“Change is inevitable, but progress is optional, and leadership makes all the difference.”
—Andy Stern
Board members are part of the core leadership team of your organization, and they’re in one of the best positions to serve as passionate advocates for your cause. When effectively engaged and utilized, boards will step up, and step in to fundraising. Board members have unique connections and relationships in the community that are valuable and even transformative when properly leveraged. The right board, successfully employed, can catapult both your impact and fundraising efforts to the next level. Board members should also be among your most dependable and generous donors. For most nonprofits, the sum of these contributions makes a big difference on their budget.
Unfortunately, this rosy picture isn’t as common as it should be. Many small nonprofits launch with a friends and family board that simply lends their names to the NGO application, and still others are grassroots organizations that leverage a “working board” to augment their staff, assuming they even have a payroll. Either way, transitioning your organization to one that effectively recruits and engages a powerful board that contributes on all levels to your fundraising efforts—donating, asking, prospecting, and more—is one of the most vexing challenges facing many nonprofits. But there’s hope: it doesn’t have to be that way.
In an effort to identify tips and tools that can help nonprofits successfully partner with their boards to drive fundraising results, I sat down with nonprofit executive coach and fundraising and board development consultant Lisa Hoffman. We discussed six tips to foster your board’s passion in your mission and increase their participation in your fundraising efforts.
Building the right board is the first critical step in achieving fundraising success, but of course, transitioning to your ideal board is difficult. The key is gaining consensus on what you’re after. It’s a lot easier to recruit from your network when you know that you’re hoping to find a Latina lawyer with solid corporate connections who’s committed to our cause of combating homelessness, versus just telling folks you want more members. Your goal should be identify the top three things you’re looking for in new candidates, and share that with the world. A board matrix is a powerful yet simple tool that clarifies exactly what kind of characteristics, assets, and skillsets you want on your board: someone with business or foundation connections in a certain location; an issue area expert well-versed in your cause; a person who contributes geographic, racial, or gender diversity; someone who can make a large annual gift; an accounting, fundraising, or marketing maven, etc.
A simple spreadsheet does the trick nicely—use the rows to write down all the characteristics of your ideal board, including assets you may already have in place. Typically, it’s helpful to organize these into “buckets,” including leadership, expertise and connection to the mission, financial capability and connections, demographics, and so forth. The columns are for the names of your current and potential board members, as well as other prospects identified over time. Here’s a simple example:
Nonprofit Board Matrix Template
| Categories | Current Member 1 | Current Member 2 | Current Member 3 | Prospect | Prospect | |
| Leadership and Expertise | ||||||
| Visionary | X | X | X | |||
| Spiritual | ||||||
| Legal | X | |||||
| Accounting | ||||||
| Entrepreneur | X | X | X | X | ||
| Nonprofit Management | X | |||||
| Our Issue: Peace | ||||||
| Scientist | ||||||
| Recognized Leader | X | X | X | X | ||
| Community Contacts | X | X | X | X | ||
| Entertainment/Media | ||||||
| Media Contacts | X | X | X | |||
| Music Contacts | X | X | X | X | ||
| Arts Education | X | X | ||||
| Financial Support | ||||||
| Major Donor | X | X | X | |||
| Donor Contacts | X | X | X | X | ||
| Foundation Contacts | X | X | ||||
| Corporate Contacts | X | X | X | |||
| Time/Availability | X | X | X | |||
| Geography | ||||||
| International Relations | X | X | X | |||
| Brazil | X | |||||
| South Africa | X | |||||
| Austin | ||||||
| India | X | X | ||||
| Demographics | ||||||
| Youth | ||||||
| Latino | X | |||||
| African American | X | |||||
| Female | X | X | ||||
Although undoubtedly a powerful tool, the board matrix must be presented with finesse. Start by getting your board chair sold on the idea, even before you take a stab at a first draft, which you can create together. Ideally, the board chair then convinces the other members to create a blueprint to guide recruitment as the organization matures. Once they’re sold on the idea, there’s usually a discussion about what’s called for, using your draft matrix as a starting point. When this is in place, you’re ready for the real exercise. Everyone simply puts an “X” under his or her name for the characteristics he or she possesses. Finally, quickly tally the results and discuss what’s missing, and what you need more of.
Then it’s time to share this profile with your colleagues and contacts. Work your network, reaching out to the most connected, established people you know, and have staff and board members do the same. Consider creating a board development committee to drive recruitment and onboarding. Don’t compromise: you need people who are passionate about your mission, have the time to serve, and who will prioritize your organization. When a potential board member is identified, someone needs to meet or talk with the candidate to share your story and feel him or her out. If there’s a good fit, your ambassador should then clarify what’s involved, which leads us to our next tip.
