Tweet

The Board's Role in Fundraising

Written by: Ellen Bristol

Article Overview: “Should my board help me raise funds?” The obvious answer is yes, of course they should! Now comes the hard part. Getting the board to actually raise money is a lot tougher than simply saying they should. Many nonprofits, of all sizes and types of mission, overlook the basic steps necessary to engage the board in effective fundraising.

The Board's Role in Fundraising

"Should my board help me raise funds?" The obvious answer is yes, of course they should! Now comes the hard part. Getting the board to actually raise money is a lot tougher than simply saying they should. Many nonprofits, of all sizes and types of mission, overlook the basic steps necessary to engage the board in effective fundraising. The following nine tips will put your board on the right track. And there's a bonus attached. Once the board masters thesenine steps, they will be participating, they'll be engaged, and they will truly make a difference!



Tip #1: Make sure the agency is worth raising funds for. The board's primary responsibility is to govern the agency and ensure that it delivers on its promise. That means the board sets direction, defines the vision, mission, goals and objectives, and holds the CEO or Executive Director accountable for achieving results. It is not, emphatically not, the board's job to act as volunteers, stuff envelopes, provide free legal or accounting services, although they may do such things if the board as a whole decides they should. It is the board's job to represent the constituents your agency serves, and to demand excellence from agency performance. Once the board has clearly defined its leadership role, then and only then is it ready to start raising money.



Tip #2: Engage their hearts - and their wallets. If you serve on a nonprofit board, then it stands to reason that you believe in that organization. Therefore, the agency should be one of the prime recipients of your personal giving. The board's second step toward fundraising is the instituting of a "give or get" policy, whereby board members either write a check or find others to write checks on their behalf. If the board member can't afford to give the required amount, then they can raise the money from others. Board members that are not willing to invest in the financial future of the agency may not be the best candidates for board service. Give-or-get policies need not be overtaxing; giving can start as low as you wish.And it is OK to offer exceptions for certain board members - as long as the entireboardagrees.



Tip #3: Write a strong Case Statement for giving. It's not fair to sit back and assume that board members know how - or why - to raise money for your agency; give them the right support. Provide an effective Case Statement, a document that 'makes the case' for supporting the agency. The Case Statement starts with the agency's mission statement and then goes beyond it. It should cover the "economic" as well as the "emotional" appeal. The emotional appeal tells prospective donors about the good works that the charity performs and engages their hearts. The economic appeal tells donors why the charity's work contributes to the economy, why it is "donation-worthy," and engages their wallets. Your Case Statement may include a description of funding levels or even specific purposes for which you need funding. Make sure each board member has copies of this document, and be sure to review and revise it every year.



Tip #4: Profile the types of donors you'd like to attract. Describe your ideal donor, including details about the demographics of donors most likely to give such as age, zip code, level of affluence, history of past giving, and so forth. Then include the interests, passions or convictions of your ideal donor. Document this profile as a benchmark or guideline for qualifying new donors. Once you have developed the ideal funder/donor profile, use it as a reason to exclude unqualified opportunities as well as to include the appropriate ones. This reduces the likelihood of board members wasting time on unqualified prospects.



Tip #5: Board members know people. Develop an initial list of prospective donors by asking board members to identify individuals whom they can contact on behalf of your agency. Pulling a name out of the newspaper is not the best place to start; the board member must use his or her personal influence to start the process. Provide the board members with your Ideal Donor Profile ahead of time and ask "who do you know that resembles this profile?" Board members can and should use their contacts and influence to schedule time for meetings and discussions with these individuals. This exercise may put some of your board members to the test. If no one on your board has influence or contacts in the community, it may be wise to find new board members that do.



Tip #6: The staff raises grants; the board raises philanthropy. Nonprofits raise money from four types of income: grants, fees for service (earned income), philanthropy and corporate partnerships. The staff is best suited to pursuing grant opportunities and earned income; let them do it. The board, on the other hand, is best suited for raising money from individual philanthropy (individual donations of any size) and from corporations. First, have the staff figure out how much they need to earn from each funding category, then describe and prioritize their specific funding needs. (By the way, "we just need more money" is not a need, it's a complaint.) Once the staff has defined its funding needs, prioritized them, and determined which needs are better underwritten by philanthropy or corporate donations, the board can begin to plan their schedule of calls and visits. Make sure there is a useful Ideal Donor Profile for wealthy individuals, and another one specifically for corporate partnerships or sponsorships.



Tip #7: Encourage them to leverage their contacts. Board members know lots of people. Make sure they feel comfortable approaching their contacts on your behalf. Remind them that they may know wealthy individuals, people who like to volunteer, corporate executives looking for charities with which to align themselves, or folks who want to serve on boards. Make your board members feel comfortable in approaching their contacts and connections. This can be especially helpful if your board member is acquainted with the founder or director of a family-owned foundation.



