This week on the Nonprofit Jenni Show, we’re continuing our mini-series about how to create a fundraising plan for a small nonprofit. A topic that keeps coming up over and over again is how your board should be involved in your nonprofit’s development.
Does 100% of your board donate to your nonprofit?
Last week I told you that I started a podcast mini-series in partnership with Little Green Light about how to create a fundraising plan for your small (or very small) nonprofit. Author Erik Hanberg, Little Green Light leader Virginia Davidson, and I all agree that a fundraising plan begins with 100% board giving.
This means that 100% of your board members are donating some amount of money to support your nonprofit.
Why does that matter? Oh, for so many reasons! Like:
Board members will be more authentic when fundraising for your nonprofit if they're already donors;
Donating proves their level of investment in your nonprofit's mission; and, perhaps most importantly,
Major funders (like grant makers) won't consider donating to your nonprofit if you don't have 100% board giving.
A lot of you have emailed me saying something like, "I didn't establish a board giving expectation when I onboarded our directors... How can I establish that expectation after the fact?"
So now I'm partnering with Instrumentl to host a short, free virtual discussion about how to achieve 100% board giving. It's coming up June 8 and I hope you'll be available to attend!