We had such a great book club meeting last week talking about the book Fanocracy! Did you miss it? You can watch the replay here.

Now it's time to pick our next book! 📚

We have three new books that nicely capture the zeitgeist of the moment. I'm looking forward to having a powerful conversation about one of them. My pick was White Fragility. I really encourage you to visit Amazon and read the descriptions for each book and a few reviews before making your pick….

I'm super-excited for our second book club 📘meeting tomorrow at 4pm ET. We'll be talking about the book Fanocracy by David Meerman Scott and Reiko Scott. This was a really fun book to read with lots of actionable insights on how organizations can build a bigger, better fanbase.

As the Scotts note, "Fandom isn’t just for celebrities anymore! It can be rocket fuel for any business or nonprofit that chooses to focus on inspiring and nurturing true fans."

There are two ways to join us tomorrow….

I have to be honest with you. I don't much feel like talking about corporate partnerships this week. After the events of the past eight days, it seems insignificant.

What I want is to love and respect my country again.

Years ago I visited the Tower of London. The tour guide asked the crowd if there were any Americans in the group. A dozen people, including me and my wife, immediately raised their hands. The tour guy chuckled, "I love asking that question because Americans are always so proud to raise their hands!" Of course we are, I thought at the time. Why wouldn't we want to raise our hands?

No more….

Following last week's newsletter, I got several questions on point #2 in my introduction:

2.The biggest opportunity for corporate gifts is staring back at you in your individual donors. Even with unemployment surging, most people are still working. Think about it: every one of your donors either runs a business or works for one. Every nonprofit should be asking donors where they work. The challenge is you'll have to work their employer as hard for a gift as you worked the individual! This will require time, resources and staff. Still, you'll start with something you don't have with most companies: a connection.

Readers asked: "Can you explain a bit more about how you would capture this information and use it?" …

Three things I've been thinking about this week...🤔

1. Consumers are returning to nostalgic brands. Will the same be true for nonprofits? But even if you are a newer charity, how can your nonprofit tap into your supporters' longing for the good old days? BTW, I'm happy to clear my schedule to host a new Jerry Lewis Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. ⧓ 🎤

2. The biggest opportunity for corporate gifts is staring back at you in your individual donors. Even with unemployment surging, most people are still working. Think about it: every one of your donors either runs a business or works for one….

There are many things that are sinking my spirits this month: the loss of life to the virus, the economic disruption - both nationally and personally - the hassle and anxiety of trying to do anything outside the home. But there are some bright spots too 🌈...

1. I have a great community of readers to serve. The open rate for this newsletter continues to hover around 60% and people continue to sign-up for it every week. Thanks to all of YOU for sharing it with everyone you know!

2. I feel more connected to my readers. Last month, I had the chance to talk to some of you and I offered some helpful advice for moving forward. It felt good to be useful…

Two things this week...

1. I'm super-excited to announce the second book we'll be reading in our Social Impact Book Club. It's Fanocracy by David Meerman Scott and Reiko Scott. Yep, we're reading a book on fandom - and with good reason. As the Scotts note, "Fandom isn’t just for celebrities anymore! It can be rocket fuel for any business or nonprofit that chooses to focus on inspiring and nurturing true fans."

This is the book we ALL NEED right now. Pick the book up here in either text or audio. Join the book club's Facebook group here. Finally, confirm you're coming to the next book club meeting on June 4th at 4pm ET….

Two things this week...

1. We had a great first Social Impact Book Club meeting last week! Now we're on to the second book and you get to pick it! Just head over to our Facebook group (join the group if you haven't already) and vote on the next book. You have three choices. If you have a book to suggest to the group, just enter it into the comments and we'll add it to the list! I'll announce the next book in next week's newsletter…

I've had some great conversations the past couple weeks with nonprofits about what's happening with them during the pandemic, and what questions they have regarding corporate partnerships. Below are the ten most common questions - and the resources I've been suggesting again and again!

1. I'm scared. Will everything be alright?

It will! This will all end someday. We've been through times of plague before - and ones worse than COVID-19. See my answer to #10. ​Plus, the crisis could usher in a golden age of cause marketing and brand purpose! 😎

2. What should my game plan be for corporate partnerships over the next 12 to 18 months?

Accelerist's Brittany Hill did a nice job charting a course in the webinar we did together last month. Here's the replay…

Three things this week...

