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

I’m hearing from many nonprofits who are feeling at sixes and sevens when it comes to planning for the uncertain year ahead. I certainly understand. The pace of change today is fast and furious, and it often feels yesterday’s truth is today’s untruth.

What’s a sensible nonprofit to do in response?

I want to make an argument for action. Rather than react, get proactive. Don’t allow your fight/flight/freeze instincts to take over right now. Your constituents rely on you not to disappear or hunker in a bunker. They need you to fight.

Get curious!

Don’t succumb to those who would say “Well, obviously, we need to cut back right now.” Or to those who might tell you “We obviously can’t make any waves.” There are other ways to behave.

Obvious vs perhaps

“Obvious” closes the door to inquiry.

“Perhaps” opens it.

— Seth Godin

I’m counting on you – each of you — to use some of the insights you glean in this week’s issue of the “Clairity Click-it” to be better, do better, and help others do the same.  I hope, as you dig through this hand-curated content from across the web, it will make your job easier, and more fulfilling. It is my sincere pleasure and honor to help you find the ideas, strategies, templates and tools you need to succeed.

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 the critically important social benefit sector.

You’ve got this!

Thank you for doing your vital work, with gratitude,

Claire

claire@clairification.com

P.S. Please scroll down to see all my Clairification School sponsors who enable me to offer enrollment in ‘Clairification School at an affordable price [If the enrollment fee is a hardship, please email me and we’ll work it out.]

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

SPECIAL FEATURE: Hope in the Dark

Click-it:  Hope in the Dark: Four Tests for the Pro-Democracy Movement in 2026. Civil society is under sustained attack, and the federal government has signaled its intention to escalate its campaign to weaken civil bonds. Joe Goldman begins a series for Nonprofit Quarterly exploring what it means to maintain hope while honestly confronting today’s realities. Here, he proposes four tests for a viable democracy. What role might you play, and how might you prepare?

Click-it: What Is This Moment Asking Of Us? Bernadette Jiwa, bestselling author, story skills teacher and community leader, reflects on what we can do, as individuals, when the world feels fraught. “Choosing to show up, fully, for whatever is in front of us in the face of an uncertain future may be the best we can do right now.” Read to learn about choosing possibility over paralysis.

ARTICLES

Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising

Click-it: Stop Saying ‘Nonprofit’: Reframing Your Social Benefit for Stronger Fundraising. Why do we define ourselves by what we are not? No other sector does this. “Nonprofit” doesn’t communicate purpose. It doesn’t express value. It doesn’t explain why anyone should care. In this Nonprofit Pro article, I share my thoughts for rethinking some of the language and assumptions we’ve long taken for granted. Here are several reframes that can transform how your organization communicates its value and invites people to participate.

Click-it:  40 Monthly Giving Program Names to Strengthen Long-term Donor Support. I’ve been encouraging you to start (or ramp up) a monthly giving program for some time!  Perhaps this Donor Perfect article, filled with potential names to brand your program, will be just the fun incentive you need to move this to the front burner.  What’s in a name?  They can drive emotional buy-in. You’ll also be able to access a free Monthly Giving Success Kit!

Culture of Philanthropy

Click-it: Building a Healthy Nonprofit Organizational Culture That Reduces Burnout and Embraces Change. People aren’t robots, so creating a healthy culture means adhering to the true meaning of “philanthropy (aka “love of humanity”).” This article on the Virtuous blog covers the cultural cracks that lead to burnout, how to retain mission-driven staff, and a practical approach to rolling out AI without fracturing your team. This isn’t about creating a feel-good culture for the sake of it. It’s about building a team where people feel valued and trusted and see themselves as contributing to the mission, not just showing up for a paycheck.

Database/CRM

Click-it: CRM Cleanup Tasks: Essential Activities for Maintaining Donor Data Quality. This guide from Bloomerang focuses on routine CRM data cleanup activities—the weekly, monthly, and quarterly tasks that prevent data decay over time—rather than one-time data migration or initial setup. From duplicate records to underperforming email campaigns, many common challenges trace back to one thing: the quality of your data. Get a handle on five core categories of cleanup tasks that form the foundation of effective donor database maintenance.

Click-it: Blackbaud vs. Bloomerang vs. 4aGoodCause: Which is Right for Your Nonprofit? Full disclosure: I have a sponsor relationship with both Bloomerang and 4aGoodCause.  I like them both! Plus, I’ve had a lot of experience with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge, and it’s worked well for me.  I am not here to recommend any of them (or anything else) to you, because I don’t know enough about you, your particular needs, your budget or every available CRM option on the market today.  However, this honest comparison put together by 4aGoodCause is an excellent guide to what these CRMs offer and what you should look for in a fundraising database and relationship management software.  If you’re in the market, it’s a great place to get started.

