As the nonprofit sector evolves, and with government funding in decline, more and more organizations are finding that a fundraising board is now a necessity. Realizing this, they then face the challenge of involving their board in fundraising, not always an easy task. Part of the problem, according to Cynthia Armour, CFRE, who specializes in the area of boards and fundraising, is that board members often don’t have clear job descriptions. “What happens is that we get board members that are well-meaning individuals but the expectations about fundraising haven’t been clearly articulated.” She suggests that during the recruitment phase, organizations explain that there is a need to fundraise. “This is obvious advice,” she says, “and yet it’s often not done.”
The recruitment process is key
Although many organizations are increasingly looking to their boards to assist in fundraising, Armour is quick to point out that board fundraising is not a new trend. “It’s been around forever, it just depends on the age of the organization,” she explains. “A young organization that can’t hire out needs volunteers to fundraise, and that can fall to the board if they don’t have outside volunteers. The thing that the board will always do is bring credibility to fundraising.”
The National Ballet School certainly understands that board fundraising is not a new phenomenon. Their board has been involved with fundraising for most of the school’s 42-year history. Carole Beaulieu, who heads up marketing and development as well as the nominating committee, says that having a link between recruitment and development is key to the board’s success. “The nominating committee is a development committee and we recruit board members with the development and advocacy needs of the school in mind,” says Beaulieu. “We are very clear in the recruitment process to brief potential board members on board responsibilities, and then there is a training process once they become directors.”
The school’s board consists of 40 directors who are subdivided into a variety of development committees. “I have found that, particularly with a large board, the committee structure enables us to get into the work as opposed to having a lot of people with great ideas.” For many new board members, philanthropy is still a new process, but Beaulieu finds that it doesn’t take long for new members to become enthusiastic about their role in that process. She says the real challenge facing any organization is to recruit properly and to be clear about the objectives, requirements, and the necessity for a board to be strategically involved in development. “The other element,” explains Beaulieu, “is to support them through that process with professional staff, clear planning, and a clear structure.”
Growing with the needs of the organization
When the needs of Sudbury Meals on Wheels began to outgrow its government funding, it was the board that stepped forward with the enterprising idea of opening a commercial kitchen. “The kitchen is operated without government funding and is directed by the board,” says executive director Angele Poitras. “Our board is made up of a lot of entrepreneurs so they were comfortable with the risk-taking factor involved in this project.” She says that the board always did fundraising but that the challenge lies in knowing how much they can be asked to do. “Not everyone likes to fundraise, and that is a huge problem with boards,” says Poitras. “We recruit them on the board for different skill sets that they may have and not everyone is comfortable fundraising.”
Before their kitchen was operating and generating dollars, Meals on Wheels addressed the issue of board fundraising by looking at people’s strengths and dividing tasks between those board members who were comfortable fundraising and those who weren’t. Since implementing these changes, more people have been attracted to the board. “This board has stayed on for its full mandate and in our latest round of recruitment we actually had to turn some people down.”
Help them overcome the fear factor with training and support
George Hartsgrove, project coordinator for Egale Canada, agrees that the best way to engage a board in fundraising is to capitalize on their individual strengths. “Some members have been reluctant to fundraise, partially because of time constraints but also because of the fear factor,” he says. “What we try to do as staff is to help out as much as possible, suggesting things that fit with their character and providing the support they need to do the fundraising that best suits them.” With the growth of Egale comes the need for more funding in order to maintain operations, so board members are increasingly being encouraged to become active fundraisers. Yet despite this shift in responsibilities, Hartsgrove says board recruitment and retention rates remain strong. This is also true for many other organizations that request board members to fundraise, illustrating Carole Beaulieu’s view that the most important factor to succeed in development is finding directors that really connect with and believe in an organization’s mission.
For more information about the National Ballet School, visit www.nationalballetschool.org. To contact Meals on Wheels of Sudbury call 705-525-4554 and to learn more about Egale Canada, visit: www.egale.ca. Cynthia Armour can be reached by e-mail at elderstone@sympatico.ca or by visiting www.elderstone.ca.