A board member agreement is one of the most powerful tools for engaging your board in fundraising, and beyond. This is a one- or two-page document, written plainly, that details the responsibilities of all board members. Simply put, it’s a checklist of expectations, written in clear terms that aren’t subject to interpretation. So instead of “I’ll make a good faith effort to attend all board meetings,” it should say something more like, “I will attend 75 percent of all quarterly board meetings.” This document serves as a perfect basis for onboarding new members, avoiding most surprises and miscommunication.
Of course, you can’t expect the new guy or gal to sign up something that the old guard isn’t subject to. Follow a process exactly like the one for the board matrix to ensure the current board buys in and agrees on the requirements, and then have every current board member sign an agreement, all co-signed by the board chair. This creates a helpful dose of accountability for both new and seasoned members, and your chair should use the board member agreement as the basis for annual board reviews. Simply go through the agreement point-by-point, ensuring each item was completed, and exploring any shortfalls by asking whether the trustee needs more training or support or, if it’s simply not possible for the person to deliver, invite him or her to consider transitioning to an advisory role. This approach can help make move inactive board members out much more gracefully than a subjective “I don’t think you’re doing a good job” chat, thereby increasing the chance of the person continuing to provide financial support.
Now let’s talk a bit more about the terms of the board member agreement. First, it must include an outline of required activities and their frequency: board meetings, committee participation, special events, fundraising and marketing campaigns, board recruitment drives, site visits, and so forth. Be honest about the time and level of commitment you expect, but remember the best way to engage your board is with a “low touch, high value” approach, where you focus their contribution on the things that only they can do. Leave the heavy lifting and the mundane tasks to staff and volunteers.
The agreement must also outline all fundraising responsibilities of board participation, starting first and foremost with a personal financial contribution. Rather than arbitrarily setting a minimum requirement, which is especially tough if you have a diverse board, require an annual capacity gift of every board member. A capacity gift is defined as the largest gift someone can comfortably make and one of his or her top three philanthropic investments of the year. It may be $20 for the student on your board, or $1,000 for the accountant who also gets her company to kick in $10,000 for your annual event, but having even one board member fail to contribute personal funds undermines your chances of securing other donations and grants from foundations requiring 100 percent board giving participation.
In addition to making a personal contribution, all board members must also be engaged in the fundraising process. As Kay Sprinkel Grace suggests in Chapter 9, it’s unlikely that every member of your board can be an asker, but every member should be identifying prospects, utilizing connections, and setting up meetings and calls, spreading awareness about your organization, and supporting fundraising campaigns via social media and email. Some organizations have a “give/get” requirement to encourage the board to donate and fundraise in meaningful ways, but again this can be problematic if your board is diverse. If one lowest common denominator “get” number is inappropriate for your organization, which is, in fact, the norm, there are two things you can and should do to still engage your board in fundraising. First, rather than setting a dollar limit in the board member agreement, require a minimum number of donor, funder, and sponsor prospect introductions annually, perhaps three or five so you don’t scare prospects away. Second, set an individual fundraising goal with each board member, as discussed more in Tip 4, below.
Most board members will come into your organization without any fundraising experience or training. It is your responsibility to transform their passion for your mission into successful fundraising activity. It is critical to give board members tools like talking points, personal stories and case statements, and fact sheets about the organization.
Don’t assume your board members know how to talk about your work, nor that they’re comfortable advocating on your behalf. Hold a board training session every year or two, conducted by your executive or development director or a professional consultant. Leverage these regular trainings to teach your board how to articulate your organization’s mission compellingly and passionately. They should learn how to incorporate their own personal stories of how they’re connected to the cause and why they care. Role playing is a great, fun way to practice this.
Finally, be sure to use the training to address any fears or discomfort your board has around fundraising. You need to make them feel proud to fundraise and help them see that an ask is simply presenting people with an opportunity to affect the change they want to see. Have them read the foreword of this book and Chapter 9, or at least the part where Kay shares her thoughts on transformative versus transactional giving. Whatever it takes, your board must be willing, and proud, to reach out to their networks and contribute to building your base of support. Some board members will be naturals at asking, and others will prefer to make introductions and let you or fellow trustees do the asking. In the latter case, always try to involve a board member in calls or meetings with prospects they’ve identified. This provides ongoing training, enabling those who are less comfortable to witness respectful and effective asks firsthand, and hopefully leading to them becoming askers over time.
It’s important to foster relationships with each board member and meet with them individually on a regular basis. At the very least, meet with each board member annually to identify what support is needed in achieving their annual fundraising goal, which they set with you or, ideally, the board chair. If at all possible, connect more frequently to check in on their progress, but let each board member dictate how often he or she wants to talk or meet. Ensure that not only are they engaged and active in their role, but more importantly, that all members also feel satisfied and fulfilled with their participation. Remember, it’s actually the board chair’s job to manage the board, and you should only be focusing on getting them what they need to be fully engaged and equipped to participate—of course, that’s certainly not always the case. Either way, these meetings are a perfect forum to figure out whether you’re getting what you need out of them, and whether they’re getting what they want out of you. If they haven’t been attending meetings regularly or following through on their commitments, this is a good time to see whether there’s anything you can do about that. Is there any help, materials, stories, or training that’d be useful as they pursue their leads? These one-on-one check-ins also help to establish a personal connection between you and your board, helping each member feel comfortable reaching out with questions and concerns over time.