Donor Advised Funds

Click-it: The Coming DAFpocalypse. I’ve had some folks tell me they find this Inside Philanthropy article alarming.  I wouldn’t worry at this point, and here’s why. A lot of folks criticize DAFs because there is no distribution requirement.  They fear people simply sock the money away, grab a deduction, and then never recommend charitable gifts. Sure, that happens.  But a lot of good people — especially since the OBBBA tax changes — created DAFs and have been contributing to them every other year or so (bunching) to take advantage of the charitable deduction in one year and the standard deduction the following year.  Most of this money does get distributed to charity within a few years. The bottom line for DAFs still (IMHO) is this: “Donors don’t generally use DAFs for nefarious purposes: They’re attracted to a vehicle that allows them to reap great tax benefits right away, and then manage their giving over time — a common-sense alternative to setting up a private foundation, without all of the regulatory and administrative obligations that entails.”

Donor Retention

Click-it: Is this any way to treat a friend? Mary Cahalane, Hands-On Fundraising, says this strategy infuriates her. It’s a trigger – causing her not to want to continue giving.  Are you, perhaps, committing this sin?

Events

Click-it: Beyond the Gala: How Events Fit Into Your Bigger Fundraising Strategy. Events are just one of many tools in a fundraiser’s toolbox, not a complete fundraising strategy on their own. This article from Auctria shows you how to leverage them to get the biggest bang for you buck.  Make sure your event strategy is not simply “one and done.”

Click-it: Marketing a Pledge Fundraiser: 4 Essential Steps to Follow. Pledge fundraisers create awareness, boost engagement, bring in new supporters, and also raise money. To make the most of this format, you’ll need a strong marketing strategy that entices current supporters to share your campaign and resonates with new audiences. Julia Claire Campbell shares four steps to ensure you’re prepared to capitalize on the benefits of a pledge fundraiser.

Major, Capital and Legacy Giving

Click-it: The Discovery Visit You Keep Postponing (And Why). Discovery visits get postponed when you’re unclear on your purpose and/or you’re afraid it will be unproductive. Both of those problems have the same “fix,” and that’s what you’ll learn in this article from the Gail Perry Group.

Click-it: When is the Right Time to Ask for a Legacy? This article from Mark Phillips Fundraising Insight blog is a long one, but it’s well worth the read. It describes why the donor’s age matters more than you think it does, and suggests language for encouraging reluctant, already engaged donors to consider a legacy gift – despite what might be their natural gut reaction to just say “no.”

Online Social Fundraising and Marketing

Click-it: Fundraiser Marketing: How to Promote a Fundraiser on Social Media. Advertising a fundraiser effectively means using a mix of channels: social media for organic reach and storytelling, email for your existing donor base, paid ads for new audience acquisition, and printed materials like flyers, event tickets, or raffle tickets for in-person visibility. Social media tends to be the starting point because it’s low-cost and shareable, but campaigns that combine digital and physical outreach typically raise more. Read more in this article from Eventgroove.

Storytelling

Click-it: 4 Ethical Considerations for Nonprofit Storytelling. Drew Payne writes on the Greater Giving blog about what you need to do to ensure your narratives are authentic, respectful, and true to your mission. How are you including the voices of your beneficiaries? Are you reporting financials transparently? Are you telling the whole story?

Strategy, Planning, Management and Leadership

Click-it: 5 Nonprofit Distress Signals (And What to Do Before You Crash). I love this article from Patrick Kirby, Do Good Better Consulting. It will make you smile (wince?) with recognition; then, lift you up and give you something concrete to do to address the problem(s) you’re facing.

Technology as Tool

Click-it: Zelensky Has Better Donor Data Than You Do. Roger Craver writes for the Agitator-DonorVoice blog about the fact that the digital and AI revolution are also the fundraising practice revolution.  The basics — especially relationship building — still matter. But how we execute the basics is very, very different. This is a thought-provoking read, and you owe it to yourself and your organization to give it some significant thought. You may just be prioritizing the wrong strategies for the times we are in.

Click-it: Human in the Loop. Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist, has a warning as we all race to adapt to a new AI-revolutionized world. Did you know a recent study said only 17% of workers believe AI is reliable without human oversight, 64% expect the need for human review to increase, and 20% said AI made customer situations worse?  Be careful out there – and stay human!

Click-it: AI is a new kind of fire. How will human fund development professionals respond? Stephen Nills writes on Charity Channel about how fundraising professionals need to become, if not experts, at least professionally competent in the ethical use of AI in fundraising, because, used improperly, it threatens to damage the human relationships that make everything else possible. His “Human-Centered AI Framework” has five elements, and it will pay you to consider each of them.

Click-it: Vibe Coding Is Dead. Here’s What Replaced It. You probably aren’t using AI for coding, but this article by Ayesha Mughal on Medium intended for coders and programmers is illustrative of the ways you must be very, very careful when you ask AI to author something for you. You must still be the thinker, planner and overall architect. “The problem isn’t the AI. The problem is the human not reviewing what the AI built.”

Website

Click-it: 5 Creative Ideas to Engage Your Nonprofit Website Visitors. Ira Horowitz, Corner Shop Creative, writes on Ann Green’s Nonprofit Blog about how to teach site visitors about your work and inspire them to get involved. Creative ideas include gamification and quizzes, immersive storytelling, interactive maps, campaign trackers, and more.

