by Mike Bacon, CFRE and Priscilla Cortez

1. Fundraising & Board
Engagement
Michael Bacon, CFRE
Priscilla Guajardo Cortez

2. Presentation Overview

3. Mission & Board
Reality Check

4. How Do We Connect The
Board To The Mission?
 Share a story with someone next to you
about how your nonprofit reminds Board
members of your mission, your programs
and those you serve…

5. Focus On Your Mission
 Board recruitment
 Orientation
 Mission moments & Generative questions
 Regular opportunities to reflect & discuss
 At meetings, retreats, strategic planning
 How did we advance the mission today?

6. Board Member Roles
Thanks to Kay Sprinkel Grace

7. Does this sound familiar?
 “Isn’t that the staff’s job?”
 “I’m giving my time… that’s enough.”
 “I don’t know anyone.”
 “I’ll do anything but ask for money.”

8. The Sequence of Willingness

9. What tools does
the Board need?
 Passion for our cause
 A strong case for giving
 Powerful stories about how we make a difference
 Staff support for accountability
 Training about how to make an ask

10. Believe It or Not…
Noteworthy Findings:
90% of individual
donors single out one
particular charity for
special or unusual 94% of study donors say that
support charities they support never or
hardly ever call them up
without asking for another gift.
98% say that charities never or
hardly ever pay them a visit without
asking for money

11. How Can Our Board Help
With Fundraising?
 Help identify new prospects
 Set up a meeting for staff with a prospect
 Invite prospects to take a tour of our nonprofit
 Invite prospects to join you at an event

12. Building Board Confidence
Start with Stewardship!
Board members should be thanking donors
 Phone calls
 Handwritten notes
 Thank you visits

13. Ambassadors Reach Out…
 Everyone can play this role
 Well-coached in our message
 Masters of the “elevator speech”
 Social Media Gives A Voice too…

14. Examples of Ambassadors

15. Board As Advocates
 On the golf course or in the car pool – strategic
in their information sharing
 Could be with an institutional funder in a
formal way
 Informed of the case for support but also know
your strategic plan and vision
 Able to handle objections and concerns

16. Examples of Advocates
.

17. Board Engaged in
the Community
 Help solve issues on a broader level
 Collaborative partnerships
 Thought leaders/First to know
 Draw on grassroots support to affect change
 Respect and credibility in the community

18. How to get your board engaged
 Continue to identify stakeholders/constituents
 Increased spheres of influence included on the
board/advisory committees
 Stakeholders’ perspective always included in
decision- making
 Develop/share communications tools for ease
in sharing

19. Benefits
 Increased visibility within the broader community
 Better able to respond to community needs & changes;
increased accountability to the community
 Increased shared ownership of the organization’s mission
and strategic directions; Board more engaged, passionate, &
transparent
 Increased fundraising capacity and sustainability

20. Challenges
 Identity of constituents, community, and primary
stakeholders is often unclear
 Level of staff involvement
 Board willingness to try new model; share power
 Shift in perceptions of constituents—from a
“charity”/deficit perspective to one of constituents as
invaluable assets for the organization’s success

21. Where to go next
 Collective Impact (FSG)
http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/collective_impact
 Community Engagement Governance Model (Judy Freiwirth)
www.allianceonline.org/sites/default/files/docs/Freiwirth%202011%20CommunityEngagement%20Governance.pdf