Strong Fundraising Boards Don’t Exist
Nick Fellers | February 26, 2009
I’ve never seen a strong fundraising board.
We’ve worked with colleges, national organizations, start-ups, orgs in every sector – and not seen it.
Maybe organizations with ’strong fundraising boards’ don’t need help so they don’t come to us. I think it’s more likely the case that they don’t exist.
This is important to understand. Many organizations are waiting until they have a strong fundraising board to really kick things in to high gear. That might be like waiting for the big three auto makers to return to dominance using the same old business models.
- We can’t wait. Else, we’ll always be waiting.
- Instead of trying to build a ‘fundraising board’ shoot for getting a few champions on board with your efforts.
- This is why we say your board is not responsible for fundraising.
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Amy Kincaid - March 4th, 2009 12:50 pm
Yep, this is pretty much right on. What we generally say is that boards have certain responsibilities as a body, but that __individuals__ have personal responsibilities to be champions and help with inviting (outreach), linkaged (introductions and invitations), and fundraising (giving and helping with particular asks). And we also know from years of experience working with tons of organizations, it’s only a couple of people on your board who EDs can count on to really do lots. Most board members will do a little bit, sometimes, with a lot of hand-holding. And a few always flake. Expect that and work with it.
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Nick Fellers reply on March 5th, 2009 11:19 am:
@Amy Kincaid – Great thoughts! Thanks!
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