9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising

I’ll admit it, I’ve been on a board fundraising kick lately in the blog (here and here). I just think that if your nonprofit is going to become more strategic and financially sustainable, you have to start from the beginning (or the top, as it were). In my last blog post I discussed how to overcome excuses for why a board member can’t bring money in the door. But the fact remains that a majority of people don’t like to (or simply won’t) ask for money.

The good news is that there are lots of other things board members can do to bring money in the door. And remember, if you are financing not fundraising your organization, your definition of “bringing money in the door” should be very broad.

Here are 9 things you could ask your fundraising-shy board members to do:

1. Help create or evaluate a business plan for an earned income venture. If you have business leaders or entrepreneurs on your board this would be a great use of their time and add tremendous value to your organization. If they can help you create a more profitable business, they are directly contributing to your organization’s bottom-line.




2. Advocate for government money. You may have a board member that can’t stand the idea of asking their friends for money, but they are well connected in city, county, state or federal government and could open doors to you for government contracts, grants, fee-for-service or other government monies.




3. Provide intelligence on prospects. If you have a board member that seems to know everyone in town, but for whatever reason refuses to ask any of them for money, they can still be incredibly useful. You may be getting ready to ask a prospective donor for $1,000, and this board member can tell you what that person has already given to, at what level, who else might know them and so on. When you make an ask, the more information you have going into it, the more successful you will be.




4. Set up a meeting with a prospective customer. If your nonprofit is engaged in an earned income venture, you probably always need help with new sales. If you have a board member who is part of, or connected to, the target customer(s) of your business, they could open doors to new customers. Or at the very least, they could help you think through your sales and marketing strategies and make them  more effective so that you can attract more customers.




5. Email, call or visit a donor just to say thanks. The stewardship of a gift is an often forgotten, but incredibly critical, part of the fundraising process. According to Penelope Burk’s annual donor survey, 84% of donors would give again if they were thanked in a timely way. And being thanked by a board member is a bonus. A donor who renews their gift to a nonprofit is providing more money for the organization.




6. Explain to a prospect why you serve. A board of directors is a group of volunteers who care so much about the mission of the organization that they are willing to donate their time (a precious resource) to the cause. As a donor, it is affirming to see that a volunteer is contributing time, but it is even more motivating to hear, in the board member’s own words, why they feel compelled to serve this organization. That story can be enough to convince someone to give.




7. Host a small gathering at your home. Over the course of a year, most people invite a gathering of friends and/or family into their home at least once. A board member could take a few minutes at their next dinner party, birthday celebration or Super Bowl feast to talk about something that is near and dear to their heart: the nonprofit on whose board they serve. They don’t have to ask people for money, but they could simply say, “If you’re interested in learning more, let me know.” And then the nonprofit’s staff could take it from there with those who are interested.




8. Recruit an in-kind service. If a board member could remove an expense line item from a nonprofit’s budget that would directly contribute to a stronger bottom-line. For example, if a board member works at an ad agency, could they convince their company to provide some pro-bono marketing services to their nonprofit? But keep in mind, these in-kind donations must be of value to the nonprofit and provide an offset to a direct cost that the nonprofit would otherwise have to bear.




9. Negotiate a lower price from a vendor. Do you have a board member with great negotiating skills (think of all of those lawyers on your board). Could they negotiate with your insurance providers, office space rental company, or printers, for a lower price? If so, that’s more money in the bank.

If you think of a board member’s “get” responsibilities in these much broader terms, then I find it difficult to imagine a board member who cannot bring money in the door. You just have to get strategic about how each individual board member can best contribute to the organization’s bottom-line.

Photo Credit: DeeganMarie

Tags: Board of Directors, earned income, financing not fundraising, nonprofit board of directors, nonprofit fundraising

Overcoming Board Fundraising Excuses

It’s a point of debate in the nonprofit sector whether all board members of a nonprofit should be required to help raise money. Bill Ryan (co-author of the book Governance as Leadership) argued that the fundraising requirement of many nonprofit boards is “a giant, fast-growing myth that ends up choking good governance to death.” And I often hear from nonprofit leaders and board members that requiring every single board member to participate in money-generating activities just isn’t realistic. I strongly disagree. I’m a firm believer in a give/get requirement for every board.