Click-it: Optimizing Your Website for DAF Donations. I 100% agree with this post from Melanie Green at True Sense Marketing. Changes in tax laws have led more donors to establish and use DAFs for charitable giving. If you’re not making it easy for these donors to support you, you’re leaving a lot of potential gifts on the table.  Any time you create friction, you lose. Please read this!

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 GIVE Arc: How one nonprofit moved 80% of donors to recurring giving [Register for free webinar, 4-23-2026]. Join Givebutter and Dr. Sanjay Bindra, Co-Founder and President of GOSUMEC Foundation USA, for a practical session on implementing a relational fundraising model — without big fundraising campaigns or urgent solicitations. Plus, you’ll get a free recurring conversion checklist.

Content Marketing

Click-it: “Sell” Your Nonprofit [Listen to on-demand podcast]. Tony Martignetti, Nonprofit Radio, always offers great content, and this session with Jason Barnaby of Fire Starters, Inc. is a prime example. Learn how to talk about your nonprofit as a product, in a way that makes people curious to learn more, drawing them closer to your work.

Major, Mid-Level, Capital and Legacy Giving

Click-it: Is the Sky Really Falling? [Listen to on-demand podcast]. Amy Eisenstein and Andrea Kihlstedt, Capital Campaign Pro, discuss how at least half of what feels like a crisis is emotional rather than factual. Fear is contagious. So, you need to plan ahead for how you’ll respond when leadership suggests putting the brakes on your campaign – simply because they’re reacting out of misplaced anxiety.

Online Marketing and Fundraising

Click-it: From Scroll to Support: 10 Ways to Drive More Donors to Your Online Giving Page [Register for free webinar, 4-14-2026]. Join Julia Campbell for this Donor Perfect webinar that will help you create compelling content, strengthen calls to action, and strategically lead supporters to your online giving forms.

Technology as Tool

Click-it: The Role of a Fundraising Database Manager: What’s New, What’s Not [Watch on-demand session]. Are you a fundraiser, perhaps a manager, who wants to know more about what your fundraising database person is or should be doing? Are you a fundraising database person who wishes your manager, leaders, and/or fundraisers knew what you were doing and how to support you? Then this session from Bill Connors, RE consultant, is for you.

DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, PAPERS, TEMPLATES & OTHER RESOURCES

Events

Click-it: Is your nonprofit’s anniversary worth celebrating? Here’s how to decide. [Read this + grab the step-by-step guide and quiz.] Big Duck offers great advice if you’re thinking about celebrating some kind of organizational milestone. First, think about what the benefits may be. Then, consider whether this anniversary merits a full-fledged campaign.

Major, Mid-Level, Capital and Legacy Giving

Click-it: Major Gifts Made Simple: Unlocking Transformational Giving [Download free eBook]. Learn the storytelling secret — called “The Fix” — developed by Better Fundraising Company co-Founder Jim Shapiro and refined over 30 years of helping organizations unlock their major donors’ best gifts. It’s packed with real examples and step-by-step strategies.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: If you want to become a master of major gift fundraising I highly recommend this Veritus Group course: Certification Course for Major Gift Fundraisers.  You’ll receive a certification, rack up CFRE points, and set yourself up for excellence for the rest of your career. If you’re the executive or manager, there’s also a companion course for you!  After completion you’ll become a member of the prestigious Veritus Scholars. This is the best thing you can do to supercharge your fundraising for the coming year – and beyond! And you can grab an exclusive Clairification Community discount – a whopping 35% off – using this code: CLAIRE35. The next cohort begins June 8^th, just in time for your year-end fundraising push. You can also select August or October start dates — just register now to lock in the discount, as I’m not sure how long I’ll be offering it.

YOU

Click-it: Why You Should Attend Nonprofit Conferences: The Complete ROI Guide for 2026. Ann Fellman of Bloomerang lays out the full value nonprofit conferences can deliver for organizations—from proving nonprofit conference ROI and securing budget approval to turning what you learn into stronger fundraising, deeper donor engagement, and greater mission impact. Whether you’re a nonprofit executive building the case for board approval, a development director seeking networking opportunities, or a program manager exploring professional development options, you’ll find actionable guidance for maximizing nonprofit conference investments in 2026’s competitive funding landscape.

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.

🌟 3 Secret Advantage Ingredients Small to Medium Nonprofits Have

🎯 Want to Win at Major Gift Fundraising? Top 7 Proven Strategies to Success.

💸 Are the Rich Motivated to Give Differently?

🔍 4 Strategies to Listen so Others Will Talk

🚫 I’m not selling you any tea today.

💌Overcome Donor Resistance Using Empathy

❤️From Objections to Opportunities: Winning Over Donors

Finally… if you have a question, any question…

Check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Ask your question here. And bookmark the Ask an Expert page for any time you have a question! Here’s one: How To Budget For Major Donor Cultivation And Stewardship?

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. APRIL TIPS are live.  Your support is much appreciated, and helps me to support you. Thank you!

Since April showers bring May flowers, it’s a good time for another look at some trees and flowers I spotted on my walks through nature!

[If you can’t see the photos, try hitting “refresh.”]

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” – Lady Bird Johnson 

Please support my extraordinary sponsors (see below). The Clairity Click-it content is free, and Clairification School is affordable, because of their generosity.