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We’re now transitioning to a novel period of nonprofit transformation, informed by events of the past year and an acceleration of digital disruption. It’s not “back to normal,” but that’s a good thing since normal was probably part of the problem.

I’m calling this issue jejune partly as a play on the name of the month we’re in and partly because jejune means “devoid of significance or interest.” Could that be how you’ve been doing fundraising? Are you relevant, or do you fail to meet folks where they are and fully engage them?

In recognition of the fact we’re moving from pre- to during to post-, I’m retiring one feature and adding a new one with this issue. The “Tips for Not-So-Normal Times” which debuted during the pandemic has now run its 15-month course (that’s long enough!). But the way forward is uncertain, and much is in flux. There’s so much conversation about the role of philanthropy and nonprofits and the best way to do fundraising that I’m debuting a new “Opinions” feature where I’ll showcase more than one side of an issue. Please let me know what you think; I truly value feedback.

Thank you again to my generous 2021 sponsor, Bloomerang, for their continued support of my curation of content for you across the web – all with the goal of helping you in your quest to facilitate passionate philanthropy. If you find one or more articles, webinars or free downloadable guides useful I’ll be happy.

And if you find Clairification useful … please consider enrolling in Clairification School to get 12 months of all the wisdom I have to share!

My motto is:  “If I know it, I want you to know it.”

Let’s get to this issue’s “click-it” links!

Thank you for doing the important work you do,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. If you’re on the fence about enrolling in Clairification School, see what others say about why they’ve joined. If you’re not happy, I’ll refund you the $1.92/week. How’s that?

June is about to bust out in bloom. How might you bust out and blossom as well?

I’ve got free tips and tools galore, bustin’ out all over!

I begin by thanking my generous sponsor, Bloomerang, for their continued support of my curation of content for you across the web – all with the goal of helping you in your quest to facilitate passionate philanthropy. If you find one or more articles, webinars or free downloadable guides useful I’ll be happy. And if you find Clairification useful …

Please consider enrolling in Clairification School to get 12 month’s of all the wisdom I have to share!

My motto is:  “If I know it, I want you to know it.”

Let’s get right to this issue’s links!

Thank you for doing the important work you do,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S.

I try to make my content as close to free as humanly possible (without it costing me money). If you’re on the fence about enrolling, see what others say about why they’ve joined. If you’re not happy, I’ll refund you. How’s that?

“For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us”

— Amanda Gorman, excerpt from “The Hill We Climb” inaugural poem

Venture forward. What you do now matters. For today and tomorrow.

Whether you rest on your laurels, continue in complacency, and content yourself with status quo OR dig deeply to find how you might re-invent to find greater balance, justice and truth.

The choice is yours. And, oh, what a choice.

To take the easy path… or forge a new one potent with promise. To work to your least, medium… or greatest capacity. To tread water… or dive into work that centers empathy and equity. To follow… or lead.

The work of those who toil in the vineyards of the social benefit sector is not always easy. Success is not measured by how much profit redounds to shareholders, but by how much social return is generated from your investment. Frankly, this is increasingly important to workers in all sectors. “Do no harm” is not enough; the goal is creating ACTIVE good. The venture is a collective one, with internal and external stakeholders joining together in shared purpose. How you create a collective culture, foster a sense of identity, meaning and belonging, and enthusiastically engage your village, becomes a critical piece of the impact you will have.

What will your legacy be? How will you activate it? How will you reshape the future?

To help you become the best you can be, I’m happy to present this edition of free resources for your continuing education and consideration.  This comes with a huge shout-out to this year’s sponsor, Bloomerang.

Beyond this bimonthly curated newsletter, I’ve got lots more wisdom to share and hope you’ll take advantage this year by enrolling in Clairification School. This gives you a full 12 months of strategic advice — articles, free webinars, monthly tips, bonuses and more. If you’re on the fence about enrolling, see what others say about why they’ve joined.

Enjoy, and may you go from strength to strength,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Ask your question here. And bookmark the Ask an Expert page! See the recently posted (1) What is the Purpose of Publicizing Legacy Gifts? and (2) How to Negotiate a Gift of Reality with Strings Attached.

Time to emerge from the showers of April to the flowers of May.

Metaphorically, of course. Weather has been weird some places.

No matter. It’s a good time to consider the big picture. To go to that place where weirdness and arguments cease. Where there is no “right” or “wrong.” Only possibility.

This reminds me of some of Rumi’s most widely quoted verses.

Out beyond ideas of
wrongdoing and rightdoing
there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down
in that grass,
the world is too full
to talk about.

Ideas, language,
even the phrase ‘each other’
doesn’t make any sense.

– RUMI

What are the truths and values that animate your work, and how can you come from this place to connect more meaningfully with your constituents?

To help you become even more mindful in the contributions you make, I’m happy to present this edition of free resources for you to enjoy.  Again, I’d like to send a shout-out to this year’s sponsor, Bloomerang, for keeping this gratis.