Tip #8: Help them ask for money. Some board members may be uncomfortable with asking for donations. Give them a hand by providing your Case Statement, Ideal Donor Profile, and list of funding needs. Arrange for some training. Schedule participation in a class, bring in an outside expert, or devote time (in or out of board meetings) for board and staff members to practice, rehearse and coach one another until 'making the ask' feels natural. Revenue development is a professional skill, and it's not fair to assume that all board members have equal skills or talents for the work.



Tip #9: Track performance. Set up specific performance targets for fundraising, using so-called "leading" indicators, that is indicators that take place before the money comes in the door. Consider such indicators as growth in size of prospect database and growth in numbers of proposals under discussion with wealthy individuals and corporate sponsor prospects. The Executive Director should collate such data on a regular basis and report on it at every board meeting. Constant attention to the realities of the fundraising process will institute an important discipline for all.

Fundraising is a critical, strategic function that needs and deserves strong leadership. It's not "somebody else's" job, it's everyone's. And it's not enough to simply assume that board members will do the work without being asked, without tools, and without training. We encourage board members to take this message to heart and build on these simple tips to create effective fundraising disciplines.

Related Articles
  Announcing: High Profit Fundraising for Your Fundraising Team
  Top Five Responsibilities of Nonprofit Board Members
  Nonprofit Fundraising: Improve Your Fundraising Performance
  Don't Be Casual
  WHY DO MARKETERS LEAVE THEIR BRAINS AT THE DOOR WHEN THEY CREATE THEIR WEBSITES?

Article Tags: accounting services, agency performance, board member, board members, ceo, constituents, executive director, fundraising, goals and objectives, hearts, leadership role, masters, nine steps, nonprofit board, nonprofits, raising money, stuff envelopes, vision mission goals, volunteers, wallets



Related Forum Posts
Re: How can I promote my site? - [quote="smithndavis":2qlpkdk9]Do following to promote your site : 1) Use SEO techniques 2) Use more backlinks 3) Get a Google Sitemap on your blog to help to get it fully indexed 4) Participate in Related Forum Boards 5) Convert some of your existing articles into podcasts[/quote:2qlpkdk9] Again, I agree with all these. The fifth point is especially good, I think. I'd add that you can also turn your articles into videos and post them on YouTube and other video sites, and then embedding them in your blog.
Re: Non-profit Organizations - I helped set up a non-profit charity for helping stray pets and people who had lost their pets in our local area last year. There are so many things I learned from the experience, I'm not sure where to start. First of all, I hold to the teaching if you can dream it, you can do it! In one way, it was incredibly easy to find support for something we were so passionate about. On the other hand, our passion needed to be tampered with reason so that we didn't burn ourselves out. It is so important to set things in order as soon as possible. There should be an official board of directors and at least general protocols set in place for key services. Expectations among board members should be clear. Keep non-urgent decision making to during meetings only! Otherwise, you will be working 24 hours a day! And make sure you use your volunteers as soon as you get clarity on your first steps. Clarify your message as a whole before you take it to the public. Otherwise, you will create confusion on what you do or don't do. It was really helpful to connect with other organizations in the area who had a similar mission. In our case, we met with the SPCA so we could avoid doubling up on services and instead fill in the gaps of what they were unable to provide in our area. Fundraising IS important, but make sure you are keeping up with the services you offer. The mission of your organization is the priority. In a nutshell, setting up a charity was a great experience, but I certainly didn't need to work as hard as I did. I plan on doing it again in about 2 years where I will set up a charity to help women in both Canada and Third World countries.
Re: Finding the Right Penny Stocks to Buy - I don't play with penny stocks much, but I've got my eye on a company with great potential. Point Group Holdings (Symbol PGHI) recently acquired VeeGeez.com, an online video game rental site. It's like NetFlix, only they rent video games instead of DVDs. If you'll remember, NetFlix went from $6 to almost $80 this past year. The DVD rental business is huge. So is the video game rental market. VeeGeez has some existing competition, but I don't believe any of them are doing a good job marketing their services. With their "No late fees" policy, I believe VeeGeez has a great opportunity to take a nice chunk of the market. Currently, their site looks awful, but they will be launching a brand new site within a week or two. They have plans to launch a comprehensive marketing effort which should reach their target market over the next year. I remember missing the boat on the last dotcom boom. I have put my money where my mouth is and invested some cash in PGHI. It is currently at .05 on the OTC Bulletin Boards. I guess time will tell if this is a good investment! Note: I am not a licensed broker and am not telling you what to do with your money. Don't make any purchases based on what I say or do.......................


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Marketing & Sales tools – going back to basics

Steps For Starting A Small Business

Fear Factors in Small Business: Sales & Marketing

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.