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40+ Ideas to Light a Fundraising Fire Under Your Nonprofit Board Members

10/1/2021

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Inform, guide, motivate, and recognize your board members and watch them become your fundraising heroes!

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Grab your pumpkin spice latte!
Fall is in the air.
 
That means fundraising season is right around the corner. Many nonprofits (most?) depend on giving season (and Giving Tuesday) to raise a significant chunk of their annual funding. In 2020, U.S. nonprofits raised $2.47 billion dollars. What was your piece of that ‘pumpkin’ pie?
 
Let’s talk 2021! Is your staff prepared to make the asks, attend the events, mail the collateral and try some Facebook fundraising ads? What about your board members… are they fired up for fundraising season?
 
So often, nonprofit fundraising efforts are facilitated and driven by staff members. What’s wrong with that? Well, have you considered how to leverage the power that each of your board members bring to the table? Chances are, there’s a ton of leverage there, including relationships, clout, high-level thinking, connections, strategic thinking and more.
 
You can inform, guide, motivate, and recognize your board members and watch them become your fundraising heroes (seriously call them that, they’ll like it). To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of 40+ ideas, broken down into categories, to help you get the job done! 

40+ Ways Empower Your Board Members for Fundraising Season

Inform
  • Hold a fundraising season kick-off dinner
  • Give board members the option to give rather than fundraise
  • Share 2021 Giving Tuesday Stats
  • Stay in touch on fundraising goals and progress
  • Share: How Nonprofits Build Donor Trust – Be Transparent
  • Train on new fundraising software (like Bloomerang)
  • Ted Talk: 3 Ways to Be a More Effective Fundraiser
  • Provide best practices for fundraising asks
  • Review: 7 Tips on Asking for Donations
  • Invite them to sign up for Movie Mondays, weekly fundraising advice videos
 
Guide
  • Create compelling fundraising collateral board members are proud to give
  • Use fundraising progress visuals (enter the colored-in thermometer)
  • Develop dashboard style reports to drive results
  • Use board meeting time to brainstorm potential donors/prospects
  • Provide easy-to-use phone call scripts and email templates
  • Role play at board meetings to master organizational talking points
  • Encourage board members to introduce potential donors to staff for follow-up
  • Ask a board member to join you at lunch to observe a fundraising pitch
  • Ask and remind board members to share social media fundraising posts
 
Motivate
  • Invite a motivational speaker to a board meeting
  • Make fundraising a friendly competition
  • Ask a client (someone that benefits from your mission) to tell their story
  • Watch: Don’t Underestimate the Ripple Effect of What You Do
  • Touch their hearts with visuals of the service you (they) provide
  • Ask each board member to share their passion for your organization at a board meeting
  • Share weekly motivational quotes to keep your fundraising goals top of mind
  • Watch: Simon Sinek, Empathy - Best Speech of all Time
  • Offer prizes (donated items of course)
  • Ask them to memorize and recite the organization’s mission
  • Watch: Make an Impact – Inspirational Video
 
Recognize
  • Tout achieving board members on social media
  • Send them hand-written thank you cards
  • Make them swag that say ‘fundraising hero’ with your logo
  • Announce successes at board meetings
  • Allow board members to make thank you calls to help them build relationships
  • Recognize engaged board members at events
  • Highlight board member of the month (of the week) in newsletters
  • Give them opportunities to promote their own companies if applicable
  • Ask them to say a few words of thanks to donors at your next event
  • Offer a sponsorship to board members who match donations
 
How does this list strike you? Don’t feel overwhelmed. Remember that fundraising is not comfortable for most people, including your board members. Use this list to support them through the fundraising process. Make it easy and fun for them, touch their hearts, and give them some love. And don’t forget to shoot us an email and let us know how it’s going.
 
Happy fundraising season!

How Blue Fox Can Help

As we are an accounting firm, we would be remiss to ask if your financials are up-to-date and prepared for giving season? It’s difficult to plan where you’re going if you don’t know where you are now. That’s why our team of nonprofit gurus created this resource to help you get organized: The Ultimate Nonprofit Finance Checklist for Giving Season (it’s free to download).
 
As always, if your team could use assistance in your back office, just ask for help! Blue Fox services range from standard bookkeeping and payroll services, to coaching and consulting, to comprehensive virtual CFO services.
Let's review my financials before giving season
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Here are some other articles you might enjoy reading:
Financial Dashboards – Capture Attention, Create Conversations, Drive Results!
How to Help Your Board Members From Getting Bored
3 Financial Metrics to Watch Closely Each Month For Your Nonprofit
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  • Accounting Services
    • Employee Retention Credit (ERC) Eligibility
  • Tax Preparation
    • Tax Deadlines
  • About
    • Our Founder & CEO
    • Our Team
    • Our Clients
    • Now Hiring: Bookkeeper
    • Our Philosophy
    • Benefits of Outsourced Accounting Services for Nonprofits
    • Technology Solutions
    • Testimonials
    • FAQs
    • Join the Team >
      • Now Hiring: Tax Specialist (Remote)
  • Blog
  • Freebies
  • Contact
  • Subscribe