Clairification

APRIL 3, 2025

Im 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 yesterdays truth is todays untruth. Whats a sensible nonprofit to do in response? I want to make an argument for action. Rather than react, get proactive.

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Clairification

MARCH 31, 2025

Theres a lot about fundraising folks take for granted. And not in a good way. Because much of it is untrue! In fact, if you, your executive director, your board members or anyone else where you work subscribes to these fictions youll be in for a lot of pain and suffering. You wont raise near the money you could otherwise raise. And you wont enjoy your work.

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Clairification

MARCH 27, 2025

I dont usually do this, but today Im incorporating the full text of a blog by Seth Godin. Its not about philanthropy or fundraising. Or, is it? He says its about goodwill, or the lack thereof. What it costs you to lose it. I say you really should read what he says and take it to heart if you want to be sustainable over the long haul. Let me explain.

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Clairification

MARCH 20, 2025

What will you do to spring forth and meet the moment? Im counting on you each of you — to use some of the insights you glean in this weeks 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.

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Clairification

MARCH 17, 2025

Can the act of philanthropy make people feel better? I say Yes. Absolutely. Much has been written about the warm glow that comes from giving. So why not think about fundraisingas a caring act , and fundraisers (aka philanthropy facilitators )as trusted helpers and healers? Reframing fundraising in this way can be your key to: (1) committing to major individual donor fundraising (helping people to be the people they’d like to see in the mirror), and (2 ) engaging more staff, volunteers and

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Clairification

MARCH 13, 2025

Small nonprofits often face a daunting challenge: maximizing impact with limited resources. Without the brand recognition or staff of larger organizations, fundraisers at small nonprofits must wear multiple hats and juggle a variety of priorities. Spending extra time on building donor relationships or digging into donor analytics can feel like a luxury you just dont have time for.

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Clairification

MARCH 10, 2025

Legacy gifts dont fall from the sky. Legacy donors arent delivered by storks. You wont find them hiding behind cabbage leaves. Youll mostly find them living in your donor database, volunteer roster, alumni mailing list, membership roll, client files, service purchasers, and anyplace else folks connect with you and have a positive affiliation. An affiliation with you.

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Clairification

MARCH 6, 2025

These are not usual times. Are you considering how world events may impact those who rely on you. Not just beneficiaries, but donors and volunteers too. They need you to do your work, but maybe not in the usual way. Maybe theres a better way; one more fitting for the times. Heres what Seth Godin has to say: Usualing This is not a real word, but its useful nonetheless.

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Clairification

MARCH 3, 2025

How will you and your nonprofit make it through these trying times? Two words: EMPATHY. INNOVATION. These are the two qualities most needed in todays topsy-turvy world. And theyre by far the best way to connect meaningfully with your constituents. Id like you to think of them as your newly essential fundraising and communication strategies. Apply them to everything you do for the duration of this uncertain, challenging time.

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Clairification

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

No matter your politics, this is crisis time for many nonprofits who rely on federal grants and loans (about 30% of all charities ). It’s also crisis time for the beneficiaries of many nonprofits, who are scared, stressed, depressed and otherwise at loose ends due to the rapidly changing environment. Many of the resources on which folks once relied have disappeared or are at risk.

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Clairification

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

Whats in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet , said Shakespeare. But, would it? Seth Godin thinks words matter. As do I. Thats just semantics Just? The meaning of the word is the reason we used the word. If we dont agree about the meaning of the word, we havent communicated. Instead of, thats just semantics, it seems more productive to say, Im confident we have a semantics problem.

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Clairification

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

Its a new day. What will you do with it? Will you march forward, backward or get stuck in place? Hopefully, whatever you do, you wont be lulled into complacency. The work ahead is hard, but as James Baldwin wrote: Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. Lulled. Selfish is easy. Short term is easy. Complacent is easy.

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Clairification

FEBRUARY 17, 2025

Trust is Built By What You Do In my last article, I wrote about why establishing and building trust should be part of your nonprofit and personal mission. Because trust is the foundation of all lasting relationships. If you dont build trust, or if you somehow manage to destroy it, youre going to lose your donor. It’s an uphill battle, requiring a proactive approach.

