Nonprofit Fundraising: Top 5 Board Member Questions – Answered

Earlier this month, we invited fundraisers to send us their most pressing questions about boards and capital campaigns. In exchange, we offered to send one random (and lucky) participant a free copy of our new book, A Board Member’s Guide to Capital Campaign Fundraising.

More than 50 questions came in, and though I wrote back individually to as many as I could, I thought our whole community might benefit from reading the answers.

Top 5 Board Member Questions & Answers for Fundraisers

While we received a variety of questions about nonprofit boards during a capital campaign, they ultimately boiled down to five key questions, which I’ve answered here.

1. Our board members won’t help with fundraising. What can we do?

We get this question a lot and have tried to answer it throughout our blog.

It’s important to set expectations and define what you mean by “help with fundraising.” Both staff and board members, need to be clear about what is expected regarding fundraising, and it may not be what you think.

The reality is that most board members won’t be involved with asking for gifts — at least not the largest gifts. However, there are many ways board members can, and should, be involved with fundraising.

An important part of helping board members prepare for a campaign is showing board members how they can help identify donors, build relationships, and express gratitude, which all help lead to a successful campaign.

2. How can we help the board set an aspirational goal, based on data?

Most board members don’t have extensive campaign experience, so it’s essential to help them set an aspirational goal grounded in data. If you don’t, your board maybe tempted to come up with a campaign goal by throwing a dart at a wall or based on an upcoming anniversary ($50 million in honor of 50 years, for example) — both of which are poor ways to determine a goal.

It’s your job to provide training and education so board members understand how you come up with an appropriate goal for the campaign.

A working goal (or draft goal) should be set based on the vision for your campaign. For example, how much will it cost to expand your after-school programs to 300 additional students?

Once you have that number, you can test it with your biggest potential donors through a feasibility study, so it’s grounded in data.

3. How can we explain the importance of hiring a consultant and doing a feasibility study?

While your internal team may be great at annual fundraising, it’s unlikely that they have the type of experience that leading a successful campaign requires.

Attempting to raise 5 times, 10 times, or even 20 times more than you normally raise each year requires a completely different set of expertise, skills, planning, and strategy. Expecting existing staff to take on a campaign (in addition to their existing responsibilities) without any additional support is unrealistic. Worse, it sets them up for burnout and failure.

It’s important to discuss how an experienced consultant and a feasibility study will help you prepare for a successful campaign. Ideally, you should do this as a group and with individual board members.

Additionally, it’s a good idea to include board members while interviewing potential campaign consultants so they can learn directly what consultants do.

4. Can you shed some light on board member roles, responsibilities, and expectations?

Your board members likely feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to expect during a campaign. Providing them with resources, education, and the opportunity to get their questions answered is an important part of preparing for a campaign.

Training your board does not happen at one retreat or meeting. Rather, it is an ongoing process leading up to and during the campaign.

An experienced campaign consultant is often the best person to help board members understand their roles, responsibilities, and expectations. They can help design exercises, facilitate discussions, and answer questions.

5. How can we help board members stay motivated through a mid-campaign slump?

Most campaigns have ups and downs. It’s easy to get discouraged during the long slog of the quiet phase. There are a few things you can do.

1. Schedule time to generate and discuss strategies for regaining momentum.
2. Encourage your board to reach out to early donors to ask for advice (in a structured, organized way).
3. Brainstorm how a challenge gift could reignite energy.

Again, an experienced campaign consultant will help determine it your campaign’s experiencing a slump, or whether it may be truly stalled. A consultant can also facilitate ideas for reenergizing your board and staff to overcome related challenges.

Help Your Board Members Get Campaign Ready for a Fundraising Campaign

Training is the common theme and answer to all the questions above. But it’s important to understand that training isn’t a “one and done” activity.

Training takes place over time – perhaps a year or more before you start raising money for your campaign. And it continues long after the first gift is raised.

As soon as you begin discussing the possibility of a campaign, consider providing a copy of our new book, A Board Member’s Guide to Capital Campaign Fundraising, to each member of your board and leadership team (we offer bulk discounts here). Use the book to help facilitate discussions at every board and committee meeting in the months leading up to the campaign.