But, that doesn’t mean that every board member must ask donors for money. Rather, a nonprofit must take a strategic approach to employing at least some of every board member’s time toward bringing money in the door. And there are many things board members can do, beyond making an ask, to raise money (which is the subject of an upcoming post). But first, nonprofits have to move beyond their many excuses for why every board member can’t help raise money.

Here are the some of the most common excuses and why they don’t fly:

• “We want client representation on our board, but our clients don’t have money.”
  Even though a client may not have access to large pools of money, they can still absolutely help bring money in the door. Because they have been helped by the organization, they can provide an amazing testimonial to potential donors about the impact of the organization. Why not take that client board member on some meetings with prospects? Their presence and their story might be enough to turn a prospect into a donor.




• “We need a specific skill set (legal, marketing, policy expertise) and those board members may not have a network that can give.”
  A board member who doesn’t count potential major donors among their friends still has networks to draw from. Everyone has co-workers, clients, vendors, neighbors, family, and/or social media followers. When you start to ask your board to systematically think through who they know, you would be surprised about how vast your organization’s potential network is. Just because a board member doesn’t know the list of 50 donors every other nonprofit in town is going after, doesn’t mean they don’t know people.




• “Some board members aren’t good at fundraising.”
  Actually the vast majority of people aren’t good at fundraising because it isn’t widely understood. But so what? Provide your board some fundraising training and have them practice on each other. Then pair greener board members with more seasoned ones to help them learn. Or ask another friendly nonprofit to have some of their effective board members come talk about their experiences raising money.




• “Some board members are uncomfortable with asking for money.”
  Yep. Actually most people are uncomfortable asking for money. Money is a taboo subject in our society. But instead of viewing money as a dirty thing, start viewing it as a critical component of the work your nonprofit does. Reframe money as a great, necessary opportunity to help your organization do more and better. Bring everyone’s discomfort with money out into the open and turn it something positive. Get the board excited about raising more money so that more can be accomplished.




• “We want board members with program expertise to focus on mission, not money.”
  I suppose in an ideal world it would be great if you could have mission without money, but that is just not the reality. Your organization does not have endless resources. Money is limited and therefore your programs and activities must be limited by an understanding of that resource. A board member cannot adequately discuss or plan for programs without intimate knowledge of and experience with the money that makes those programs run. You simply cannot separate the two. And the sooner you get those “program experts” contributing to the financial bottomline of the organization, the sooner you will have stronger, more sustainable programs.

Money is what makes a nonprofit and it’s work viable. It makes no sense to say that some board members should help bring it in and others should be excused. We have got to stop separating money, and the activities associated with it, from other aspects of a nonprofit organization. It makes no sense.

If you want help training your board on how to bring money in the door, check out the Speaking page of our website.

Tags: board fundraising, Board of Directors, fundraising training, getting a board to raise money, nonprofit board fundraising, nonprofit fundraising

5 Nonprofit Trends to Watch in 2012

My annual predictions for the coming year are probably a bit more wishful thinking than actual prediction. It’s hard to say if my predictions for 2011 became a reality for the sector as a whole. But I am ever an optimist and continue to think that the nonprofit sector is getting smarter, more effective, and better able to create real, lasting change in our communities. I truly believe that our challenging economy offers nonprofits a real opportunity to reinvent themselves.

So here are my predictions (hopes) for what the nonprofit sector will move towards in 2012:

1. More Open, Engaging Organizations
   Smart nonprofits are getting better at engaging armies of supporters. In order to do that, they have to cede some control. Nonprofits that can allow volunteers, donors and advocates to engage their friends in their own way will unleash a growing army of support for their organizations. Those  nonprofits that continue to control the message and the method, that only engage their donors when they need money, and ignore the increasingly networked world will wither on the vine.




