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Year-End Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links + Free Resources

All the stuff

Markets often persuade us that we don’t have enough.

Communities remind us that we do.

— Seth Godin

In the time between now and the New Year, take time to enjoy your family and community. And even your stuff. Gratitude season didn’t end with Thanksgiving. It’s year-round, especially for those of us fortunate enough to work in the social benefit sector. If we all do our job of facilitating philanthropy well, we will find the way to get to enough for all.

Please enjoy this holiday week reading, listening and viewing list for inspiration and guidance. It is my sincere pleasure and honor to help you find the ideas, strategies, tactics, templates and tools you need to make our world a better place. I’d like to again thank my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang, who have stood with me and you throughout this crazy year.  

Thank you for doing such vital work, and may the year ahead bring many blessings,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Want to resolve to be an active learner next year? Your support via enrollment in ‘Clairification School’ enables me to deliver original articles direct to your in-box. Plus you’ll get access to all my webinars, exclusive monthly tips, bonuses and more.

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Jolly Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links + Free Resources

UYBJ

This is an absolutely terrible acronym for a really important idea.

Use Your Best Judgment.

Don’t wait for someone else to take responsibility. Don’t wait for perfect. Don’t wait to find this exact situation in the manual or in history.

Use your best judgment.

My preferred abbreviation is: Go go go.

Not with a guarantee.

Not with someone to blame.

Simply because we need you to lead us.

— Seth Godin

To use your best judgement you need resources to help you form that judgement. I’m here to help. That’s why I offer this collection of curated resources every other week. It’s all about helping you find the ideas, strategies, tactics, templates and tools you need to go, go, go. Find a few things that speak to you, and… get clicking!  I’d like to again thank my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang, without whom I wouldn’t be able to set aside the time to find all these goodies. I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I enjoy finding them for you.

Thank you for doing the world’s important work during this incredibly busy and challenging time.

You are important, and I am grateful for you,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. I hope your end-of-year is amazing! If you find value in Clairification, your support via enrollment in ‘Clairification School’ is a blessing. You’ll be able to read every single article I’ve ever written, plus you’ll get access to all my webinars, monthly tips, bonuses and more.

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Gratitude Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links + Free Resources

The stairstep and the curve

If your roof is leaking, the water in the basement will gradually move up until you’ve got a full-blown flood.

And for most humans, for twenty years, each day we get a little taller.

It’s easy to take this physical reality and imagine that it applies to the way humans improve their skills, or organizations mature and grow.

But they’re usually more quantum than that. One day we’re at one state or scale or system, and then we’re leaping to the next level.

It’s not a curve, it’s a flight of stairs. And leaping takes guts.

— Seth Godin

If you’re ready to take a leap forward, I’m ready to help. That’s why I offer this collection of curated resources every other week. It’s all about helping you climb those stairs, one after the other, as you mature and grow your skills. I am so very grateful you are here.

Find a few things that speak to you, and… get clicking!  I’d like to again thank my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang, without whom I wouldn’t be able to set aside the time to find all these goodies. I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I enjoy finding them for you.

Thank you for doing the world’s important work.

I am grateful,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. If you find value in Clairification, your support via enrollment in ‘Clairification School’ is a blessing. You’ll be able to read every single article I’ve ever written, plus you’ll get access to all my webinars, monthly tips, bonuses and more.

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Clairity Click-it: Thanks(for)giving Nonprofit Links + Free Resources

The simple but difficult marketing flip

From, “Pay attention, I want you to buy what I made.”

to…

“I’ve been paying attention, and I think I can offer you what you want.”

— Seth Godin

I often say “If you want gifts, you must give them.” And what better time to consider what you have to offer as we approach the holiday of thanks(for)giving? The best gifts, of course, are those selected especially with the recipient’s desires in mind. In the philanthropic equation, this means thinking from your donor’s perspective, not your organization’s.  Rather than saying “I want you to give to our annual campaign,” what about “I know how much you value justice and equity, and here’s a way you can live that value.”

