Annual Board Appeal, The

Is it important, even necessary, for your Board members to contribute to your organization’s annual appeal?

Yes, for several reasons:  

• 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!

Okay, we all agree it is important, and necessary for the Board to give. How much, when and how does this all happen?

How Much?

Requiring Board members to give a set dollar amount each year is discouraged for several reasons—it limits you in recruiting Board members who may have a lot of talent and skills but may feel hampered by the minimum level of giving. On the other hand, Board members who could easily give more, tend to give at the stated minimum level. Therefore it is better to stress in the Board’s position description that all Board members are required to give at a meaningful level. The two key words are all (100% of the Board should be giving annually) and meaningful. Board members should be rated individually for an appropriate “ask” amount.

When?

The Board Appeal should be completed before asking others to contribute. The best time to do the Board Appeal is at the very beginning of the fiscal year. For many organizations that are on a July-June fiscal year, summer is a good time to “gear up” for the fall campaign and having the Board Appeal out of the way during July and August gets you in good shape for your annual appeal.

How?

Start with a Board Appeal Committee—the Chair of the Board, the Chair of the Development Committee and as many other Board members as are needed to personally solicit the Board, keeping in mind that one solicitor should be responsible for no more than five calls. Committee members should be selected from those Board members who are regular, generous givers themselves. The Chief Development Officer should be part of the Committee but not solicit Board members.

The Committee does a screening and rating session of the entire Board. Treat the Board Appeal just as you would any major fundraising appeal; make it personal, challenging and exciting. You don’t need glitzy campaign material for your Board, after all they should know the “case,” but you might want to put together a one page summary of the case and a graphic showing the importance of the Board Appeal (a pie chart with the annual fund broken down by categories is helpful to do this, i.e. how much comes from grants, events, mail, Board Appeal, corporate, etc.). Another helpful tool a list showing Board members various ways you need their support throughout the year. Most Board members get annoyed at being “nickled and dimed” to death for every special event that comes along. A menu of options for how they can direct their support will be helpful, but should always include unrestricted Board giving.

The Board Appeal Committee may need training in how to schedule the appointment and how to make an ask, but remember that the Board Appeal should be a serious effort with personal visits to the Board members, not just having the Board Chair hand out pledge cards at a meeting and say, “okay everyone, make your commitment now.” This method usually offends Board members and results in a much lower gift than allowing the Board member to feel special enough for a personal visit and a face-to-face opportunity for them to ask questions and share their interests.

Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE is one of fewer than 100 people worldwide to hold the Advanced Certified Fund Raising Executive distinction. Linda is President/CEO of CAPITAL VENTURE, a fundraising consulting firm with offices in Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Linda has helped more than 100 organizations with their development programs and has trained more than 14,000 professionals in all aspects of development. Hundreds of tools for development professionals may be found on the CAPITAL VENTURE website at www.cvfundraising.com.

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