How to Help Board Members Get (More) Involved in Fundraising

If you run a small nonprofit, or are part of the fundraising team of a large established nonprofit or school, the kick off of the New Year presents an ideal opportunity for strengthening your Board’s fundraising confidence and capabilities. Guest blogger, Sandy Rees, nonprofit fundraising coach, consultant, and author shares practical ideas for helping Board members become (more) successful fundraisers.

Practical Ideas for Increasing your Nonprofit Board’s Knowledge, Confidence and Success in Fundraising

 
One of the basic responsibilities of nonprofit Boards is to ensure adequate resources for their organizations.  That means fundraising.  Unfortunately, many Board members are hesitant to participate in fundraising.  And that can be very frustrating to the director or fundraising staff who is expecting the Board to help champion the cause, accompany them on visits, engage community members and business leaders, and secure donations.

Get the New Year off to a great start by sharing your expertise! Here are some practical ideas for things you can do to increase your Board’s knowledge, confidence and participation in raising money for your organization.


1.    Give them a firm foundation.

Start by educating your Board.  Make sure they know the basics.  Share with them the principles of giving like:

• People give money because they want to.
• People give to change lives.
• People give to support success, not distress.
• People give to make a change for the good.
• People give to people.
• People usually don’t give unless they are asked.

Put extra emphasis on the last two as they are the most important!


2.    Share a simple system.

Show your Board that by learning a few easy techniques, they can have a big impact on ongoing fundraising activities.  Invite them to pick a place to start that seems comfortable, like attending a special event, before they dive into major donor requests.  Remember that just because they are a Board member doesn’t mean they have fundraising experience!

Technique 1: Raise money for the clients, not the organization.  Learn to talk about the organization in terms of its clients and their needs, not the organization’s needs.

Technique 2: Tell the stories.  Learn to tell a story or two about the great things happening at the organization.  Tell about a personal experience.

Technique 3: Speak from your heart. Learn to talk about the organization with all the passion of your heart.  If you believe strongly in this organization, others will too.

3.    Make learning fun and manageable.

Since Board members are busy people, train them in a 15 minute segment at each Board meeting.  You can accomplish a lot of learning in short bursts at each Board meeting. Here are some things you can do:
Have them pair up and share why they said “Yes” to being on the Board.  This helps them tap into their passion for the organization.

• Have them tell each other a story about how the organization is changing lives in the community.
• Have them share their thoughts about fundraising – what they are scared of and what they feel comfortable with.  This helps begin to overcome fear of fundraising.
• Create a crossword puzzle with the words in the puzzle being answers and the clues being about basic facts of your organization.  For example, 1 across might be the number of kids served each year (answer – Fifty).
• Create a game of Jeopardy around organizational facts.
• Have them brainstorm about people in their sphere of influence who they can talk to about your organization or send an appeal letter to.

Over time, this will help ‘bring them along’ and increase their comfort level with fundraising in general.


4.    Give them concrete ideas of ways to get involved.

People respond best to specific requests.  Ask your Board members to take a particular action instead of just “helping with fundraising.”  Ask them to:

• Make their own gift first.  They’ll be much better at asking someone else for money if they have already given themselves.
• Think of people they know. Think about their family, neighbors, people they do business with, and people they have fun with.  They are all great potential donors.
• Talk to people about your organization. Tell at least one person each week about their experiences with the organization.
• Invite the Executive Director to speak to their civic group, church group, or other similar group. By putting the staff in front of a crowd, they are helping spread the word about the organization.

By sharing your knowledge and expertise in fundraising with your Board members, you’ll increase their knowledge and get to know them better.  You’ll learn which ones are comfortable with various parts of fundraising and you’ll be better able to ask them to take on roles in which they will be successful.
   
Remember to encourage your Board members and congratulate them for small successes!  Reward the behavior you want to see more of (both personally and publicly at Board meetings, if possible) and you’ll likely see more of it heading into 2010.

Happy New Year and Happy Fundraising!

***
Sandy Rees is a nonprofit fundraising coach, consultant, trainer, and author. She shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money, gain more supporters, and strengthen their Boards. Learn more about successful fundraising and get free fundraising tips in her e-zine "Bright Ideas for Fundraising" on her website at GetFullyFunded.com.

Comments

[Bruce Jordan]

Nice job, Sandy. One thing I would add: yes, it is good to congratulate Board members when they have fundraising successes, but I recommend that this congratulation be public, as well as private. In fact, I would be sure to give the successful Board member as much recognition and visibility as the major donor receives, including invitations to speak at unveiling ceremonies, an appreciative phone call from the CEO, prominent mention in the newsletter, praise at the next Board meeting, and in as many other appropriate ways as you can imagine. In this way the successful Board member is reinforced as a successful fundraiser, and other Board members are indirectly incentivized to get involved. Steward the Board member for fundraising success, and you will have a long-term partner, who others will want to emulate.

[Air Jordans]

It is my pleasure to read your article! Thank you for sharing! good luck!