As the busy calendar year-end fundraising season kicks into full gear, I’ve assembled more resources to help you focus and do your best work.  Find a few things that speak to you, and… get clicking!  Please give a shout out to my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang, without whom I wouldn’t be able to set aside the time to collect all these goodies. I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I enjoy finding them for you.

Thank you for doing the world’s important work.

I am grateful,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. If you find value in Clairification, your support via enrollment in ‘Clairification School’ is a blessing. You’ll be able to read every single article I’ve ever written, plus you’ll get access to all my webinars, monthly tips, bonuses and more.

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Clairity Click-it: Cornucopia of Nonprofit Links + Free Resources

Effort

Insufficient effort creates work that’s wasted. If you do a slapdash job, then the roof leaks, the food is inedible, the car doesn’t start. Insufficient effort is a shortcut that wasn’t worth taking.

Sufficient effort is the goal of the industrial capitalist. Capture the most value with the least work. Build a house that doesn’t fall down, with components that last exactly long enough to avoid a claim. Explain that due to unusually call volume…

And then, perhaps, there’s a third option.

Expending more effort than most people think is sufficient.

This is attention to detail. Care in design. Follow through in customer service. This is an embrace of elegance and wabisabi and the opposite of laziness. This is bringing care (which is rare and precious) to work even if most people would look for a shortcut instead.

More effort creates beauty and magic and remarkability.

Perfectionism is a false hope and a place to hide.

Effort, on the other hand, is our best chance to do work that matters.

— Seth Godin

Wabi sabi derives from Buddhist teachings and centers on an acceptance of imperfection, together with simplicity and economy. If you want to expend your efforts wisely, and create beauty, magic and remarkability, it helps to appreciate the fundamentals plus have a little support so you can take extra care. And that’s what this collection of curated resources is for.

Please peruse these free resources to help you as you push your way through the busy calendar year-end fundraising season.  Find a few things that speak to you, and… get clicking!  I want to give a shout out to my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang. I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I enjoy finding them for you.

Thank you for being you,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Please enroll in Clairification School as an official student if you’ve not done so already. I don’t want you to miss a thing during this important last quarter of the calendar year. November’s exclusive tips for students will be posted soon!  October’s are still available.

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Clairity Click-it: Harvest of Nonprofit Links + Free Resources

“We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried.”

“When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

— Excerpted from “The Hill We Climb,” Amanda Gorman, Poet Laureate

This has been quite a period of change, uncertainty, fear and hope. I know you are tired. I know you are trying. I know you are brave. I know, because of you and your important work, a new dawn will bloom.

Please peruse this curated collection of free resources to help you as you push your way through the busy calendar year-end fundraising season.  Find a few things that speak to you, and… get clicking!  I want to give a shout out to my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang. I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I enjoy finding them for you.

Thank you for being you,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Please enroll in Clairification School as an official student if you’ve not done so already. I don’t want you to miss a thing during this important last quarter of the calendar year. November’s exclusive tips for students will be posted soon!  October’s are still available.

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Clairity Click-it: Fall into Free Nonprofit Links + Resources

Autumn is in the air (at least in the northern hemisphere), and there’s a lot happening in the world of philanthropy and the social benefit sector. Some is politically motivated; some is pandemic-related. For all sorts of reasons, people are thinking more carefully about their values and what matters to them – personally, for their children and grandchildren, and for people and the planet as a whole.

This means whatever you previously thought you knew about your supporters may no longer be the case. And whatever you previously thought you knew about fundraising and marketing “best practices” may also no longer be the case.

Here’s one piece of really good news: A recent Fidelity Charitable survey found a significant percentage of donors gave more to charity in 2020 than they did the previous year, and virtually all of them (93%) plan to give the same (67%) or even more (26%) this year. Plus donors will continue to embrace new channels and methods for donating both money and time. Did you know this year (2021):

• 29% say they will purchase more products from socially responsible businesses.
• 28% percent say they will make more donations online.
• 28% say they’ll give more money directly to individuals, family or friends.

