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Charity
Channel
Building a Fundraising Board
Part
I
by Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
President/CEO
CAPITAL
VENTURE
SM
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“We can’t get our board
to help with fundraising, they aren’t the
‘movers and shakers’ in town.”
If this is a statement you have heard in your organization,
read on!
While some organizations do not set fundraising
as a priority for its board members, most nonprofits
can benefit from having a board more actively using
their connections to benefit the organization.
The key to getting your board to embrace fundraising
lies in three simple steps—the recruitment
process, assuring that board members are committed
to the organization and removing the fear of fundraising
that is inherent in most people.
In this two part series, we will address these issues.
In Part One, let’s talk about the recruitment
process and the annual Board appeal.
Recruiting the Right Way
Often, boards are reluctant to fundraise because
they have not been recruited with that purpose in
mind. For many organizations, fundraising has never
been a part of their culture for various reasons—perhaps
in the past they relied on government funding, fees
for service or foundation grants. Then suddenly,
when these funding sources shift priorities and
income streams dry up, the organization decides
it now needs to rethink fundraising and is stymied
by how to introduce this concept to the board.
Even if the organization originally intended for
its board to be involved in fundraising, many times,
board recruiters are reluctant to use the “F”
word for fear of scaring off potential board members.
Many well-intentioned boards operate under the noble
idea that, “once they get on our board and
see the great work we are doing, they will want
to go out and ask for money.” Wrong! If they
have not been told up front that fundraising is
a part of their role, they will not embrace it later
when you decide to “slip it into” their
job description.
One key concept to consider is who does the recruiting
for new board members. Instead of a Nominating Committee
that meets once a year to fill vacant seats, one
recommended approach is to have a year round Board
Resource Committee. (This committee can also be
called the Governance Committee or the Committee
on Directorship or any name with which your organizations
feels comfortable) Whatever the title, the important
things to remember about this committee are:
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- It should meet year round;
- It needs to be chaired by the strongest
person on the Board;
- Its duties include doing an assessment
of Board performance, both the board as a whole and
individual Board members;
- It is responsible for developing
or refining Board position descriptions;
- It evaluates the needs of the Board
and develops a profile of the kinds of people that
are needed to fill vacancies on the Board;
- It works with the Board to help
find the right people to fill Board positions;
- It assures diversity on the Board;
- It implements, along with senior
staff members of the organization, Board orientation;
- It is responsible for ongoing education
of the Board.
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Board Resource Committee, working thoughtfully, diligently
and on an ongoing basis can make all the difference in
the world between an effective, enthused, and inspired
Board and a lackadaisical Board that does not understand
its role in advancing the organization's mission and is
reluctant to involve themselves in the fundraising process.
One of the key roles of this important committee is to
develop a board position description that includes a required
financial contribution from each board member as well
as the expectation that each board member be involved
in the organization's fundraising efforts through attendance
at events, planning development activities, and helping
to identify, cultivate and solicit potential donors.
This committee is also responsible for assuring that the
position descriptions are not glossed over during the
recruitment process and to make sure that each potential
board member understands that fundraising is an important
part of his or her role as a board member. They must be
expected to deal with potential board members that are
obviously reluctant to accept this responsibility. It
is better to turn away a prospective board member who
is not willing to get involved in fundraising, than to
‘fill a seat with a warm body’ just so the
committee can say it has met its expectation to bring
on a certain number of new board members each year. The
reluctant fundraiser may instead be invited to serve on
a committee or in some other volunteer position, other
than being invited to serve as on the board.
In our next article, we will discuss assuring that the
board is committed to fundraising and wiling to take part
in the exciting process of growing the organization's
resources.
Now that you have a board in place with the diverse skills
and talents and connections you need to expand your resource
development program, where do you start?
Board
Commitment--The Annual Board Appeal
Board giving is essential to show their commitment to
the organization. Is it important, even necessary, for
your Board members to contribute to your organization’s
annual appeal
Yes, for several reasons: |
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- It increases the level of “ownership”
the Board members feel towards the organization
- It shows others that the Board members
are good stewards
- It enables your organization to
raise funds from foundations and other entities that
ask—“How much has the Board given?”
- It makes them feel good about their
involvement with the organization and enables them
to ask others for money!
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Part
II |
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