By Barbara Anne Stephens
Throughout the 1990s it was common for fundraising professionals to hear a particular phase uttered in reference to Board Members — “Give, Get or Get Off.” Succinct certainly and harsh DEFINITELY!
That comment not only “disses” board members who are essential to the missions of our institutions, it also casts an unflattering light on development professionals. Development officers, who should be integrally involved in the process of recommending directors, are also charged with preparing Board Members to make successful “asks.” In other words, we need to “get” going to help ensure that our Board Members not only give, but also get.
For the sake of this website offering, let’s assume that the nonprofit organization has done a credible job of courting potential board members and that it has qualified its Board Members as people who will make annual gifts to the organization, will participate in fundraising and who may eventually make capital and planned gifts to the organization, if cultivated. To put such valuable people in awkward situations where they are uncomfortable is not wise. The answer is training Board Members to make “the ask.”
The following ideas will assist development officers as they prepare Board Members to make calls:
- Learn the case for giving and teach it to the Board Members
- Provide a donor’s giving history alerting Board members to confidentiality issues
- Create “talking points” for major solicitation calls
- Ask for a specific amount agreed upon by Board Member and staff
- Designating teams and team leaders among Board Members is an effect strategy
- Establishing fundraising challenges among teams motivates Board Members
- Remember Board Members don’t always have to ask for money, i.e. they can ask for an introduction to a potential major donor or foundation trustee
- Pre-select donors to give each Board Member an opportunity to be successful
- Visit personally with Board Members to discuss connections they are willing to make, doors they are happy to open, appointments they will request
- Role play is an effective tool
- Partnering with another Board Member or staff members may be required.
- Remember that “the ask” is part of a process that includes cultivation and stewardship with the goal of retaining the donor
- Model the art of making the ask by requesting a gift of the Board Member using the appropriate process!
The team at Bacon Lee & Associates realizes that this training effort adds a new layer of responsibility to the development staff. It is a particularly difficult task if Board Members have been recruited with statements like, “We need your expertise, not your money” or “This is not a fundraising Board.” Turning this wagon train around without throwing folks out of the wagon will not be easy: however, change is worth the effort. Consultants can be helpful because we can deliver difficult messages. We can help prepare the most reluctant Board Members to become solicitors through training. We can assuage the reluctance of CEOs to tackle this essential problem.
The results of working with Board Members can be transformational for an organization. The amount of money given by Board Members increases and the amount of money raised by Board Members increases. The goal is to have a Board that is “self-policing” in governance, in hiring and evaluating the executive, and in ensuring that the mission is accomplished through effective fundraising. In effect, development officers now have partners in achieving the mission of the institution. Nothing is more satisfying to the professional or to the Board Member. Effective Boards are essential to our organizations!