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Clairification

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

The work of philanthropy facilitation is very personal. And, fundamentally, its based on trust. Which is why establishing and building trust should be part of your nonprofit and personal mission. Amid times of change, one truth remains: trust is the foundation of progress — Edelman Trust Barometer 2025 Alas, I rarely see this in mission statements.

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Clairification

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

I’m making this the year of helping people reframe their approach to things, both personally and professionally. We can’t always change the external, but we can change the internal. And that can be more than enough. It’s a LOT. Shall we talk first about callings, or breathing? How about breathing? Among the definitions of the word are to pause and rest before continuing, and to feel free of restraint.

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Clairification

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

Its been pretty cold in my neck of the woods, so lets warm up with a cup of cocoa, coffee or tea and some good reads.Ive got a lot of great stuff for you this week, so lets get right to it! The Clairity Click-it exists to bring you a range of voices from across the nonprofit world so you can resource, learn and digest at your own pace, coming to your own decisions.

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IT Nonprofit Template Goals 167

Clairification

FEBRUARY 3, 2025

The major gift journey is a synergistic one. You see, its both your journey and your donors journey. If you want to follow along the most direct pathway to sustainable philanthropy, youll want to consider the two-fold nature of the expeditious endeavor known as major gift fundraising. Or, as I prefer to call it, passionate philanthropy. First understand the pathway to passionate philanthropy is not just about the money; its every bit as much about the experience.

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Clairification

JANUARY 30, 2025

When youre not aware youre making a mistake, its hard to avoid it. So lets get curious. Im going to ask you to close your eyes for a minute to imagine a donor youve been wanting to ask for a major gift. Im going to ask you to visualize a space where youre meeting. Put them in your office, their home, a caf or even a Zoom screen. Choose whats comfortable, and where you think youd be most likely to meet with this donor within the next month or so.

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Clairification

JANUARY 27, 2025

Today I want to talk about the heart of successful major gift fundraising. Its about reframing what you may think of as a pitch into what your donor would like to consider a promise. The pitch is one way. A monologue you deliver about everything you know about your organization. Usually it’s about how great it is, how pressing the need is, how you know the donor cares about your mission and, then, you drop a bomb into your donors lap with a big-ass ask they didn’t quite anticipate.

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Clairification

JANUARY 23, 2025

The recent conflation of Inauguration Day and the Martin Luther King Day holiday in the U.S. has me thinking about freedom. And also the push/pull between freedom and responsibility. Freedom without responsibility (i.e., being held responsible for your actions) doesn’t work well for anyone but one person. Responsibility without freedom is stressful.

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Clairification

JANUARY 21, 2025

Learn to become an “inside” major donor rainmaker If youve got donors, you’ve got the raw material for a major donor program and its easier than you think. Begin with your own database. Most organizations have plenty of donor prospects, without having to go outside and look for prospects who arent connected to you. You know who I mean.

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Clairification

JANUARY 16, 2025

Nonprofits pay a lot of attention to donor acquisition. Then? They largely ignore these donors, unless They become worthy of attention by virtue of being major donors. Then? Nonprofits pay a lot of attention to major donor relationship building. But between new donor acquisition and major donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship, what happens?

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Fundraising Nonprofit 144

Clairification

JANUARY 13, 2025

Everyone’s been saying this, just about daily, for some time. These arent ordinary times. If the anthem for the Boomer generation was Bob Dylan’s “ The TImes They Are A’Changin’ ,” what’s the anthem for today? History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. Were living in the face of a firehose of breaking news, and much of it is difficult to digest.

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Clairification

JANUARY 9, 2025

Lets begin with a prayer for our brothers and sisters, and the families and friends, of those facing the Los Angeles firestorm. May they, and all the responders, find protection, shelter, support, hope and strength to start healing and rebuilding. And may the scorched land and devastated communities similarly heal. Should you wish to help, some options are listed at the bottom of this newsletter.

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Clairification

JANUARY 6, 2025

These are the best of times. These are the worst of times. However you see the present, rest assured others see it the opposite. How do you cope? How do you help others cope? How are you adapting, personally and professionally, to the times in which we live? It turns out the way you cope, particularly during times of stress, has a lot to do with your unique personality traits.