2. Smarter Boards
   I am an endless optimist when it comes to nonprofit boards of directors. Boards are, for the most part, dysfunctional, but I believe that they are getting smarter and more effective. I think boards will start asking more and better questions, increasingly put themselves to their highest and best use, focus more on strategic issues as opposed to day-to-day tasks, empower their staff leadership to take the organization in more innovative directions, and start putting their money (and their networks) where their mouth is. Because this new harsher environment absolutely necessitates a smart, strategic, innovative board.




3. More Honest Communication Between Nonprofits and Their Donors
   Oh yes, I do, I do believe it. The nonprofit sector’s proclivity to endlessly beat around the bush, tell donors what they want to hear, and sugar-coat the truth will start to wane in the new year. Because the reality is that a severely under-resourced nonprofit sector is the new normal.  That truth is harder and harder to hide. Nonprofits need more money for infrastructure, more and better staff, technology. And they need their donors to step up to the plate and fund it.  Those nonprofits that continue to fear their donors will continue to struggle. Those that take the leap and tell donors how it is, how it REALLY is, will propel themselves out of the starvation cycle.




4. More Strategic Approaches to Solving Social Problems
   It’s increasingly meaningless for nonprofits to talk about the “good work” they do. In order to attract donors, nonprofits must be able to articulate what they do and how it results in change. This necessitates an overall strategic approach to their work. From creating a theory of change, to developing on a comprehensive strategy, to raising the money required to execute on that strategy, to aligning money and mission, to evaluating their efforts, to translating their evaluation into a compelling story, nonprofits have to get more strategic. Those organizations that take a step back and create, and fully integrate their organization into, a long-term plan will be much more successful and sustainable.




5. More Financed Nonprofits
   As part of this more strategic approach, nonprofits will (must) move towards a broader, more strategic approach to funding their work. They will realize that the hamster wheel of chasing receding dollars in a scattered approach just isn’t going to cut it anymore. As the fundamental economic restructuring that we are currently experiencing continues, nonprofits must create a financial model for their work.  The financial status quo just will no longer work in the nonprofit sector.

I’m not a fortune teller, but I am an optimist. I have tremendous hope for our great nonprofit sector. We may be in the depths of an on-going, structurally transformative recession, but it in no way is the death knell for the nonprofit sector. It is simply an opportunity for nonprofits to get smarter, more honest, more open, more strategic, and more sustainable. And that’s exciting.

Photo Credit: riptheskull

Tags: Board of Directors, capacity capital, challenging economy, nonprofit donors, nonprofit fundraising, nonprofit predictions for 2012, nonprofit strategy, nonprofit trends, Philanthropy

How Do You Convince Donors to Give?

Convincing a donor to give to your nonprofit is a tricky business, and it’s getting harder all the time. Now more than ever nonprofits are struggling for funding amid growing competition and decreasing available dollars. It has become harder and harder to stand out and recruit donors. These days, donors, especially major ones, are less likely to give because an organization “does good work” and more likely to give because an organization provides a solution to a social problem the donor cares about.

Which is why every nonprofit needs a compelling Case for Support. Our newest Social Velocity Step-by-Step Guide, helps you create your nonprofit’s Case for Support.

This new environment requires those nonprofits that want to continue to attract and grow philanthropic support create a compelling argument for why a donor should give to them. Driven by a thoughtful combination of data and emotion, a good Case for Support can help you communicate and connect with your target donors much more effectively.

Our Case for Support Guide is organized into the 8 sections of a Case for Support:

1. The Community Need
2. Our Solution
3. Why Us
4. Our Impact
5. Financial Model
6. Strategic Direction
7. Resources Required
8. Social Return on Investment

In each section of the guide there is a series of questions. Your answers to these questions become the basis of your final Case for Support. But your Case for Support cannot be written in just a day, by one or two people. You will need to get feedback and insight from staff and board. And you’ll need to gather data to make your Case for Support stronger. This work will take time, so it may be a few weeks or months before you have a final Case for Support that is compelling, convincing and agreed upon by the organization as a whole.

