Tracks to Success
The Fully-engaged Fundraising Board – Part 2
by Judith Margolin
Part 2
To succeed at fundraising your nonprofit organization must have the right people on board, the right structure and policies in place to support fundraising, and a board that has overcome its reluctance to ask for money. Beyond that there are a number of very different roles your board members can play to help secure the financial resources you require. Some board members may limit themselves to just one role; others may take on several, either sequentially or all at once.
Roles Board Members Can Play to Help Secure Funds for Your Organization
Here are the various roles, many going beyond what one typically thinks of as fundraising:
- Board member as financial contributor
- Board member as intermediary
- Board member as prospect identifier
- Board member as endorser of your request
- Board member as ambassador out in the community
- Board member as heavy lifter
Let’s examine these roles one by one:
Board member as financial contributor -- Not every board member is capable of giving a significant gift. Everyone, however, is capable of giving at least a token gift -- whatever amount you determine that gift should be. The important thing is that you are able to tell prospective funders that 100% of your board contributes financially to the organization.
Board member as intermediary -- Serving as an intermediary between your organization and a prospective funder is actually a common role for a board member to play. An intermediary’s true function is typically to “grease the wheels” for the request rather than officially making the ask.
Board member as prospect identifier -- Your board members have all kinds of connections, be they family, business, or personal. Each and every board member has the capacity to open doors to others who may have power and influence. Board members can also be very helpful in determining how much to ask a particular funder for and the best means of initial approach.
Board member as endorser of your request – Endorsement can take many forms, including a brief call or email prior to submission, a post-it or personal note attached to the proposal itself, a post-submission call while the decision making process is taking place, meeting and greeting at official and non-official functions, and participation in site visits along with the board chair or key staff member.
Board member as ambassador -- When out in the community, whether at a social event, a business or town government meeting, a club gathering, or just chatting with someone while waiting in the supermarket line, your board member should always be wearing her or his board member’s hat, and be looking for opportunities to sing the praises of your organization.
Board member as heavy lifter – For the organization with no staff, all of the tasks related to securing funding still need to take place, but somehow they need to happen without anyone getting paid to do them. Virtually all tasks around raising funds are appropriate for board members to take on when there is no one else to do so. But it takes an incredibly dedicated board to complete these tasks and to do so in a cohesive, organized way, with accountability for what transpires.
Putting It All Together
For your own board to become a fully functioning well-oiled machine when it comes to raising funds, you need to develop an action plan, and that plan should involve board members contributing in all the ways described here. Having specific metrics around what you hope to achieve and enough time to implement the plan will be critical to your success.Judith Margolin will be offering a webinar that covers this topic in the coming weeks:
Now Is the Time - Mobilize Your Board to Raise Funds: Part II
Judith Margolin is an independent consultant and workshop leader on foundations and grants. She served as Vice President for Planning and Evaluation at the Foundation Center for a number of years. She has devoted her career to philanthropy and is dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations secure the funding they require to fulfill their valuable missions. She is the author of several books, including The Individual’s Guide to Grants and Financing a College Education and has served as editor of multiple editions of the Foundation Center’s how-to books, including Foundation Fundamentals, Guide to Proposal Writing, Grantseeker’s Guide to Winning Proposals, and After the Grant. She lives in Stamford, Connecticut.
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