• 35% say they’ll spend more time volunteering in the future; many will continue to do so virtually (pre-pandemic only 17% volunteered virtually; that increased to 30% in 2020).

Please peruse this curated collection of free resources to help you figure out the best strategies to prioritize in the months ahead – plus how to execute them with pride, prudence, proficiency, passion and panache. Find a few things that speak to you, and… get clicking!  I want to give a shout out to my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang. I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I enjoy finding them for you.

Thank you SO MUCH for doing the important work you do,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Please enroll in Clairification School as an official student if you’ve not done so already. I don’t want you to miss a thing during this important last quarter of the calendar year. October’s exclusive tips for students just posted today!  

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Clairity Click-it: Booster of Free Nonprofit Links + Resources

What story are you telling yourself today about you and your work? How often do you tell yourself “I’m really stressed?” I want you to stop that. I want to help you to stop that.

But I know it’s not as easy as saying “stress won’t help you.”

The solution to stress isn’t reassurance. It’s accurately understanding the world as it is, and making choices about what we do and how we do it. But far more than that, we relieve stress by making choices about the stories we tell ourselves.

— Seth Godin

Getting the details right, and waiting for some external reassurance after the fact, is a vicious cycle. Because tomorrow there’ll be a new stressor. You’ll never get enough reassurance.

Unless you learn to reassure yourself. Learn to tell your own story. Don’t wait for others to reassure you it’s a good one.

Whatever I can do to help you, it is my sincere honor and pleasure. I’m opening up more individual coaching spots, precisely for this purpose. So please let me know if you’d like to work with me. We can even break them into two 30 minute sessions if you wish; we can get a surprising amount done — enough to give you a big boost as you approach your work this fall!

While you think about it, please peruse this curated collection of completely free resources to help you with theory, tips and tools. Find a few things that speak to you, and… get clicking!  I want to give a shout out to my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang. I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I enjoy finding them for you.

Thank you SO MUCH for doing the important work you do,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my recent articles on Clairification (see links below).  I seem to have been doing a lot of metaphoric chopping, fishing and climbing over the last couple of weeks. Could I be restless? You? Please enroll in Clairification School as an official student so you don’t miss a thing – who knows what we’ll be up to next!

Claire

claire@clairification.com

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Apres Le Deluge Clairity Click-it: Free Nonprofit Links + Resources

How often do you hear people saying these days “the world is out of control,” “everything is chaos,” or “these times are so disordered and abnormal?” I hear it. A lot. So I was struck by a recent piece from coach and author Tara Mohr who said it suddenly struck her that everything is in perfect order. In other words, actions have consequences. Our job, whenever the world falls into a state of unbalance, is to deal with them. To tip the scales back to equilibrium.

If we act with greed and disregard for the earth, our beautiful skies and clean air will no longer be there for us.

If our economy doesn’t put people first – treating its workers with decency and care – we will find it is profoundly vulnerable in a time of crisis.

If as a collective, we can’t walk humbly and work together diligently in the face of a pandemic, we will become its fools.

And if we try to ignore, or somehow transcend, our oppression of people and communities, without real reckoning, without the destruction of old ideas and systems and the creation of new ones, we will find out that no, there is no true way forward without deep transformation and reparation.

In all these ways, nothing that is happening now is out of order.

Nothing that is happening now is out of order – and the order it is revealing to us is one where regard for the earth, and each other, is imperative.

— Tara Mohr

Your job right now, as a philanthropy facilitator, is imperative. Philanthropy means “love of humanity,” and we need philanthropy now more than ever.

Whatever I can do to help you, it is my sincere honor and pleasure. That’s why I take the time, every other week, to curate this collection of completely free resources to help you with theory, tips and tools. Find a few things that speak to you, and… get clicking!  I also want to give a shout out to my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang. I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I enjoy finding them for you.

Thank you SO MUCH for doing the important work you do,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Clairity Click-it: Pencil Box of Free Nonprofit Links + 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

claire@clairification.com

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…