A good Case for Support is an increasingly critical part of any fundraising campaign. You must be clear about why someone should give to your organization. Because if you don’t know, how will they?

Photo Credit: puzzledmonkey

Tags: Board of Directors, community need, convincing donors to give, individual donors, major donor campaign, nonprofit case for support, nonprofit competition, nonprofit fundraising, Philanthropy, recruit donors, social return on investment

The Problem with Strategic Planning

The term “strategic plan” has become so misused and abused in the nonprofit sector that it has almost become meaningless. So many organizations have undergone a poor strategic planning process that the idea of “strategic planning” has almost become laughable. But the fact remains that to be truly effective at creating social change a nonprofit organization MUST have a strategy for the future and a plan for how they will get there.

There are some very clear ways that a good strategic plan differs from a poor one:

• A good strategic plan starts from an in-depth understanding of the outside community marketplace in which the nonprofit operates (trends in clients, funders, competitors, etc). Whereas a bad strategic plan is created in a vacuum among only board and staff. One nonprofit told me that at a board retreat years ago, board members were asked to write their goals for the organization on post-it notes, which were then tacked all over the room and voted on. And like that, their  strategic plan was born.

 

• A good strategic plan forces the organization to articulate its value proposition, i.e. how the organization uniquely uses community inputs to create significant social value (change to a social problem). A poor strategic plan fails to articulate a value proposition and assumes that everyone outside the organization loves it and understands its value just as much as everyone inside the organization.

 

• A good strategic plan puts everything on the table and allows no sacred cows. Board members with pet interests are reigned in and staff members who are not contributing are encouraged to realign themselves with the new plan. A poor strategic plan only deals with the easy or non-controversial issues and leaves the difficult questions aside.

 

• A good strategic plan makes sure that the strategy for programs is aligned with the organization’s business and financial model so that the resulting strategic plan includes programs, financing and operations in an integrated way. A poor strategic plan focuses only on programs and assumes that the money will somehow follow.

 

• A good strategic plan includes a tactical plan so that the broad goals are broken down into individual steps to get there. This allows the organization to monitor and revise the plan on an on-going basis. A poor strategic plan has no tactical plan or monitoring system attached to it. Once approved, staff or board don’t see it again and it certainly doesn’t drive the day-to-day activity of the organization.

 

• A good strategic plan is inspiring and compelling to potential funders. It sets forth a bold vision for the future and a specific road map for getting there, which inspires confidence and investment. A poor strategic plan is boring, maintains the status quo, and elicits only nominal external support.

It’s not enough to go through the “strategy” motions. A real strategic plan is bold, compelling, tactical, well-financed, integrated and inspiring. It gets everyone (staff, board, funders, volunteers, clients) moving forward in a common direction from which real change flows.

If you’re interested in exactly what Social Velocity’s 7-stage strategic planning process looks like, go here.

Photo Credit: HikingArtist.com

Tags: bad strategic planning, Board of Directors, how to create a strategic plan, nonprofit alignment, nonprofit planning, nonprofit strategic planning, nonprofit strategy, strategic plan

What’s the Cost of Bad Decisions?

Note: This post originally appeared on the Change.org Social Entrepreneurship blog last year.

There is an economic concept that is beautifully profound in its simplicity, but often overlooked in the nonprofit sector. Opportunity costs are the cost (financial, time, resource, other) of what you have given up in making a choice between two or more options. Understanding the opportunity costs of decisions is particularly important when resources are scarce, as is the case in the nonprofit sector.

Key to the concept of opportunity costs is that you are consciously analyzing two or more options and what you must give up in choosing one over the others.  So, for example, a child who has to decide if they want a candy bar or an ice cream cone recognizes that in choosing the candy bar they are giving up the enjoyment of the ice cream cone. It seems so simple, yet in the nonprofit world it becomes much more complex.

Because the nonprofit sector is undercapitalized, money is king. A driving motivation in many nonprofit organizations is to preserve money, or go after money, at all costs.  So the idea of opportunity costs is often thrown out the window.