I’ve got lots more wisdom to share, and hope you’ll take advantage this year.  Clairification School gives you a full 12 months of strategic advice! Articles, free webinars, monthly tips, bonuses and more. If you’re on the fence about enrolling, see what others say about why they’ve joined.

Enjoy, and may you go from strength to strength,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Ask your question here. And bookmark the Ask an Expert page! Check out (1) Who are the best prospects for legacy gifts? and (2) What are Predictive Analytics for Planned Giving?

When’s the last time you sat down and were thoughtful about prioritizing your agenda?

Spring is an excellent time for new beginnings, and I have just the inspiration you need to provoke your thinking, not just about your own work but also about how to inspire donors to include your cause on their action plan for the coming year.

From Jobs to be done

We can measure our performance (and our days) by how well we’re doing the jobs to be done. They focus our attention and our effort and create positive outcomes when we do them on time (and negative ones when we don’t).

12 or more years of school are nothing but this. Training in awareness of jobs to be done, and applying the minimum amount of effort to get those jobs done. Show me your list of jobs to be done and I’ll have a good idea of how you spend your time and the impact you’re making.

Easily overlooked, though, is the process of how something gets on our agenda or doesn’t. Working on voting rights, paying attention to voices unheard, grabbing possibilities for learning or growth or contribution–these are easy to ignore if they’re not on the list of jobs to be done.

And the people who do have these on their list… part of their job is to put their issue on our lists.

As soon as you sign up for a social network, it becomes a job to be done. And the moment you take investment for a new company, your jobs to be done completely change.

This gets meta pretty quick: one of the jobs to be done is to be clear about what the jobs to be done are, and whether or not they are the right jobs.

And another one of the jobs to be done is helping other people see that the things we care about belong on their list of jobs to be done.

If all you’re doing is the jobs you used to do, you’re certainly missing out on the contributions you’re capable of.”

— Seth Godin

To help you become even more capable in the contributions you make, I’m happy to present this edition of free resources for you to enjoy.  This year’s Click-it comes to you for free due to the generous sponsorship of Bloomerang. I am so grateful, as it continues to be my great pleasure to curate content for you across the web – all with the goal of helping you in your quest to facilitate passionate philanthropy.

I’ve got lots more wisdom to share, and hope you’ll take advantage this year.  Clairification School gives you a full 12 months of strategic advice! Articles, free webinars, monthly tips, bonuses and more. If you’re on the fence about enrolling, see what others say about why they’ve joined.

Enjoy, and may you go from strength to strength,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Please check out all my 2021 sponsors (below) who make enrollment in ‘Clairification School’ so beneficial. I dare you not to raise a quick extra $100 — and much more — after digging into all the resources that will come your way. You get in-depth, actionable articles, webinars, monthly tips, bonuses and more. Plus you’ll build saleable skills to keep you in demand. My amazing, carefully-selected, highly recommended sponsors (scroll to the bottom) help to underwrite costs, so it’s not $800 – $1,000 like programs you’ll find elsewhere.  Just $8.33/month.

Here’s a spring bouquet of free resources for you to enjoy.  It continues to be my great pleasure to curate content for you across the web – all with the goal of helping you in your quest to facilitate passionate philanthropy. This year’s Click-it comes to you for free due to the generous sponsorship of Bloomerang. Please check them out and send them a “huzzah!”

I’ve got lots more wisdom to share, and hope you’ll take advantage this year.  Clairification School gives you a full 12 months of strategic advice! Articles, free webinars, monthly tips, bonuses and more. If you’re on the fence about enrolling, see what others say about why they’ve joined.

Enjoy, and may you go from strength to strength,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. If you want to learn from 30 Nonprofit Experts over 3 full days — March 23–25** — — simply CLICK HERE. The Top Nonprofits Changemakers “Being the Change” Virtual Summit will address critical issues facing nonprofits TODAY in fundraising, marketing and operations, management and strategy. Since I’m speaking, I get to offer members of the Clairification Community – YOU — $50 off the already ridiculously affordable price (works out to about $7/session and you get access to all recordings for a full year)! Be sure to use CODE Claire50. Oh, and did I mention there will be CFRE credits, prize give-aways and live comedy?

The trap of busy

Everyone who wants to be busy is busy.

But not everyone is productive.

Busy is simply a series of choices about how to spend the next minute.

Productive requires skill, persistence and good judgment. Productive means that you have created something of value.

Perhaps your self-created busy-ness is causing you to be less productive.

— Seth Godin

This week I want you to consider whether what you’re busying yourself with is the most productive use of your time. Are you prioritizing the work that will yield you the results you most seek? Or are you back-burnering your most important tasks simply because it’s easier that way?

While it may seem less stressful that way in the short-term, it’s almost never easier over the long haul. You must plant fruit trees today if you hope to harvest a crop tomorrow.

Do you often fall into the pattern of “just doing my job,” without considering what might happen if you replaced “doing” with “improving,” “reinventing,” or “transforming?”

