Inviting Board Members
Hello everyone,
I hope you are enjoying the early fall. This time of the year is great for geeks like me. We get to watch how everyone positions themselves to their donors, a practice 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 that process and whether they are investing themselves. Even more, ask yourself: what are we doing to equip our people to be good translators and transmitters of vision and value to our donors?
I believe that the board should be part of donor relationship engagement in some form. The board should be with the donors, cultivating, stewarding and yes, inviting donors to give intimately. And, as the board should be giving.
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 these questions as points of humble reflection as you enter this season:
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 to ask them to give?
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 solicitation letter?
Should we meet with them face to face and invite them to give at a meaningful level?
Is what you are doing with the board showing them why they are important to the donor process? Do they see that reflected in how you are engaging them?
However you invite your board to give, spend some time thinking about what will portray the right witness to the intimate relationship of the board member. The way we invite a board member to give also gives us an opportunity to share with them the care we take in inviting others to give. It also helps to demystify what solicitation can look like.
In the end, board members should be lifelong advocates. Invite them to invest in your shared values in ways that let them see the type of care that goes into creating value and intimacy in a cause you both care about.
The podcast this month is one I wanted to re-share from January 2020 that I did with Bill Stancyzkiewicz of The Fund Raising School at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Our topic is on the role of the board in fundraising. It just seemed that I needed to bring it back out as it is so very relevant to this month’s topic.
Warmly,
Jamie
