one of my biggest pet-peeves
Cindy Wagman
Coaching, consulting, and speaking to help nonprofit consultants shake off the “shoulds”, drop the scarcity hangover from the nonprofit sector, and find abundance in entrepreneurship. Fractional Fundraising Movement.
I can’t stand when so-called fundraising “gurus” or “thought leaders” overemphasize the “importance” of involving your board in fundraising.
This might seem controversial, but your board does not have to fundraise.?
I’ll give you a minute for a sigh of relief.
I’m sorry - but so many small organizations struggle with how their fundraising “should be” by trying to copy big-organization best practices. And it makes them feel BAD. Feel like they’re constantly failing if they can’t get their board giving or asking.?
My team and I have been VERY successful fundraising for organizations with zero board involvement. ZERO.
But, that also doesn’t mean that board fundraising isn’t of great benefit. Once we drop the “we have to do this”, we can start to find ways to encourage our board to be involved in fundraising, even if lightly at first, so that they actually feel good doing it.
Today’s podcast guest, Elizabeth Abel, Senior Vice President at CCS Fundraising, joins me to talk about board fundraising - but not to make you feel bad about it - to make you inspired!
Would it be great to have a board that fundraises? Let’s redefine what that means so it really serves small nonprofits like yours!
Keep up the good work,
Cindy
Chief Fundraising Strategist at People First Fundraising Solutions (formerly People First Resource Development)
2 年Tremendous broadcast and something that I continually preach with my organizations. I really liked the concept of not needing to see the entire staircase, they only need to see the next step. Bravo!
I help nonprofits grow their funding without growing their staff
2 年Yes! Thank you voicing this!
Co-founder & Executive Director at Sawubona Project sawubonaproject.com
2 年Couldn't agree with you more. I led a small charity in Ottawa for 16 years and the board, while invaluable, were not instrumental in fundraising. The external push was always that board members are supposed to be leaders in fundraising for the organization, but in my reality, they never were. It did cause some internal frustration from time to time. At the end of the day, accepting they may not fulfill that role will expedite the real fundraising that needs to happen. So glad you've called this out.