The Two Strongest Tools Board Members Must Have!

If board members are to raise money, they need to know and be committed to the organization. Knowledge and commitment are the two strongest tools anyone asking for a gift can have, and they go hand in hand. Knowing the organization is crucial to fund-raising, but without commitment that knowledge is worthless. Words spoken in support of a cause in which you do not believe have a hollow ring to them. Without knowledge you can’t present an organization’s case to prospective donors, and without true commitment your efforts will yield severely diminished results.

Commitment is something that can be determined in the recruitment process and then built upon as an individual serves. Yes, sometimes people will seem to have commitment that they don’t. But most of the time we can tell who really cares. Knowledge of the organization is something that can and should be imparted to board members throughout their tenure. An organization needs more than the obligatory orientation session for board members. An ongoing process of board education and awareness-building is needed.

Board Members Must Know Their Organization

Nothing inhibits face-to-face solicitation more than not knowing your organization well enough to answer detailed questions about it. An unknowledgeable solicitor is an unsure and uncomfortable solicitor. You can’t do a good job at communicating an organization’s need or importance if you don’t know the organization.

You need to know its reason for being, its goals and objectives, who benefits from it, and its operational and financial efficiencies. If you have that knowledge, you have an understanding of the organization’s importance and its necessity. That understanding will give you the confidence and composure to pick up the telephone, to knock on a door, and ultimately to sit in someone’s office or living room and ask for money.

Board Members Must Be The First To Step Forward To Raise The Money

Soliciting major gifts is only one part of a board member’s fund-raising responsibility. Board leadership is the key element in deciding if a campaign should be undertaken and then in determining the goal. As a board member, you must be prepared to serve on the board’s standing committee on development and to play leadership roles on individual campaign committees.

The best board members raise their hands for the jobs most critical to the success of an organization, and no board responsibility is more crucial than that of fund-raising. If you’re new to a board there is no faster way to contribute than to ask to serve on the development committee. You’ll earn the respect of fellow board members and have the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with the organization’s executive director, its development director, and influential board members already serving on the committee.

By actively working to raise the contributed income necessary to carry out the organization’s mission you will have leveraged your involvement with the organization. Every hour you give to it will carry meaning and deliver outcome.

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QUESTIONS:

1. Should all Board members be required to fund-raise?

2. If not, how should their responsibilities be different from others?

Please contribute your insight or the answers to the questions in the Comment section below.  Thank you!

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Written by Tony Poderis, tony@raise-funds.com. Excerpted with permission from Raise-Funds