Hopefully some of this week’s resources will help you turn the mission-critical tasks that seem daunting into tasks that seem approachable. What might you do in the months ahead to positively transform your culture, work output and revenue-generation?

It’s time for a little spring cleaning.

Throw out the old; the strategies no longer bringing you joy. Add some new stuff that brings you energy. Your resources await!

Thank you for doing what you do to make our world a more caring, more just place,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. If you want to learn from 30 Nonprofit Experts over 3 full days — March 23–25** — — simply CLICK HERE. The Top Nonprofits Changemakers “Being the Change” Virtual Summit will address critical issues facing nonprofits TODAY in fundraising, marketing and operations, management and strategy. Since I’m speaking, I get to offer members of the Clairification Community – YOU — $50 off the already ridiculously affordable price (works out to about $7/session and you get access to all recordings for a full year)! Be sure to use CODE Claire50. Oh, and did I mention there will be CFRE credits, prize give-aways and live comedy?

Time to march forward! Yes, into a new month. But also into a novel economy. Things are not going to go backwards, so it’s on us to learn to adapt to new ways of thinking and acting.

Hopefully this newsletter will help! I’ve got lots of resources for you, some thought-provoking and some practical and action-focused. I really don’t want you to wing it when there’s so much expertise and experience from which to borrow. As you know, I’m a voracious reader and lifelong learner. And… if I know it I want you to know it (my “motto.”)

I want to again send a shout-out to my 2021 Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang, for keeping this newsletter free. They’re making it possible for me to spend time curating and sending this newsletter to you on a biweekly basis. We are aligned in wanted to help you bring greater good, justice and harmony to our communities and world.

What you do matters. A lot.

It is my privilege and pleasure to help you do with as much joy, hope and effectiveness as possible,

claire@clairification.com

P.S. If you want to learn from 30 Nonprofit Experts over 3 full days — March 23–25** — — simply CLICK HERE. The Top Nonprofits Changemakers “Being the Change” Virtual Summit will address critical issues facing nonprofits TODAY in fundraising, marketing and operations, management and strategy. Since I’m speaking, I get to offer members of the Clairification Community – YOU — $50 off the already ridiculously affordable price (works out to under $12/session and you get access for a full year)! Be sure to use CODE Claire50. Oh, and did I mention there will be CFRE credits, prize give-aways and live comedy?

Talk of vaccination is in the air, so I looked up the definition: “treatment with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease. ” I hope you and your loved ones have been, or are soon, able to boost your immunity to Covid-19 disease. Meanwhile, why not focus in on the other “diseases” — the enemies your nonprofit is fighting on a daily basis. What if you were able to raise more money to weaken whatever forces contribute to the problems you’re endeavoring to solve?

I’ve collected for you a slew of resources to help you now, mid-pandemic, and to prepare for the day when things do get back to a post-covid version of normal.  As I’ve said throughout this prolonged period of disruption, make sure you meet your urgent needs. But also use this opportunity to take a long view.  Crisis has a way of forcing us to re-evaluate what’s important, and what’s not. Seize this opportunity to innovate, adapt and tweak what you’ve been doing so you’ll come out on the other side even stronger than you were before.

Also take some time to be grateful – and proud. You are making the world a better place. Your mission was important yesterday. It’s important today. It will be important tomorrow. You are on the front lines of enacting values other people truly care about. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be your supporters. So please keep the faith in your vision. I promise you, it is one that is shared.

What you do matters. A lot.

It is my privilege and pleasure to help you enact your vision, mission and values with as much joy, hope and effectiveness as possible,

I hope you’ll also enroll this year in ‘Clairification School’. You’ll get access to ALL my content for a full 12 months. People tell me all the time it’s a bargain, especially considering the tips that help them build saleable skills and raise much, much more than they invest by enrolling.

With gratitude for all you do,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Don’t forget to bookmark my Ask an Expert fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Ask your question here. See this week’s What Are the Best Questions to Ask in a Donor Survey?

Before we get into all of this month’s useful resources, I want to send a Valentine to my 2021 Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang, for keeping this newsletter free. Remember, my motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it!” They’re making it possible for me to spend time curating and sending this newsletter to you on a biweekly basis. If you appreciate this as much as I do, please let them know!

Okay… I hope you’re thinking about sending your donors some love this month. Be sure to check out my 8 Strategies to Celebrate Nonprofit Donors on Valentine’s Day.

I hope you’ll also enroll this year in ‘Clairification School’. You’ll get access to ALL my content for a full 12 months. People tell me all the time it’s a bargain, especially considering the tips that help them build saleable skills and raise much, much more than they invest by enrolling.

What you do matters. A lot.

It is my privilege and pleasure to help you do with as much joy, hope and effectiveness as possible,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Here are some recent Q & A:

• How Do I Write an Endowment Letter?
• Do Legacy Gift Societies Still Matter?
• What’s a Grant Writer’s Role in Setting Strategic Program Priorities?