Engaging Your Board
Hello everyone,
I hope you are enjoying the early fall. As we talked last month, this time of the year is great for geeks like me. We get to see how everyone positions themselves to their donors, a practice that I find fascinating. One thing I want to have you focus on this fall is, not just how we position our value, but who is involved in translating and transmitting that value and to whom?
I believe that the board should be a part of donor relationship engagement in some form. This can include learning about donors through cultivation, affirming them in good stewardship work or inviting them into great opportunities to partner with you through good solicitation.
However, I want to take that a step deeper. Really focus this fall on seeing your board as the intimate heart of the organization, the closest donor constituency you have. As such, ensure that they are invited to invest in your shared values and vision in ways that reflect and honor that relationship. I offer my questions as points of humble reflection as you go into this fall.
How do we engage the most intimate donor constituency to give to the cause that they are legally charged with overseeing?
Is standing up at a board meeting and asking everyone to turn in a gift a means that reflects the intimate position the board holds?
Is sending out a form letter or email to the group appropriate?
Should we hold a board event and ask them to give as a group?
Should we have the board chair send out an update that not everyone has made a gift?
Should we write them each a personal invitation to give letter?
Should we meet with them face to face and invite them to give at a meaningful level?
However you invite the board to give, spend some time thinking about what will portray the right witness of the intimate role of the board member. The way we invite the board member to invest also gives us the opportunity to share with them the care we take in inviting others to invest. It also helps to demystify what solicitation can look like.
In the end, they should be seen as lifelong advocates. Invite them to invest in your shared values in ways that allows them to see the type of care that goes into creating value and intimacy in a cause you both care about.
Have a great October!
Warmly,
Jamie