Say, for example, that a nonprofit leader is deciding whether to spend $45,000 to hire a grant writer or $75,000 to hire a Development Director.  The tendency would be to hire the grantwriter because they are cheaper, because in the world of nonprofits, cheaper is always better.

But let’s look at the opportunity costs.  In hiring a grantwriter, the nonprofit would save $30,000, but lose many times that amount in opportunity costs. If they had hired a skilled Development Director with experience raising money from sources beyond foundations (individuals, corporations, earned income), the difference in revenue brought in under the grantwriter versus under the Development Director could be in the hundreds of thousands.  In choosing the “cheaper” grantwriter, the nonprofit is actually costing the organization a huge amount–the opportunity cost.

Nonprofits are sometimes so strapped for money that they head out the door with a fundraising ask trying to get the quickest money, instead of the most money. Take Idealist’s campaign earlier this year to raise emergency funds for the nonprofit job board. They raised some good money, but what if they had waited to launch a fundraising campaign until after they put a new business plan together? With a solid, innovative plan in hand for completely revamping a struggling organization, they probably could have raised 10 times the amount they did raise. So for them the opportunity costs of not waiting to go public with an ask was potentially huge.

But the calculation of opportunity costs goes well beyond money. The value of a board member’s time in a nonprofit is huge. A good board member has the potential to forge relationships with funders, partners, governing entities and others that could grow or strengthen the work of the nonprofit. But often a board member’s time is instead used to organize fundraising events, sit in endless meetings, review mindless policies. If a nonprofit were to calculate the opportunity cost of choosing to have a board member pick out tablecloth colors for the next event (trust me, it happens) versus having them use that time to introduce the Executive Director to a new potential donor, the costs would be eye-opening.  A board member’s time, just like the money flowing to the organization, is not limitless.

Nonprofits cannot ignore opportunity costs, as if they don’t apply in their resource-strapped world.  Indeed, because nonprofits are so constrained for resources (money, time, staff, volunteers) they should be even more cognizant of opportunity costs and ensure that every last resource is put to its highest and best use.

Photo Credit: Freddy The Boy

Tags: Board of Directors, calculating the cost of fundraising, Fundraising, Idealist, nonprofit decision making, nonprofit financing, nonprofit use of resources, opportunity costs

8 Nonprofit Inflection Points and How to Seize Them

In the lifecycle of any nonprofit there comes a time when something needs to change. Call it an inflection point, a resetting, a fork in the road. I see it all the time. Someone in the organization takes a step back and realizes something just isn’t going to work anymore. It’s a critical point. It’s the point at which you decide whether you are going to take the leap and make this a year of real change.

When that moment comes, and you feel the urge to really do things differently, don’t shy away from it. Take the leap.

Here are eight of the most common nonprofit inflection points and how Social Velocity can help you seize the opportunity they present:

1. Board and staff are floundering and don’t know where the organization is going:
   • Download the Is Your Nonprofit Ready for a Strategic Plan? tip sheet
   • Check out Social Velocity’s strategic planning process
   • Read about other nonprofits who found clarity through a strategic plan
2. Everyone is fed up with fundraising
   • Check out our step-by-step Revenue Plan Guide
   • Read our Financing not Fundraising series
   • Read how English at Work and BookSpring transformed their organizations through a comprehensive revenue plan
   • Explore Social Velocity’s organizational assessment and revenue plan services
3. Your approach to a community problem has become too narrow
   • Read The Risk of Small Thinking
   • Read If We Could Be So Bold
   • Read Losing the Charity Mindset
4. Your board is not helping to move the organization forward
   • Watch the Getting Your Board to Fundraise webinar
   • Download the How to Get Your Board Fundraising tip sheet
   • Invite Social Velocity to train your board on fundraising, social innovation or nonprofit growth
5. You can’t effectively articulate your nonprofit’s value to the community
   • Download the Strengthen Your Nonprofit Through a Theory of Change tip sheet
   • Read What Social Value Do Nonprofits Really Create?
   • Read Where Do You Fit in the Market?
6. You need money to strengthen the organization, but don’t know where to look
   • Read Making Donors Organization Builders
   • Read Can’t Small Nonprofits Raise Capital Too?
   • Learn how Social Velocity can help you create a funder pitch and strategy for capacity capital
7. There is a much greater need for your nonprofit’s programs, but you can’t afford to grow
   • Read Fixing the World Requires Disruptive, not Incremental, Change
   • Explore Social Velocity’s growth planning process
   • Read Bringing Small Nonprofits to Scale
8. You’re worn out and need to be inspired
   • Read the Social Velocity interview series with social innovators

