Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
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
P.S. Check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Here are some recent Q & A:
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
SPECIAL CATEGORY: Tips for Not-So-Normal Times
ARTICLES
Events, Virtual
Click-it: The secret to choosing the right platform for your virtual event. Last year threw a wrench into the event fundraising space. Maybe you responded with a quick-and-dirty solution, but would like something a bit more interactive or user-friendly. The folks at RKD Group have some suggestions to offer.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: Should You Aggressively Promote Legacy Giving When People are Dying? There are two principle ways folks respond when confronted with their own mortality. It’s essentially either ‘approach’ or ‘avoidance.’ In this article for the Bloomerang blog I discuss low-risk and high-reward strategies for both groups, and why you shouldn’t be shy about offering legacy gift opportunities. Especially now.
Online Social Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media Content that Converts. Best article ever on this topic! Very thorough explanation from Julia C. Campbell on why you should be doing this, especially now, according to a thoughtful, strategic plan.
Click-it: Are You Listening? Crafting an Agile Response Strategy using Social Listening. I’ve written a lot about surveying your constituents to learn more about their preferences, interests and passions. In this article from Merkle, you’ll learn there’s another way – social listening! What if you were to assign someone to the task of seeing what concerns are trending around your cause? What could you do with that information?
Trends
Click-it: COVID-19 philanthropy and 4 big questions for 2021. Candid shares their data about support from individual, foundation and corporate donors for communities of color and social justice amid 2020’s pandemic response in the U.S. They note hundreds of the country’s largest foundations have pledged to change their grantmaking practices to embrace more flexible MYGOD practices (more unrestricted giving). Will this change how grantmaking is done?
YOU
Click-it: Your Happiness Calendar for February 2021. This month, share the love and find some healing. Courtesy of the good folks at The Greater Good Science Center.
WEBINARS, ROUNDTABLES & ON-DEMAND AUDIO RESOURCES
If you can’t attend live, note that many are available via recording – but only if you register!
Boards
Click-it: Make Room for People of Color! Changing the Racial Composition and Culture of Your Board [Access free on-demand webinar]. Qgiv hosts board governance and equity trainer, Christal Terry, for this session to help your board learn to ground organizational values and recruitment practices so they are inclusive. The session is chock-full of important pointers to help you get this right.
Virtual Fundraising
Click-it: 29 Creative Fundraising Ideas for Virtual Fundraising in 2021 [Register for free webinar, 2-10-2021]. The new landscape of fundraising looks different. Join the folks at OneCause for this exploration of 29 creative ideas for all sorts of year-round virtual events, communications and giving campaigns.
Other Articles: The Beat Goes On
Annual Fundraising
Click-it: What Would You Call the Annual Fund?. There’s a lot of food for thought in this article by Richard Perry on the Nonprofit Pro blog. So… think about it.
Boards
Click-it: Recruiting Non-Profit Board Leaders. Most nonprofits will not reach their true potential without a high-performing board. But how do you find and support them so they, and you, do your most effective job? Eskin Fundraising Training has gathered insights and practical advice from a range of respected voices (I’m included)
Content Marketing
Click-it: Content Marketing 101: Blogging. Whether you have a blog (you should seriously consider this!) or not, you’ll find this “Honeycomb of Value” paradigm useful. Use it when creating, and before delivering, any of your content via whatever channel you choose. From the good folks at Flipcause.
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: 5 Gifts That Will Have the Greatest Appeal in 2021 & Why. I love this article; please read it! You’ll learn a lot from the experts at Stelter about how to attract gifts donors make from capital assets – a sure-fire strategy to boost your fundraising in the coming year. Don’t put this off if you want to reap the rewards.
Online Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: 8 types of emails your nonprofit should be sending. This article from 4aGoodCause talks about the balance between fundraising emails and the other emails you should have on your radar for connecting with donors and prospective donors throughout the year. Plus, if you scroll down to the bottom of the article, you’ll find a free on-demand webinar with email tips and tricks!
Sponsorships
Click-it: How to Determine Sponsorship Levels. Chris Baylis, The Sponsorship Collective, hates using Gold, Silver and Bronze levels. Find out why, and what he suggests instead.
Other Learning Opportunities
WEBINARS & ON-DEMAND AUDIO RESOURCES
If you can’t attend live, note that many are available via recording – but only if you register!
