Will You Join Our Board of Directors?

I recently finished a three year term on the board of a local nonprofit. During my tenure the organization hired its first full-time executive director, expanded its program service area and grew the board to include members new members. When it came time to consider another term I made the decision to encourage new leadership and continue my support as a volunteer.

A month after my last board meeting I received a phone call inquiring about my interest in joining another board. The inquiry reminded me of being college, of meeting the trustees of my alma mater, thinking about a board seat more like an Oscar rather than obligation, hopeful that one day the honor would be bestowed on me.

Years later, the inquiry fills my brain with probing questions, allure and prestige are the furthest things from my mind. Being a board member requires a significant commitment of time, often the commitment to make a gift, personally, or find others who will, fiduciary responsibility and the duty of care to the organization's constituents. As a board member you are a critical ambassador of the organization's mission, which means you should make sure it is something you are passionate about. Think about it - if board members of an organization aren't excited, engaged and willing to go the extra mile why would anyone else feel compelled.

Before you hear the words board member and jump to how it will look on your resume or the relationships you might build in that role, spend some time getting acquainted with some standard commitments board members are asked to make and then start asking some hard questions.

Expectations

Ask about them. It is in your best interest and the organization's to be clear about what is expected of board members. This clarity helps you understand your role and promotes a culture of accountability. Most established organizations have this documented in a clear list or narrative about what they expect from all board members. If the organization you are considering doesn't have this information, be concerned.

Board Meetings

Frequency and length of meetings vary tremendously. It is common for organizations to meet quarterly or monthly for a few hours at time but other organizations may operate with a different model. One thing is always true - you are expected to be there. Skipping out on meetings not only makes you look bad but can build resentment among other members and make it difficult to get work done. Most boards schedule meetings well in advance to ensure members can be there. Unclear about the meeting schedule, duration or frequency? - ask before you say yes.

Committees

Most organizations have board subcommittees (Ex: Finance, Development, Board Resource) and they expect each board member to serve on one or more. These committees often meet between board meetings and are responsible for tasks related to their area of expertise. How does the effect you? In short this means planning for occasional meetings in addition to board meetings and time to get committee work done. Committee commitments vary depending on the organization and within organizations depending on circumstance (Ex: The finance committee may meet more often that start and end of the fiscal year.) Before joining a board be sure to ask about committee structure, requirements and goals.

The Big "F"

You don't have to love fundraising to be a board member. You do need to understand that you will be asked to support the organization's fundraising efforts in one way or another. Many boards require that every board member make a personal contribution to the organization annually (amounts vary). Fundraising is a broad term, yes it includes asking people for money but it also includes preparing mailings, sending thank you notes, proof reading grants, researching prospects and attending events. Figure out where your comforts lie, consider stretching a bit (remember the organization can't survive without money in the coffers).

Passion for the mission

I am ending the list with this, you might argue that interest in board membership should start with passion. You are right, so I am, here's why. You can appreciate services offered by an organization, believe in their value to your community but you need to be willing to tackle everything I just wrote about and the unexpected things I didn't mention to serve on their board, that requires a commitment that exceeds appreciation, allure and the promise of a nice addition to your resume.

If you would like more specific direction on what questions to ask before agreeing to join a nonprofit board check out this great Board Source article. Serving on a nonprofit board is incredibly rewarding, it can also make you want to pull your hair out. Before you say yes, do your homework, find an organization that needs your skills and one you are passionate about supporting. Your work ahead of time will benefit you and the organization interest in your support.

Twelve Rules to Live By In the Land of Donor Appreciation

Penelope Burk's book, Donor Centered Fundraising is the first book I purchased that I considered professional development reading. It has since become my bible. I loan my copy out regularly and encourage others to look beyond the sticker shock, what you learn will be worth it's weight in gold. I am thinking about donor appreciation and cultivation today so I felt it was good time to share these rules Burke suggests.

Twelve Rules to Live By In the Land of Donor Appreciation

-Penelope Burk

1) Statistics

a. Do your own research specific to your organization, do rely on industry standards. Figure out who your donors are, how much the give, how often and how you can cultivate them. Then implement your plan.

