One of nonprofit staff members’ biggest frustrations is involving and engaging board members in fundraising.
That’s why we’ve put together an infographic to help you get your board on board with fundraising (that pun only gets more terrible—see the infographic and you’ll know what I mean).
We’ve based this infographic on data from the Nonprofit Research Collaborative’s Special Report: Engaging Board Members in Fundraising (2012) and our qualitative research on how to increase board member engagement.
Is My Board of Directors Fundraising Enough? (Click to enlarge)
Quick facts:
- Nonprofit with engaged boards are 17% more likely to increase fundraising revenue and 7% more likely to reach annual fundraising goals.
- Board members’ donations account for less than 10% of total fundraising efforts, even at the higher levels of board member giving. In other words, having an engaged board is about more than just mandatory giving.
- For smaller nonprofits, board members are most effective when they increase access to a broader audience of potential donors. Some ideas: Providing names, contact information, asking your friends to give, making personal introductions.
- For larger nonprofits, board members are most effective when they use their public influence to signal support for the nonprofit. Some ideas: Hosting an event in your home or business, writing personal thank you letters and allowing the nonprofit to use you name in the community.
- Only 57% of nonprofit boards require contributions. When all board members give, it creates a public commitment to your nonprofit, encourages a broad culture of fundraising and qualifies you for grants that require 100% participation in board giving.
- Having a development committee increases likelihood of reaching annual fundraising goals by 11%.
- Take time to ease into transitions in board giving and participation, set expectations during new board member recruitment and don’t give up on an engagement strategy that already works.
