Board members and fundraising. Uh, oh! Here it comes – the deer-in-the-headlights look. Board members don’t really know what is expected of them. Staff members wish they’d just get on with it. In so many cases it doesn’t seem to be working.
I’ve been there. About eight years ago I saw an article called The Myth of the Fundraising Board. It argued that very few boards actually did fundraising, so we might as well just accept it. At the time, I was so relieved to hear that it wasn’t just me or my organization. I thought, “Finally, the truth comes out!”
But since then, I have worked with several other boards and learned that – as always – the truth is in the middle. There are some great fundraising boards and there are some that don’t do any fundraising at all. The question is, can it change? Can a board that hasn’t done any fundraising be nurtured to do so?
Indeed, but nurtured is the key word. I think there are two hurdles to getting a board to raise money. First is the lack of clear expectations. Most board members are brought on through a friend or business contact and they are never given a proper orientation or “job” description. They know through osmosis that they are supposed to raise money, but it’s all kind of vague.
The second hurdle is the fear factor. What does it mean I’m supposed to raise money? Do I have to go begging to family and friends? Do I have to ask someone for $50,000? Yikes! That doesn’t sound very appealing. I’ve seen many board members – all over the world — just cringe and avoid.
So, three things you can do as a staff member or board leader:
1. Give your board members a choice. There are lots of things board members can do to help raise money; some of them don’t even require any ask! Here’s a link to Six No-Ask Fundraising Tasks for Board members.
2. Start small – Don’t overwhelm a board member. Start with small tasks that seem appetizing and work from there. Don’t expect all board members to engage. Celebrate those who do!
3. Make expectations clear. I’ve used Andy Robinson’s menu of board fundraising tasks with boards to much success. Board members are asked to choose from a three courses of fundraising responsibilities. If you’d like to see a copy of a sample menu, let me know and I’ll send you one.
And tell us what you think. We have a NEW POLL on our front page and we’d like to hear what your board members are doing. And if you’d like to hear more, consider coming to our Workshop on September 28 for board members and staff. Here’s a link to that. See you there!
