Five fundraising mistakes we make with boards
Too often nonprofit board members shy away from fundraising, says Gail Perry writing for the GuideStar newsletter. “When the subject comes up, many trustees suddenly become invisible or silent. Yet it is our responsibility to set up board members in active, satisfying roles that can support the fundraising process. But we frequently make mistakes that hurt, rather than help, our cause.”
Perry outlines five common mistakes nonprofits make that cause board members to back off when the subject of fundraising rears its head. Here’s a quick take on her list. Click here to see her entire article with a full description of each of these blunders and how to overcome them:
- Asking for money, not building and keeping friends. “Many board members are mistaken about fundraising. They think it is ‘asking for money.’ The actual moment of asking for a gift, however, is only one small step in the long, time-consuming process of building relationships with donors.”
- Cold or "cool" calls. “Cold calls are the worst possible place to use the energy and good will of your kind-hearted board members, because cold calls have the highest rate of failure.”
- Too many calls at too low a dollar level. “If we are going to use board members in solicitations, then it is important to plan carefully the best use of their time in order to make the most of their valuable contacts and limited availability.”
- Emergency fundraising, not long-term relationships. “I am all for a sense of urgency when raising funds. But all too often we wait until a crisis to mobilize our board members. Then the conversation really does become all about money rather than about the great work our organization is doing for community good.”
- Lack of training, structure, coaching, and support. “We often send our trustees out with too little preparation and backup. We tend to forget that they are volunteers. They are not the pros that we are. We need to give them thorough training to correct their misconceptions about fundraising and pump them up with confidence to venture out into scary fundraising territory.”
