Board Engagement That Raises Money
Stop hoping the board will fundraise. Give them roles they will do, and build the give-get culture without the fight.
Through the Environment lens
Board members recruited for scientific or advocacy credibility sometimes resist give-get framing on principle, treating the request as at odds with a movement culture where contribution is measured in expertise and time rather than dollars, so the conversation benefits from naming that tension directly rather than avoiding it. Where the organization runs both a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4), the ambassador program and the menu need separate, clearly labeled tracks so a trustee's door-opening or hosting is not accidentally miscategorized.
Continuing education
1.00 points
Volunteer Involvement · Leadership and Management
Learning objectives
- State the honest inventory of what trustees will do, from personal giving and thank-yous to introductions, hosting, and accompanied visits, and apply the match-don't-mandate principle to the board you have rather than the board you imagine.
- Build a one-page board fundraising menu of sized, specific roles, run the annual 30-minute selection conversation with each trustee, and report the tally in aggregate at every board meeting.
- Run a board ambassador program: select three to six trustees for warmth and reliability, train them in one two-hour session, match each to three to five relationships, and hold the quarterly hour that keeps it alive.
- Adopt a board giving policy built on a meaningful gift and every-trustee-every-year participation rather than a fixed minimum, secure it through a peer-led annual conversation, and report the one-line scorecard to funders and the board.
Designed for CFRE continuing education. Not yet accepted; no CFRE points can be claimed.
Lessons
- 19 min
Video lesson
What boards will and won't do
VII Multiply · Volunteer Involvement
- 16 min
Template· DOCX
The board fundraising menu
VII Multiply · Volunteer Involvement
- 18 min
Field guide· PDF
Running a board ambassador program
VI Accompany · Volunteer Involvement
- 14 min
Template· DOCX
Give-get policies that stick
IV Invite · Leadership and Management
This is members-only material.
Members get every lesson, template, and worksheet in all eight tracks, plus the support to put them to work in your shop.
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