Generally speaking, your board chair needs to take charge of getting other board members involved in fundraising. For larger boards and well-established organizations, your development or governance committee chair can also take on this responsibility. Either way, just as with all fundraising, the most powerful form of ask is a peer ask, as in “I just gave to Save the Children—won’t you join me in supporting their good work?” The same holds true for board engagement, and it’s always better when a peer—the board chair—asks members to step up and actively contribute.
Your chair should regularly communicate that fundraising is a core responsibility and must hold each member accountable for his or her fundraising commitments and annual donations. Your executive or development director should be regularly meeting with the board chair about the board’s fundraising progress and needs, so that that he or she can properly support the board and unlock their full, active participation. Of course, this entails the board chair having a clear understanding of the organization’s fundraising goals and its strategic plan, as well as progress made to date. You can also create a development committee within the board to focus on fundraising, as long as the rest of the board understands that this doesn’t let them off the hook for fundraising. This can be a great platform to further engage people who want to contribute more to your fundraising efforts, as well as create an opportunity for potential board members to start helping out. A development committee is a tool to foster board and community involvement in fundraising and provides support and coordination for fundraising activities. In order to avoid confusion between the committee’s role and that of the chair and staff, the first order of business for any committee should be drafting a charter outlining its function and role.
One of your board chair’s most important responsibilities is making personal asks of each board member annually. Again, the exception to this is large organizations that task the development or governance committee chair with this responsibility, but either way, it’s crucial that it’s board-led. You can provide support and training to ensure these asks are made respectfully, and effectively, but again, peer asks simply work better. Your role is to support the chair in these asks, as it is with all the members. Providing your chair with information on each member’s giving capacity and any other major gifts they’ve made to other organizations is always helpful. You’ll also want to share their giving history to your organization, as well as the programs and impact they’re most connected to. This will help your chair customize each ask and maximize dollars raised.
There should be time allocated at every board meeting to quickly look at fundraising results to date, and compare them to your overall plan and goals. The board should be familiar with your strategic fundraising plan and be able to ask focused questions about progress and results. You should also use board meetings to continue to inspire members to participate in fundraising efforts. Have one or two members share success stories about progress they’ve made with leads, or donations they’ve secured. It’s also helpful to have board members share how they’ve handled any “no’s” they received, hopefully showing the others that you don’t need to take a “no” personally. You can also share what Kay Sprinkel Grace calls “mission moments” by having a client or stakeholder come in and share how the organization has helped improve his or her life. These moments powerfully connect board members to your organization and its impact on those you serve.
Finally, one way to ensure board engagement at meetings—in fundraising and in general—is to ensure that there’s more dialogue than monologue. Board meetings should be a place for discussion, and reports and updates should be kept brief and focused. As covered in Chapter 7, organizational dashboards help streamline meetings by providing a quick, bird’s eye view of the health of the organization and progress toward goals. Another great tool is a docket agenda, also known as a consent calendar. Docket agendas are short documents that include minutes from your last board meeting, plus top-line updates of no more than two or three paragraphs each. Keeping your board up-to-date is important, but almost all reports and updates can be condensed down to a couple of paragraphs. Distribute the document in advance, but even still, start each board meeting with five or ten minutes of silence as everyone reviews the docket agenda, after which it’s voted on and approved. If there are items from the agenda that warrant further discussion, they can be removed and added to a proper meeting agenda.
Your success in fundraising depends largely on having an engaged and active board. The first step is recruiting effectively and making sure you build a board that has the traits and skill sets your organization needs. As Jim Collins says in Good to Great, it’s about getting the “right people on the bus.” But what’s enormous potential if it’s not tapped? Board members also need to be trained so that they can speak passionately and articulately about your mission and feel proud to invite others to support your cause. Not every board member will feel comfortable making direct asks, but everyone needs to help identify prospects, foster connections, and spread awareness. Cultivating leadership on your board and having a strong, engaged chair is key to securing personal board contributions and fundraising participation throughout. When effectively leveraged, your board can be your strongest asset, and each member deserves personal attention and regular updates on the impact his or her contribution has on your overall work. Follow this recipe and your board will catapult your fundraising efforts, enabling your organization to thrive.
Do. . .
Don’t. . .
Lisa Hoffman is a nonprofit coach, consultant, and facilitator with more than 25 years of experience in helping nonprofits thrive by moving boards from good to great. Hoffman is also an ordained Zen priest, bringing the Buddhist practices of compassion, active engagement, and leaving the ego at the door to her nonprofit coaching and consulting.