Is it the responsibility of the nonprofit board to fundraise?
Some might say “absolutely,” others say “it depends,” and still others aver “no way.”
This is one of the topics I discussed recently with Mary Hiland, Founder and President of Hiland Consulting on my podcast. Mary has deep expertise in this area, having worked in the nonprofit sector for over 40 years.
One insight she provided was that fundraising, specifically, is not *necessarily* the responsibility of the board.
But wait….before you fall over….continue on! The answer is not that easy.
[This part of our conversation starts at about minute 8:05]
“The board's job is to advance the mission and you can’t do that without resources. You need diversified sources, and fundraising is a very important one. But I think the board members also have the responsibility not just for fundraising, but to build relationships, to build social capital for the organization. You need to be a good ambassador for the mission. You’re not twisting people’s arms, you’re not being a salesperson. You’re building involvement and relationships around the mission. If you’re not passionate about that, you shouldn’t be on the board anyway.”
100% agreed! (By the way, can you tell Mary is passionate—dare I say “fiery” about her work?)
She went on to say, “Board members are very uncomfortable making the ask, and they characterize fundraising as ‘asking for money.’ Well, they’re wrong about that, in my opinion. It’s about relationships with people who care about your mission.”
📽 There are more juicy insights in this podcast episode! You can view the entirety of our conversation in the full podcast here.
Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:
👣 Follow me on LinkedIn where I share the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and adding 7-figures + to their bottom line.
🍎 Read my GUIDE! THE TRUTH ABOUT GIVE/GETS :: Top 5 Reasons Your Board’s Give/Get Is Leaving Thousands (Sometimes Millions) on the Table. See how limiting board members to the Give/Get model restricts gifts and keeps your staff from reaching their full fundraising potential. Here to get it.
📈 Work with me to scale your org's revenue by 2-5X and fund your organization’s Strategic Plan // If you’re a business-minded CEO already raising MILLIONS but need to diversify revenue and secure more general-operating dollars to invest in growth, you can apply to work with me here.