2) Categorizing Donors By Gift Size

a. Is shooting your organization in the foot. This is a reward and punishment system that is insulting to donors and doesn’t allow npo’s to grow the size of the gifts people are making.

i. Ex: if you only have to give $1000 to be in the CIYC, why would anyone feel compelled to give $5000.

ii. ?How do you get the information that compels your $25.00 donor to become a $100 donor out do them.

3) Urgent Appeals

a. Remember your emergency is not your donors emergency.

4) Failure to Plan

a. Don’t expect donors to fund on faith. You need a well organized, succinct plan that shows donor where their money is making a difference.

5) Failure to Test

a. Test all fundraising ideas before counting on them entirely.

i. Ex: NPO has a budget deficit, at a board meeting an innovative idea for a new fundraising event is suggested, projects are made about its potential net income and before the board meeting is adjourned the event date is set.

6) Being Unrealistic About Time

a. There is no such thing as short term fundraising. Pressure is often put on fundraisers to close deals within unrealistic timeframes. This failure to take into account the cultivation process with your donors almost always means the organization looses out in one way or another. Many failures that happen today have roots in things that were/weren’t done 2-3 years ago.

7) Solicitation/Attrition

a. Don’t fall into this cycle: Direct mail campaign happens, response isn’t what you anticipated, decision is made to send another mailing to increase revenue, this causes donor burn out (attrition), so prospecting for donors increases, no time to follow up and thank current donors, leads to more attrition, leads to more solicitation.

i. GET OFF THE TREADMILL. Spend time with your current donors.

8) Relying on Fundraising as Marketing

a. The organization should have separate budgets for fundraising marketing and general marketing. General marketing is for awareness building and fundraising marketing is to generate income.

9) Fundraising Expenses

a. You need to be willing to spend money to make money. If you aren’t you kill the ‘donor-centric’ fundraising model before it can work for you.

10) “Donors should be neither seen nor heard”

a. Donors feel privileged to give and don’t want anything in return. Don’t confuse no vested interest and no interest. There is incredible competition for donors and volunteers, an organizations meaningful communication is what will set them apart.

11) The Fundraising System

a. Be willing to break out of the current system. If you aren’t seeing results, if your solicitation strategies aren’t donor-centric don’t tinker with the old system, take it apart and build a new one.

12) Feeling Charities are Beyond Reproach

a. In 2000 83% of Americans gave to charity. As NPO’s we need to be more in tune and better prepared to change the way we do business to meet the needs of the people who keep us in business.

External Hardrives and Fundraising Etiquette

About 20% of my professional time is devoted to prospecting. When I am not working billable hours, engaging in professional development or straightening out administrative details in the office, I am researching ways to develop and improve my business model.

This evening is dedicated to organizing files with samples of projects from each of my areas of experience so I have them on hand when new clients ask for them. I was only going to pull together a few recent samples. Like all good intentions when you are a little OCD, once I started culling the archives I couldn't stop, I search new laptop, my old laptop and then I hit the mothership.

If our house was on fire I'd save my husband, the dog and the mothership. I realized a few things going through files dating back to 2005.

1) I love what I do for work and always have. The warmth I felt reminiscing about past projects is indescribable.

2) I am fairly certain I was born taking visionary ideas and breakdown them down into excel spreadsheet and actionable lists.

In all of these files I came across several transition documents created when I left my job in Portland and moved to New Hampshire. During this transition I remember the new hire joking with me, begging me to write a book about fundraising etiquette.

The truth is...when I learned about fundraising etiquette I didn't know that is what I was learning. Why? The expert who taught me lived his values, they were more then just work.
I haven't written a book in case you are wondering, maybe one day. Until then here are some things I learned along the way because a brilliant, charismatic visionary who hated organizing information into excel sheets took a chance on young women who loved taking his scraps of paper and scribbled on napkins and turning them into databases.

Appreciation doesn’t mean spending a lot of money.

Organizational culture is what people connect to, from children to the oldest donors they love what the organization is about. So my philosophy is do something to thank people that which fits the your organization's culture. Do not that try to match the dollar amount they have given.

