5 easy ways to engage your board in year-end fundraising
By Laura Safran
Every year, like clockwork, a board member will ask: What are we doing for #GivingTuesday? How can I help?
As fundraisers we dream of board members asking to help with fundraising, but this time of year, it can be stressful. For one, our own plates are overflowing, and we have less time to support board members’ fundraising. Sometimes the ideas that board members dream up are not aligned with fundraising strategy and priorities.
In a season made up of equal parts joy and worry—especially for fundraisers—the key to success and less stress is to keep things very simple and very meaningful.
The good news is that Board members have joined your organization because they care about the work, feel connected to your purpose, and want to help. When we keep things simple and meaningful, it’s a win-win-win: the board member feels great, we get some real help, and—most importantly—we advance our shared purpose.
Here are five simple and meaningful ways to engage your board this year-end fundraising season.
1. Share with them what you are doing
The easiest place to start is with communication. The holiday seasons brings giving to the forefront of everyone’s minds. Every ask or ad that comes across your board member’s desk will make them wonder: What are we doing?
Proactively and regularly sharing plans and updates with your board will have several benefits:
You’ll bring them into the experience of philanthropy, helping them see how much joy your community finds in being asked and giving generously.
You show them the process of philanthropy, showing them how methodically you approach your listening, storytelling, and asks of donors.
You’ll pre-empt some of the ‘shiny object’ ideas that pop up as board members encounter articles, ads, and asks that inevitably lead to recommendations that are not aligned with your strategy.
Don’t worry about these updates. A few tips:
Share update about your comprehensive October-December fundraising strategy, not just #GivingTuesday and social media plans. Tell them about your face-to-face fundraising as well. Share with them some of the stories of large asks that you are making.
Feeling a little behind or not ready to share you plan? Share it anyway. Take confidence on what you’ve figured out so far.
Don’t have all the details? Don’t worry. The details are there to serve your main points anyway. Share what you know.
2. Create mission moments
Before you start thinking about how board members can help with fundraisers, ask yourself: What is their experience this season as a donor and volunteer? How can you bring your mission to life? Show impact? Inspire deeper engagement?
‘Mission moments’ come in many shapes and sizes. Some ideas:
Tell the board about a recent experience that shows the power of your mission. Tell it simply—in a conversation, meeting, or email—without any marketing production.
Share with each board member an individualized impact story, tailored to their interest in your mission. Again, keep it simple.
Arrange a volunteer opportunity for board members (or better yet, include them in one you already have planned).
Arrange a site visit or hands-on experience, either for the whole group or for select individuals. Keep in informal and set the expectation that this will be an opportunity to see the work in action.
Invite board members to any planned community experiences, inviting them to be part of conversations.
Double-check that all the great emails, videos, mail pieces, etc. that you are sending out to your community are getting to your board members as well. After the mass distribution, forward it to them individually with a note that says: Thanks again for making this possible.
This season provides natural opportunities to re-connect board members to why they joined your board in the first place. The deeper the connection to that why, the deeper the motivation to invest time, talent, treasure, and testimony in your mission.
3. Give them simple ways to say ‘thank you’
We all know, you can’t say thank you enough. So often, staff cannot get to thank-you touchpoints for donors, beyond a simple tax letter. Board members can help you expand your reach to ensure that every donor feels confident in the impact of their gift and inspired to give again.
If your board is new to fundraising, go with hand-written notes or emails. A few tips:
Make it easy for the board member to follow through. If you’re asking for notes, have the stamps and addresses already on the envelopes and give them a sample message to write. If you’re asking for emails, provide the email template.
Start with short list (3-5 names), letting the board member know you’d love more help once they’re through that first batch.
Don’t feel like you have to engage the whole board every time. True, the more board members you engage, the better—for your sake and theirs. But starting somewhere now is better than waiting for perfection later.
For more confident boards, move to phone calls. In addition to the tips above, we recommend:
Focusing on recent or frequent donors (past year) so that the donor will still remember that they have supported your organization and be more prepared for a conversation.
Pair phone calls and emails. Some board members will prefer to send an email offering a call. Others will feel comfortable making the call and then following up with an email.
Make sure your script has both voicemail and phone answered scenarios. The latter should focus on asking questions of the donor, not talking at them.
Make the calls all at the same time. Schedule an hour where everyone makes their calls / does their outreach, and then regroup to swap stories. Or do the same between board meetings. The debrief is critical for laying the groundwork for future engagement. The more stories the board members swap, the more confident they will become.
Most importantly, make sure board members understand what they’re aiming for in these interactions:
If nothing else, say thank you
If possible, learn something new about the donor
If the conversation goes very well, arrange a meeting with staff to continue it
4. Take them with you to donor meetings
The best way to build your board’s understanding of philanthropy is to involve them in the process. The more they participate, the more they will see how much people want to give and enjoy the journey of finding the right opportunity.
As you plan your year-end donor meetings, invite board members to join you. A few tips:
Select donors that would value meeting a board member or have a natural affinity with the board member.
Prepare for the meeting with the board member. Make sure the board member understands the goal for the meeting and their role.
Have the donor share their story with the donor, authentically. Don’t script them—but do ask them to think about how they might tell their story in 2-3 minutes.
Let the donor know that majority of the meeting will be spent listening to do the donor.
Talk with the board member about the meeting after and help them understand the philanthropy process that they just experienced.
Have the board member share their experience with other board members.
A handful of your board members may even be ready to ask. Before you ask them to support an ask, be sure that they have already made a personally meaningful gift to your mission. When volunteers solicit on behalf of organizations, especially at a major gift level, one of the first questions a prospective donor will ask is: How have you given?
5. Give them a toolkit
By this time, you probably have a robust set of letters, emails, scripts, and collateral that you are using for your own year-end outreach and have a host of engagement activities planned. Why not share these same resources with board members to use with their own network?
To get started:
Version your year-end appeal letter as a short and simple letter for board members to send to their network. Share it as an editable document so that the board member can tailor it to their own voice.
Similarly, version a year-end ask email for board members.
As you post on social media, share the link to the post with board members with a suggestion to share, along with suggested language. Don’t share all posts—just a few in November and December that will feel authentic and meaningful to promote.
If you have any collateral, make sure board members have that in hand as well.
Send everything in one neat, organized toolkit with clear and simple calls to action.
As you plan experiences—for board members, as mentioned above, or other donors—you can also encourage board members to bring friends, family, or colleagues along. The ask will feel natural for them and will educate and inspire new people to get involved. Brainstorm with the board member in advance on how to create a great experience for their invitees and how to transition the relationship to a conversation with staff. Should a fundraiser attend? Should the board member introduce their contact to staff before or after the experience? Should the board member schedule a separate meeting to connect before or after the experience?
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Bottom line: Engaging board members in year-end fundraising doesn’t have to be a headache. Pick a few things that will be genuinely helpful to you and genuinely doable for board members. Keep the process super simple. Focus on what is meaningful. You will be rewarded with more inspired fundraising partners—and more pathways to fundraising success for your mission.
About Laura Safran
Laura started her fundraising career as a major gift officer for her alma mater, Villanova University. After receiving a crash course in fundraising, she decided to work for a local organization helping the city she loves, NYC. She joined City Harvest and stayed for six years, raising millions of dollars to help feed New Yorkers in need, before joining Aperio.
