Simplify Your Board Fundraising Strategy

For a lot of us in the nonprofit community, November brings a flurry of activities and questions. What about Giving Tuesday? What about year-end giving? What about goal setting for next year?

Luckily, your friends at Resolute Philanthropy are here to help. This month, I'll be re-sharing some of the most popular posts and videos on topics like individual giving, board engagement, and donor stewardship with specific tools to help you do more for your mission.

This week, we're talking about board giving. Your board members can be fundraising superstars - but only if you help them out. 

Take it away, past Chris….

Fundraisers, as a rule, love to complicate things.

We put barriers between the donor and their giving.

(Why ask directly when we can have 15 live auction items and 25 silent auction items?).

We use jargon and industry terms to define and limit acts of generosity.

(Your donors don’t consider themselves to be LYBUNT or SYBUNT or annual or major.)

We ask easy questions instead of helpful ones.

("Did it work?" is a different question than "Does this serve our mission and goals?")

So when it comes to asking our board members to support fundraising, it's not a surprise that we can overcomplicate things.

While systems and structures like give/get policies and sponsorship toolkits are important, they won't help a volunteer overcome their fear of fundraising. And it certainly won't help a volunteer who thinks fundraising comes down to convincing someone to give out of a sense of obligation.

So, how do we simplify the act of inspiring our key volunteers to get involved with fundraising?

Here's three places to start:

1. Think big. Fundraising is not just about asking - its's about connecting and thanking as well. Find ways that volunteers can participate in all stages of fundraising.

2. Get personal. Your volunteers (board members, committee members, etc.) are volunteering for a reason. And that reason isn't your mission statement. Get curious and learn why your volunteers are connected - because that story is the baseline for fundraising success.

3. Be the expert. Your volunteers don't need to be experts in your mission. That's your job. Help them to make authentic connections with their networks - while you handle the details and specifics.

You volunteers have passion and a personal connection to your mission - and that can make them fundraising superstars - if you help them!