1. The 'Read With Purpose' Social Impact Book Club 📚meets next Thursday, April 23rd @ 4pm ET. Join me and Megan Strand as we discuss our first book: From Generosity To Justice: A New Gospel Of Wealth, which you can download for FREE here. Request to join the 'Read With Purpose' Facebook group here.

2. Last week, I was anxious and sad so I opened up a few spots on my calendar to talk to readers. I had GREAT conversations with nearly a dozen nonprofits! 😊It was so inspiring I want to do it again! Just visit Selfish Giving and hit the BOOK NOW button and then choose a 30-minute Zoom meeting for today, Thursday or Friday…

I'm hitting pause on the videos I've been doing the past couple of weeks. Instead, I'm freeing up my calendar so I can talk to as many of you as possible on Zoom about what's happening with your nonprofit and answering any questions you might have.

I just want to be helpful! ​We can talk about sponsorship, cause marketing, content marketing or share our tips on hiding from our fellow cellmates during these trying times.

Interested? Do this...

1. Visit Selfish Giving and hit the BOOK NOW button.

2. Chose a 30-minute phone meeting for later today, Thursday or Friday between 3pm and 5pm EDT.

3. I'll send you a link to Zoom!

I'm looking forward to talking with YOU!

I hope you are as well and healthy as you can be in light of the current situation.😷Best to you and your family and friends!

Today, I'm expanding a bit beyond the webinar I did last week on future-proofing your nonprofit. This week I got several questions specifically on email newsletters and how nonprofits - and even individuals - can use them effectively. So in this week's video, which is a little over 20 minutes long, I discuss…

​We had a great webinar yesterday! We had over 300 registrants and 225 people showed up live! If you were one of those people in attendance, thank you!

The team at Accelerist will be sending you a link to the FULL webinar soon. Brittany Hill had a lot of great suggestions and insights on what to do with your partnerships moving forward.

My presentation, which followed hers, was all about how to strengthen fundraising for your partnerships AND your nonprofit.

Because my presentation is really my manifesto on how I'll be helping you in the coming weeks and months, I re-recorded it this morning so you could watch it over the next few days….

Today is the day! We have 200+ people registered.

At 2pm ET, Brittany Hill at Accelerist and I are presenting...

Future-Proof Your Partnership Program (and Your Nonprofit) for the New Normal

Brittany will be giving you a roadmap to help your partnerships survive the next two years. And I'll be showing you how to build an asset that will help you raise money NOT JUST FROM companies, but from individuals and foundations as well.

Looking forward to talking to all of you at 2pm today. SIGN UP HERE…

Three BIG messages this week...

1. Brittany Hill at Accelerist and I are teaming up to present Future-Proof Your Partnership Program (and Your Nonprofit) for the New Normal. Not only will you get a roadmap to help your partnerships survive the next two years, but we'll also give you a plan so you you raise more money NOT JUST FROM companies, but from individuals and foundations as well.

2. I can't believe my buddy, John Haydon, has been gone for over a month. Days before John passed, he finished his last book Donor Care: How to Keep Donors Coming Back After the First Gift. Please consider buying the book. If you follow John’s clear and concise “CARE framework” for donor communications, you’ll attract additional support from existing donors and see your retention rates improve significantly! All profits from the sale of the book will go to a fund to support John's teenage son….

A lighter newsletter this week as I'm busy teaching at the New Strategies Program in the Business for Impact program at Georgetown University.

Yep, that's me in the duck costume.🦆Curt Weeden, the founder of New Strategies and a corporate giving savant, called me a few weeks back and asked me if I would mind wearing a costume at New Strategies. I said sure! Heck, why wouldn't I?

When I got off the phone my wife asked me why Curt called. When I told her she gave me a crazy look. "What kind of costume?" she asked. "I don't know," I told her….

Legal eagle Karen Wu just finished the third installment of her four-part series on the four key legal issues you - my readers! - requested guidance on in the Selfish Giving / Accelerist Partnership Law Survey you completed last year.

This time, Karen is answering your questions on contracts.

The four questions Karen answered are…

Karen Wu just finished her third installment of her four-part series on the four key legal issues you - my readers! - requested guidance on in the Selfish Giving / Accelerist Partnership Law Survey you completed last year.

This week, Karen is answering your questions on contracts.

The Charity questions Karen answers include…