Photo credit: besar_bears

Tags: Board of Directors, BookSpring, English at Work, fed up with fundraising, Fundraising, growth capital, growth planning, nonprofit change, nonprofit inflection point, nonprofit strategy, revenue plan, Social Velocity, strategic plan

7 Things Board Members Can Do To Raise More Money

I am often asked by exhausted board members and executive directors what the board can do to raise more money. My answer, let me tell you right away, is NEVER to launch a new event.  Don’t get me started on my anti-events rant, that’s another post.

But there are other things that board members can do to raise significantly more money for their organization, in a much more effective way.  Here are 7 to get you started:

1. Invest. Make a significant financial investment in the organization.  This is so obvious, yet rarely does a nonprofit organization enjoy 100% giving from their board.  And those that do, often have several board members who are only making “token” gifts.  If the nonprofit on whose board you serve isn’t on the list of your top 3 nonprofits and you aren’t allocating your philanthropic dollars accordingly, then get off the board.

 

2. Open Doors. Open up your network to the organization. We all have friends, colleagues, co-workers, family members, neighbors.  They may not all be $10,000+ level givers, but you would be surprised at the capacity that probably does exist there.  If you really believe in the organization, then spread the word about your involvement to your network and encourage them to become involved.  If you’re uncomfortable doing this then perhaps you need to rethink how committed you are to the organization.

 

3. Get Strategic. Demand that your nonprofit create a strategic plan. Without an articulated direction and a strategy for getting there how are you going to get donors to invest? So many nonprofit organizations operate without a plan, and that’s probably why they struggle to raise funds. People donate to a cause, but they invest in a executable strategy for impact.  The former results in small gifts, the latter brings big dollars.

 

4. Expand the Revenue Model. Often nonprofit organizations take a narrow approach to thinking about bringing money in the door.  They may have a direct mail campaign, get some government and foundation grants and call it a day. Instead, take a bigger picture view of the business that you are in and the various ways you could finance, not fundraise for, the end goal. Executive and development directors are often so caught up in the day-to-day of funding operations that they don’t have the luxury of taking this big picture view, but that’s where the board can step in.

 

5. Fund Revenue-Generating Capacity. Make sure the organization invests in sufficient development capacity. Budget for and find a top-notch development director. Secure outside expertise to create a solid, executable development plan. Train the board on their role in fundraising. Don’t ask the organization to cut corners on development expenses, because you will just pay the price later.

 

6. Articulate Why Someone Should Give. It’s so obvious to you why you are involved in your nonprofit. But can you articulate that to others in a compelling way? Can you demonstrate how a significant community problem is being solved by your organization? Can you do it in 2 minutes? Can the other board members and the staff do it? If not, then you need to create a case for support.

 

7. Get the Board on Board. Once you’ve done all of these things, get your fellow board members on the boat. The nonprofit sector is structured to be led by consensus. So it isn’t enough for you as a sole board member to “see the light.”  You have a responsibility to convince your fellow board members that they can’t think small anymore. They have to invest, get strategic, open doors, and so on.  Once you are all on the same page, you will be a force to be reckoned with.

If you are interested in learning more about how to get your board raising money for your nonprofit, check out our Getting Your Board to Fundraise recorded webinar.

I promise you, there is an answer. It doesn’t have to be so hard. Board members can help their struggling nonprofits to find a path toward financial sustainability.

Tags: Board of Directors, case for support, development director, nonprofit, nonprofit events, raise more money