Five Easy Steps to Engaging the Board in Fund Development

So to follow up from Part 1. We now know more about our Board members. We are treating them like the major donors they are. To empower them to fundraise, we need to give them tools to make it easy. We need to work with our Board members to develop an individual fundraising plan for each of them.

1. Work with them to get their personal list of corporate and individual donors/prospects
• Meet with them
• Work with their assistant
• Remind them about their lists – holiday, golf, church, alumni
• Ask them to add current donors to their list

2. Provide a way to develop and segment their list
• Create an Excel spreadsheet for them to fill in the blanks
• Ask them to segment the list for different fundraising appeals

3. Provide a fax reply form that asks them the questions you need answered for special event or annual fund outreach.
• What letterhead do they want you to use?
• Will they sign or include notes before mailing?

4. Set a deadline and empower them keep it.
• Call them before the deadline to empower them to be successful
• If we let a deadline pass without follow up, the Board thinks it wasn’t important to us

5. Keep them informed.
• Update fundraising results and share regularly with Board members
o Update their lists with donations received
• Share progress at Board meetings and through email
• Send notes and emails to encourage individual Board members

Please visit the Resources section of my website for materials referenced here. You can adapt them for you organization and use them with your board.  BoardSource is an excellent resource for tools and information as well. See the Ten Basic Responsibilities of a Non-Profit Board.

Let me know if these work for you! Email me at barbara@3talisman.com with any questions! Make your comments here, share your thoughts! I look forward to hearing from you!