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Media IT Management Nonprofit 144

Clairification

JANUARY 2, 2025

Did you miss the most popular tips on Clairification last year? The trending topics included how to effectively leave voicemail; retention techniques; email and other campaign appeal strategy; how to communicate about things like overhead and transaction fees; philanthropic culture and board giving. The standout articles, from bottom to top, include: Countdown: Top 10 Hottest Topics on Clairification 10.

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Clairification

DECEMBER 30, 2024

For good things once a year is not enough. Why do so many of us only eat turkey once a year? Or pumpkin pie? Ive no idea! Its surely not rational. These are special foods we value and take great delight in. Yet we get into a bad habit of thinking on auto pilot. If it’s not Thanksgiving, the idea of roasting a turkey or making cranberry sauce doesn’t even enter most or our heads.

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Clairification

DECEMBER 26, 2024

Lets begin with this weeks bit of wisdom Generosity and gratitude A gift doesnt diminish the giver. Sharing creates connection, possibility and energy. And the magic of gratitude is that it improves everything it touches, especially the person who offered it in the first place. So, what holds us back? Fear. Fear of connection, of change, of seeing what is possible.

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IT Calendar Template Nonprofit 176

Clairification

DECEMBER 23, 2024

Here’s a great piece of advice you can use year-round, but particularly at the end of the year when you make your final “clean up” calls to acquire and/or renew donors who’ve not yet given to you. And by “use,” I mean do the opposite of what they recommend. I came upon the advice in question a year or so ago in a Washington Post article entitled The new phone call etiquette: Text first and never leave a voice mail.

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IT 144

Clairification

DECEMBER 19, 2024

Confession: This is something I struggled with in my 30 years as a manager. I wanted to reward folks, but I tended to focus on things like money rather than gratitude, praise and recognition. And positive reinforcement didn’t come to me as naturally as pointing out weaknesses. I had both a boss (and a mother) who role modelled this for me. This same critical boss also told me, whenever I wanted to give someone a raise, money didn’t motivate people.

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Clairification

DECEMBER 12, 2024

As we enter the season of light, and you move into full-steam-ahead year-end fundraising mode, theres something I want to remind you about your messaging. “Oh, by the way, its not about you. The biggest mistake you can make is thinking your organization is the story. People arent buying your organization. When someone asks: What do you do? theyre not interested in your organization so much as what your organization accomplishes.

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Clairification

DECEMBER 9, 2024

The more publicly people commit, the more resistant they are to changing their minds This relates to one of Robert Cialdinis principles of influence and persuasion : commitment and consistency. The main point is this: Once we make a decision, and strongly attach ourselves to an idea by agreeing orally or in writing, its more likely well stick with that decision than change our minds.

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Clairification

DECEMBER 5, 2024

if you do nothing proactive to make them want to stay. You’re working hard to bring in as many donations as possible this year. And you’re being successful. Yay you! But, wait. There’s an “uh oh” looming around the corner. Today were going to take a look at why many of your donors may decide to leave. And what you can do to keep them.

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Donation Fundraising IT Nonprofit 144

Clairification

NOVEMBER 28, 2024

Once again, I’m sharing a bit of inspiration. Kinds of Power There’s the James Bond villain sort of power, based on division, dominance and destruction. This is the short-term power of bullies, trauma and mobs. And then there’s a more resilient form of power. This is power based on connection, discussion and metrics. A power based in reality over the long term.

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IT Metrics Template Nonprofit 190

Clairification

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Studies show one-fourth of all charitable giving happens in December. For some organizations (maybe yours?), it’s as much as one-third. Year-end fundraising is not chopped chicken liver! While you absolutely should be using multiple fundraising channels to get best results, right now whatever you’ve got planned for offline is pretty much cooked.

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Clairification

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

Your job as a philanthropy facilitator is to do everything in your power to make giving to you as easy, joyful and rewarding as possible. You are, if you will, a donor Sherpa. As a donor guide, you likely know things your donors don’t know. You have tools they don’t have. Your role along the pathway to passionate philanthropy is to use every tool in your toolbox to bring your donor joy and meaning.

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Clairification

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

Percolate on these ideas; choose 1 – 2 to wake up your year-end campaign! The biggest fundraising time of the year for most nonprofits inexorably approaches. It can be stressful. Don’t succumb to the stress. You’ve got this! Perhaps you can’t do everything you’d like to do this year, but you can do some things. Some you can do on your own.

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