Board Life Matters is a national sounding board designed to inspire and engage the next generation in nonprofit board service.
Dave Sternberg
You’ve been asked to fundraise. Now what?
There are three common reactions board members have to this request: 1) sure, just give me the names, 2) I am not completely comfortable and need some training, and 3) never.
In all three cases there is a response that can create a good fundraising team.
For those who are ready to ask others for money… put them to work NOW. Sit down with them and decide who they want to solicit – friends, colleagues, donors they do not know – and offer any help necessary to facilitate the process.
For those board members who need more training to create comfort, choose a date and dedicate the time to train them. Often an hour helping them develop their elevator speech is enough to assist them in identifying how they can best talk about your organization. Have each board member share it with the group for honest feedback. Your job… shortly after they have their “pitch,” put them into a situation where they need to use it – a lunch you have arranged or small reception with donors.
Now for the unwilling… share the many fundraising activities that a board member can perform that contribute to the overall fundraising process. For example, making thank-you calls, hosting a table of donor prospects at the gala, writing thank-you letters or even helping to review proposals that request a gift. These and many others are simple and easy ways to get these board members involved.
Even the best board has a few board members who are more tepid than others about their fundraising role. Good boards understand how to overcome the hesitation of the unwilling and how to motivate those who are willing and how to keep fundraising at the top of the priority list.
(David Sternberg is the author of Fearless Fudraising for Nonprofit Boards, Second Edition)
For those that need some training–and those of us who may be doing the training–do you have any suggestions on how to get ready?
How do we prepare and how do we train others? Do you have suggestions on approach, amount, realistic goals? I imagine a lot of that will differ from person-to-person and organization-to-organization. Anything to get started and feel comfortable in the “asking people for money” world would be great.
Looking forward to more from this resource!
To get ready for training, work with a board member or two that really get it. Craft a training that is engaging and fun. Have each board member craft an elevator speech and share within smaller groups. Then let each group chose the one they felt was best and share with everyone.
You can ask the board to describe the qualities of a $100 donor and flip chart the response. Then do the same for a $10,000 donor. As a group discuss the differences and what it takes to move a donor from $100 to $10,000. This helps board members understand the fundraising “process.”
These are two examples of ways to help board members move out of their comfort zone in a safe way. At some point conducting solicitation training might be appropriate. As you noted this is situational. If solicitation training is the place your boards is, then go for it.
How does Facebook relate to fundraising?
Denise:
Facebook and other social media options are great for reaching new audiences and building a consitutency in a new way…as for fundraising it still represents less than 2% of total fundraising revenue nationwide.