How To Improve Board Fundraising

Board fundraising is crucial to the success of any charity. Fundraising is a key part of a board’s fiscal responsibility as much as other responsibilities. It’s should be a big part of their gig–in fact, the biggest part of it. Many individuals, foundations, corporations and government funding sources will first look to see if a board is giving and getting before their own support will be forthcoming. They ask themselves: “If your board members (who hold the legal and fiduciary responsibility for your charity) don't support your charity financially and contribute to its fundraising efforts, then why should we or anybody else?” Fundraising, unfortunately for our society, is and continues to remain the greatest weakness of most nonprofit boards. How can this problem be solved? Pick the right “fundraising” board members in the first place. Recruit affluent and influential board members who not only are passionate about your mission but are skilled at and comfortable with fundraising in the first place and very capable of doing it---ones with plenty of easy access to major potential donors in their own peer networks. Choose ones who have the ability to serve as a model for others and set the pace with/encourage others with their own personal and corporate gifts. And avoid recruiting board members for whom yours is not their only or at least most significant charity. Be wary of board members with other charitable obligations and too many time commitments. Stress fundraising expectations and set clear goals in the board recruiting, on-boarding and orientation process. Tell board members that you expect them all to make significant donations and actively fundraise prior to having them join your board. This is what is known as a “Give, Get, Or Get Off” policy. Yet you can’t expect your board to become fundraisers if you don’t create clear fundraising expectations from the outset as well as create a culture of fundraising not only within the board but also throughout the entire organization and its management, staff, volunteers and vendors. Fundraising is a learned skill. It requires training. Train each of your board members collectively and individually to be great fundraisers. Have a seasoned fundraising expert teach your board fundraising preferably at a weekend retreat or a board meeting focused upon fundraising. To facilitate further fundraising training, try pairing the “least comfortable with fundraising” board members with those “most comfortable with it” to help them out by using a “buddy system.” By pairing experienced fundraisers with inexperienced ones, you can create meaningful mentoring for them and avoid anxiety getting the better of them. There’s more to fundraising than the actual “ask.” Your board can be part of the donor identification process, cultivating potential donors or stewarding existing donors to create donor loyalty. The ask is only one part of the process. Some people will never be good at asking. Let people decide which part of fundraising is the best fit for them. Have your ask-deficient board members recruit prospective donors to come to special events. And your board members who still remain uncomfortable with gift solicitation can also contribute by researching and identifying potential donors, “courting” potential donors or stewarding and thanking existing donors to create donor loyalty. They can be asked to host events in their homes to invite prospects to for cultivation. Board members can also play a key role in soliciting in-kind donations and pro bono services from individuals, institutions, and corporations. They can also bring new resources and skills into the organization through their own networks to further the charity’s mission. And you should consider using “Board Thank-a-thons” to get board members more comfortable with fundraising. November because of Thanksgiving is a great month for scheduling these marathon telephone calling sessions in which board members simply thank major donors and record donor responses and reactions on forms later entered into your donor databases. With these, you can have board members express gratitude to---and get to know---your major donors---while thereby further cultivating these prospects. Create a fundraising culture that encourages your board of directors to take a genuine lead in setting key examples as both major givers and major askers, fully participating 100%, and thereby allowing your organization to be assured of achieving its mission. How else can board fundraising be made better?

You can:

Ask absent board member why they don’t attend.

Ask bored board members why they are disengaged.

Strive to make board meetings and board governance less about micro-management concerns and more about macro ones---the interesting, meaningful and larger issues that truly matter---in other words, about how to create the brightest possible future for the organization.

Strive to get your board governance committee set up and establish board expectations and standards for board performance and evaluate board members annually and also get a board fundraising and development committee going to focus on raising funds.

Hire a fundraising expert to advise, guide and inspire you.

P.S. Anything else that YOU would add?

The author, Dr. John B. Charnay, CEO of Charnay and Associates in Greater Los Angeles, is a top nonprofit fundraising expert and fundraising strategic advisor who has raised over a quarter of a billion dollars during his distinguished career. He has been in charge of numerous major fundraising special events. He often strategically advises board chairs and facilitates board fundraising retreats and has trained numerous boards and development directors and their staffs in fundraising. He has extensive experience teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels at leading universities throughout the greater Los Angeles area, including USC, UCLA, CSUN, FIDM, Woodbury and Pepperdine. Additionally, he is an award-winning public relations professional. He has been a strategic PR advisor to many famous celebrities and Fortune 1000 CEOs. Additionally, he serves as a trusted strategic philanthropic advisor to numerous high net worth individuals & families & family offices. To meet him and ask for his support, invite him to be LinkedIn (email in profile) and contact him today!