Boards
Click-it: Building a Strong Board with the Nominating and Governance Committee [Register for free webinar, 2-9-2021]. This is the committee that selects new board members, defines board member roles, and contributes to the culture of the board. Here the CEO of Campbell and Company joins the chair of this committee for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago to explore a series of best practices to make your committee a high performer.
Corporate Fundraising
Click-it: Creating Successful Corporate Partnerships [Listen to new, free podcast]. Ephraim Gopen, 1832 Communications, interviews corporate sponsor expert Heather Nelson. She suggests if your starting point is a list of companies you want to target for a donation, you’re doing it backwards. If you want to create successful partnerships with companies, you should start with connections and consider the importance of value alignment.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Finding the Hidden Problem in Your Major Gift Program [Register for free webinar, 2-18-2021].If you’re counting total numbers of donors and dollars you may be missing the fact a lot of your mid-level and major donors are downgrading their gifts or leaving entirely. This is a boatload of money you’re leaving on the table – and there are ways to fix it! Tune into this free session from the Veritus Group to discover how to learn where you really stand.
Major Gifts
Click-it: Making the Ask [Register for free webinar, 2-10-2021]. Join Kelly Medwick of Firespring to discover why it’s difficult to ask, common mistakes and assumptions made during the process and how to turn this around with 6 simple action steps. Firespring webinars are always actionable!
Click-it: The Importance of Endowment and Capacity Campaigns [Listen to on-demand podcast]. Did you know Andrea Kihlstedt and Amy Eisenstein of the Capital Campaign Toolkit have a regular podcast to which you can subscribe? Here’s one I really like, because there’s a lot of confusion around the subject of what constitutes endowment, quasi-endowment, and why you should build one in the first place.
Management and Strategy
Click-it: Learn How to Start Attracting Abundance [register for free event, 2-11-2021]. Join Nell Edgington, Social Velocity, for this combination book launch, webinar and fun prize give-away! If you’re not familiar with Nell’s work in helping nonprofits build capacity, you’re in for a treat.
Online Fundraising
Click-it: The Global Online Fundraising Scorecard [Register for free webinar, 2-11-2021]. The folks at NextAfter became mystery donors to 630 organization across 9 countries so they could share their giving experience with you. They’ll be looking at all sorts of “do’s” and “don’ts,” offering early access to the results of their extensive research. Should be good!
Click-it: Wondering How to Get People to Donate Online? Remove These 5 Barriers. Do you have any idea how many of your would-be donors are “abandoning their cart?” If you want to stop getting in your own (and your donors) way, check out this post from Wired Impact.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, WHITE PAPERS & OTHER RESOURCES
Content Marketing
Monthly Content Planner Kit [Grab this free template]. Want to better integrate your fundraising with your marketing communications? This free 16-page planner from The Storytelling Nonprofit will give you guidance for planning three layers of strategy to build your narrative — the high level story that you’re telling and reinforcing over time — and move your audience towards your goal.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: The Seven Deadly Sins of Planned Giving [Download brand new, free White Paper]. This paper from the Veritus Group will help you take a look at how your current planned giving program is performing and help you see if you’re committing some of these seven deadly sins that could be contributing to that struggling program of yours. And, if you think your planned giving program is going gangbusters – you might think differently after you read it.
Last week reminder: If you want to develop valuable new career skills, today’s your last day to register for the 8-module online Certification Course in Mid-Level Fundraising that begins Monday, February 15th. Use Coupon Code: CA5 to grab a last-week discount: register here.
Did You Miss My Newest Articles?
Eh oh! Sorry… new grandma. Couldn’t help myself.
Here are links to the most recent articles on the Clairification blog. I think you’ll find these either thought-provoking, practical or both. Hope so!
- 8 Strategies to Celebrate Nonprofit Donors on Valentine’s Day
- 9 Things Your Nonprofit Needs to Know About Monthly Donations
- Are the Rich Motivated to Give Differently?
- Do You Want More Major Donors? Read This!
- Leading Your Nonprofit with Hope, Not Optimism
- The Giant Mid-Level Fundraising Opportunity Your Nonprofit’s Missing
Finally… if you have a question, any question…
Check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Ask your question here.
Please support my extraordinary sponsors (see below). The Clairity Click-it content is free, and Clairification School is affordable because of their generosity.
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. February’s tips are posted! If you’re not yet an enrolled student, you can get in on the fun here!
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.” Don’t miss out.
