: Fundraisers, when all is said and done, are in the “happiness delivery business.” Are you delivering happiness?
Management and Strategy
Click-it: Empathic Management in the Nonprofit Sector [Download free podcast]. Successful Nonprofits invited Carrie Rice, empathic management and training expert, to discuss ways to use empathic techniques to build individual donor programs, board effectiveness and staff leadership training. When you’ve got 30 minutes, plan to take a listen. Great food for thought!
Click-it: Road Rage Effect and Being Fair to Donors [Listen to Podcast] Hear what engagement fundraising expert Jim Langley has to say about adjusting to attitudes of donors in different generations on the Market Smart website. This is particularly useful for schools doing alumni fundraising.
Psychology of Giving
Click-it: Asking for Money Isn’t Sexy… But Philanthropy Is (with Claire Axelrad) [Listen to on-demand podcast]. The amazing Joan Garry, Nonprofits are Messy, interviews me about how to get back the excitement we once had, but which somehow seems to evaporate when we think about “fundraising,” rather than “philanthropy.”
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!
Here are links to my most recent articles. These are not ‘sales’ blog posts. I’m not part of a big company. It’s just me here – trying to pay it forward by sharing with you whatever I’ve learned over more than three decades of in-the-trenches nonprofit experience. Your modest ‘tuition’ just covers my costs.
- 12 Top Tips to Build Community and Broaden Your Nonprofit Donor Base
- Don’t Eschew Small Gift Affinity Fundraising
- How Positive Feedback Boosts Nonprofit Fundraising
- Nonprofit Management and Productivity: Where Do You Add Value?
Hope to see you in Clairification School!
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it!”
