Spark Hope and Confidence in Your Organization: 5 Ways to Plug Your Board Into Your Advancement Team
Is your board unplugged from your current team, fundraising efforts or new initiatives?
Are you facing any of these scenarios with your board?
You are a new leader of your organization inheriting a board you need to quickly build trust with.
You are onboarding brand new board members who are still learning about your organization.
You have a board stacked heavily with legacy members who have been serving for a long time and are still clinging to the past, the way things used to be, and need to be enlisted for the here, now and future of the organization.
I have personally experienced all of these challenges and found success through...
5 Quick and Easy Ways to Get Board Members Connected as Part of the Team
Share profiles of your advancement teammates:
Highlight team members with their pictures, job titles, areas of responsibility, past job and volunteer experiences, and a quote as to what they are passionate working for your organization. Share them one at a time as spotlights in newsletters or board meetings or, if you’ve had a lot of staff turnover or new board members, collect them all in one document to send out. Bonus: Sharing your pride in your team and recognizing them at the board level will also help to retain staff and boost morale.
Showcase your team as experts and trailblazers in board meetings:
Have different team members present on their area (i.e. planned gifts, corporate and foundation relations, annual giving, alumni relations) at a committee or larger board meeting. Not only does your board get to know the people working hard for the cause they care about but they also get the chance to hear about the latest initiatives the team is driving, learn about wins and challenges and get the chance to ask questions.
Share three wins from your team and one area of opportunity at each committee and board meeting:
Board members are energized and informed by hearing a diverse range of stories of gifts secured by teammates, mission moments, engagement events that were a big success, stewardship initiatives and new initiatives. If you need the board to be aware of or resource something that might be challenging to advancement efforts be transparent and bring them in as solution partners.
Assign team members as liaisons to each board member:
Make sure you as the leader are not the only connection point to the organization on staff. If the board member is passionate about their college, a program or athletics, connected them to a fundraiser representing that area as a secondary point of contact. Having specialized knowledge in the area that the board member is energized by benefits the donor and having another staff member help to execute on cultivation and stewardship touch points is a win for everyone.
Invite a board member to talk with the Advancement team at an all staff meeting:
Have them share their story, what motivates them to get involved and give to your and other organizations and give advice to the team. In turn, staff can introduce themselves to the board member, ask them questions and establish connections.
Has anything else worked well for you in plugging in your board? I’d love to hear from you!
Need more tailored advice on engaging your board? Get in touch with me for personalized insights and strategies.
Get in touch with me!
Jen Stirling
Principal Consultant, Brighter Philanthropy
Fundraising consulting for higher ed and K-12
As your partner, I’ll bring my considerable expertise, high-energy efficiency, optimistic realism, relational approach, and fresh perspective to guide your team and help your institution reach its goals, enabling more students to thrive. I offer support for campaign services, development organization assessments, staff coaching and board development.
