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The next time a few of your board leaders get together, try asking this question: "On a scale of one to ten, when it comes to fundraising, our board is a ____?" If you give yourselves a six or higher, slap high fives all around. Your task is to build on your successes. Look carefully at what you are doing well and do more of that, even better.
But, if you gave yourselves a five or less, then welcome to the great muddled mass of organizations that are frustrated by their board's effectiveness in raising dollars. This article is for you.
It's about leadership. Boards are a group. Groups follow leaders. Groups follow their leaders' examples, especially when it comes to fundraising. Exhorting board members to get off their fannies and get moving rarely produces positive results. What it actually produces is guilt and frustration all around.
This is actually good news. If your board is not performing well, you cannot and should not try to change the behavior of all 15 to 20 board members. You do need to change the behavior of two or three leaders or change leadership (more below). So, the first task is to look honestly at what messages your leadership is sending to the board with their behavior. Read on.
The Personally Significant Gift
Hank Rosso, founder of The Fund Raising School, said when it comes to fundraising, we must have leadership by example. Fundraising leaders must give a personally significant gift and be willing to ask others. That's all. But actually it's a lot when you think about it. (Hank added that board members must also insure good stewardship of the gifts your organization receives.)
I first heard about the "personally significant gift" also from Hank Rosso. It's a brilliant concept. It is a great equalizer - anyone and everyone can give a personally significant gift. For some it could be as little as $20 a month or $250 a year. For another it could be $5,000.
There is no mathematical formula, but here are three ways to think about a personally significant gift:
- A personally significant gift is one of the biggest gifts you give and you have to "stretch" to make it;
- A personally significant gift is one where your best friend will say, "Wow, you did that!"
- A personally significant gift is one that hurts and feels good at the same time.
No one can tell you exactly what a personally significant gift is, but you will know it when you make it because you will feel confident asking others on your board to do the same.
What About Give or Get Policies?
Many organizations have policies requiring board members to give or get a certain amount each year, say $500. But, who is more likely to be able to be able to get $500, the person who can also give that amount or the person who cannot? Of course it is the person who can also give $500. In our society, people with resources tend to have relationships with others who also have resources. Give or get policies let people who have the most resources off the hook too easily and penalize those with the least resources. In short, it's the wrong conjunction. You need a give and get policy.
Helping Get:
Ultimately, it gets down to asking. Here's where the personally significant gifts really pay off. First, people who make these gifts very often feel more empowered about asking others to join them. Second, if everyone (or at least a strong majority) on your board is making this kind of gift, your campaign is already off to a great start. Everyone can ask in some form. Here are a few examples:
- Meet with five friends or colleagues or past supporters;
- Make phone calls to 10 friends or colleagues or past supporters;
- Write letters to 20 friends or colleagues or past supporters;
- Make thank you calls to 20 current supporters.
See a pattern? The more intimate the contact, the bigger the potential reward and the fewer asks you have to make.
But Our Leaders Won't Do It
Often changing a board's fundraising behavior starts with changing the leadership, at least the leaders in charge of fundraising. Getting old leaders to change very often fails. There's a type of Peter Principle here. If you have had the same development or annual event chair for five years and the same weak fundraising results, it is time to look for new leadership. And when you are talking about your friends or respected colleagues on the board, it's really hard to make the change. But you must.
Look at the Newbies
When looking for new fundraising leadership, newer board members are often your best bet. Don't worry about titles. They don't have to be an officer or a development committee member (at least not yet). New board members have something better than titles - they have enthusiasm. And, they aren't burdened by past failures and frustrations. So, where do you start? With their own gift, the personally significant gift. But don't stop there. Your new fundraising leadership will, like everyone else, need help and support and guidance.
Don't Stop with the "Real Money" People
Also, when looking for new fundraising leadership, don't limit yourself to people with "real money." What counts most at this point is commitment to your chorus, willingness to write a personally significant check, and willingness to take a few risks. If you find this person, then they can help you enlist the chorus supporters with real money. The real money people often hang back until they see other leadership and commitment.
Involvement Yields Investment
This axiom comes from Andrea Kilhstedt, a capital campaign specialist, and it's right on. If you want board members (or donors) to make a real investment, they have to feel involved. They have to feel real ownership before they are willing to make their own investments and take on the hard task of fundraising. If your chorus is really a one-person operation, then everyone is going to look to that one person. This is why advisory boards, or boards that only offer advice, rarely produce meaningful fundraising results.
Other Strategies
While leadership and real ownership are absolutely critical, here are a few other strategies for engaging your board:
Host a board fundraising training workshop to clarify roles and demystify the fundraising process. A workshop alone won't change anyone's behavior, but it may lay the groundwork for other changes.
Involve non-board members in the fundraising. This is really just another tactic for finding new fundraising leadership. But, be prepared to quickly involve these people on the board when they are successful.
Engage in periodic strategic planning. Every few years, organizations and boards need to take a hard look at where they are and more importantly, where they are going. A good strategic planning process asks not only where you are going, but how are you are going to get there, including how you are going to finance your vision and what kind of resources (like board members) you need to succeed. And, you can use the strategic planning process to ease tired board members off and bring on new, enthusiastic members.
The rewards of having solid board involvement in fundraising for your chorus are significant: increased income from the board itself, increased income and a broader donor base from board member fundraising activities, increased commitment to your chorus and its programs, and new or revitalized leadership. Keep these rewards in mind when you take on the hard job of getting your board on board.
This article is adapted from The Voice,Summer 2004.