Ex: Flowers are great, but they are dead and most often they are exotic, so they have traveled a great distance to get here at the expense of the environment and the consumer. Send bulbs or a small plant, something that will grow and continue to remind the recipient of their relationship with the organizaiton.

Ex: A major donors makes a significant gift to the organization and you want to take them out to dinner to thank them. You don’t need to take them to Fore Street, all of our major donors can take themselves to Fore Street, they didn’t donate $ to see it blow on dinner and wine. Take them somewhere unusual, offer them a dinning experience they might not have thought of….have you ever eaten sushi? African food?

When to Pay.

One of my favorite questions, here goes my formal/informal strategy.

If you are asking a volunteer, donor, committee member etc to the meeting because they are being groomed to donate, $, time or services. Always offer to pay.

If the meeting is with someone, board member, long time volunteer who you are meeting with regularly.

• Offer to pay the first time and anytime after if the meeting is about asking them to increase their efforts or up there commitment.

• Otherwise my thought is the organization pays the first time and then either split or take them up on their off to pay once or twice.

You are invited to a meeting with a constituent (s). Bring $, it is better to be safe then sorry.

• If you are in a one on one meeting, offer to cover yourself.
• If they pay and you want to contribute
• Offer to cover the ti

In a group situation, bring cash. Offer to cover yourself. There is no reason why you should pick up the whole bill if you didn’t call the meeting.

I always try to keep a mental log of people who I meet with regularly and work on an equitable ratio of organization buys/they buy. I also try to schedule these meetings at off times after the first few, no one needs to be spending a ton of eating out. If you have had a dinner or lunch meeting, how about breakfast or meeting for tea/coffee or a drink.

Alcohol at Events and Consumption

The saying goes everything in moderation, though I have a personal rule never to drink a large events where I am in charge.

When I plan a gathering of adults I generally ensure there is wine (typically not beer b/c it is messy, smelly and makes a lot of trash). My feeling is people are gathering after work after a long day and really appreciate the chance to unwind. Again in moderation, do the math on the number of people coming to the gathering, make sure you have enough for a glass or two a person and nothing more.

Same holds true when holding a gathering at a bar or restaurant, the organization should consider covering glass of wine for everyone….then you are on your own.

If you are having gathering with underage folks, even staff, do yourself and the organization a favor no drinking.

Special Event Detox

This year for the first time in my career I contracted to manage an event for a business. The vision for the event emphasized community, creating opportunity for peak participant experiences and there was even auction beneficiary built into the weekend festivities.

I saw the opportunity to cross train my professional skills; build relationships and explore parallel professional possibilities should I decided to jump ship from the public and nonprofit sectors.

Logistics are logistics so I entered the planning undaunted by this piece.

Securing sponsors proved less challenging then I imagine. The demands of marketing purse string holders are reasonable and formulaic. Consider and generate information on the following and you will likely get support - prove your target demographic and their products are the same; address how participants will interact with their brand and finally bring creativity to the table and share opportunities unique to your event which will show case the sponsor.

This year this event earned more in sponsorship then prior years. Numbers of day participants grew thanks to targeted sign up discounts and social media engagement. Evening activities were well publicized and their numbers soared too.

So why in the wake of this success do I feel disenchanted and uneasy?

Driving to meet another client this morning I imagined myself the subject of a New Yorker cartoon. In the image, two doctors were wringing me out like a bloated washcloth. The spray from their efforts included beer koozies, window decals, keg cups and sundry other plastic give aways (read the made in china, fun for a night toys which fill rural landfills).

Starting to see the challenge?

Don't get me wrong the event was also a blast, the sponsors a delight and the clients talked all weekend about the impact of their experience. Still I can't shake the feeling this way of building community may not be for me.

Time to survey folks and record debriefs, maybe in the feedback I'll find a diamond that sways my vote the other way. For now I am pleased about the success and looking forward to spending the next few weeks working on a groupsite to facilitate social capital building in a rural community and facilitating the mapping of fundraising initiatives to support a community building program for youth facing the loss of a parent to cancer.