3 Tips for Engaging Your Board in Fundraising Initiatives
Board members have many responsibilities to your nonprofit, from developing strategic plans to hiring executive staff to general governance. Since fundraising typically isn’t at the top of board members’ lists, they may let fundraising involvement fall to the wayside while they tackle more pressing tasks.
However, board members should play key roles in major fundraising initiatives and provide regular support in the form of introductions to prospects, strategy development, and more. If you’d like to improve board engagement at your nonprofit, taking a new approach to board member fundraising could give your nonprofit the boost it needs.
Whether you need your board’s help launching a capital campaign or investing in new fundraising software, using these tips will give board members the motivation and confidence they need to get more involved in fundraising.
1. Provide more fundraising training and development opportunities.
One reason your board members may be hesitant to participate in fundraising is that they don’t know enough about the fundraising process to confidently get involved. Fundraising is a skill like any other, and board members who don’t have development experience need support to improve.
By providing a variety of fundraising training and development opportunities, you can increase your board members’ aptitude, confidence, and willingness to engage in fundraising activities. Explore several external resources board members can use to grow their skills, such as:
Training courses: Fundraising and leadership training courses offered by nonprofit experts can greatly enhance your board’s ability to fundraise. These courses may be offered as single sessions or multi-week classes and taken by your entire board or individual members. Either way, training participants will learn new skills and talk through their fundraising challenges in a group setting.
Conferences and summits: Sending board members to a nonprofit leadership conference or board summit offers more benefits than just networking (although members can learn plenty about fundraising from other nonprofit professionals, too). These events often include a variety of discussions, workshops, and presentations by experts where board members can sharpen their skills.
Panels: Both in-person and online panel discussions can be valuable training resources for your board. Search for public panels about specific fundraising topics, such as major donor cultivation or capital campaign planning, so board members can learn more about topics relevant to their roles. Some online panels even offer free registration, making it feasible for board members to attend multiple panels that interest them.
To facilitate skill building and ultimately improve your organization’s ability to raise more for your mission, your nonprofit might set an annual budget to pay for these training resources or fund them as needed. You can also encourage board members to seek out these opportunities on their own if they’re excited about expanding their skill sets.
In addition to one-off development opportunities, don’t forget to build fundraising training into your existing board member orientation and onboarding processes. This way, you’ll set new board members up for success and ensure that everyone has a solid fundraising foundation to build on.
2. Involve board members in the cultivation and stewardship process.
Typically, the areas of fundraising that benefit the most from board member involvement relate to your largest donors. Major donors who give thousands of dollars to your organization warrant special attention from your team, and this often includes personal interactions with leadership and board members.
Encourage your board members to get more involved in major donor fundraising by participating in prospect cultivation and donor stewardship efforts.
Both cultivation (building relationships before the ask) and stewardship (maintaining relationships after donors give) are crucial fundraising processes that board members can easily help with. Plus, since these processes don’t involve an actual donation solicitation, members who are newer to fundraising will likely feel more comfortable in these capacities than asking for money directly.
But what does this involvement actually look like? Take a look at this example of how one board member might play a role throughout the entire major donor fundraising process:
The board member introduces your major gifts officer to a prospect who they know from their community connections.
After determining through research that the prospect may be a good fit for legacy giving, your major gifts officer organizes a lunch with both the prospect and the board member to discuss the program.
Once the prospect commits to making a legacy donation to your organization, the board member invites the donor to a celebratory dinner.
Periodically, your nonprofit sends the donor letters signed by the board member to thank them for their contribution and update them on the status of your work.
To simplify board member participation in activities like these, provide them with clear guidelines and instructions. For instance, you might share a list of major donor cultivation best practices and emphasize that the focus should always be on relationship building during that stage.
3. Highlight board members’ contributions and successes.
Finally, boost board member engagement with fundraising long-term by celebrating their successes and reminding them how important their efforts are. The key to getting board members more excited about fundraising is to make their involvement meaningful, and emphasizing the value of their contributions helps cement that meaning.
To appreciate your board members and highlight their fundraising successes, you might:
Ask your development director to attend a meeting to thank board members personally for their help.
Share regular reports on how much you raised from corporate philanthropy, major giving, and other fundraising efforts that board members were involved in.
Provide space in board meetings for members to share their experiences, talk through questions, and celebrate each others’ successes.
Create a thank-you video featuring staff members, volunteers, or beneficiaries thanking board members for their work.
Whenever you thank board members, remind them of the specific impact they make on your nonprofit’s mission by engaging with fundraising initiatives. For instance, you might share a detailed report on everything your nonprofit achieved with a major donation that board members helped solicit. When board members can see firsthand what their fundraising involvement achieves, they’ll be more likely to stay engaged in the future.
Your board members know that they’re expected to support your nonprofit beyond their governance responsibilities, but it’s easier to get involved with fundraising if they know where to start. These tips will help you not only engage your board members in current fundraising initiatives but also give them skills they can use to support your organization for years to come.