I was recently in India working with the board of a large development organization.
It was my first time in amazing India. I was incredibly inspired by the activists I was working with, and I was completely overwhelmed with the different context in which they were operating.
And then, I heard a familiar refrain. A board member actually said, “I’ll do anything but raise money.” I was suddenly transformed back to my own reality. How many times had I heard that from board members in the US? The distaste is evident, the fear is palpable. And while it’s often said with a laugh, the board member who says it means business.
With such an international problem, there needs to be an international solution – food. I found a great tool that Andy Robinson, a fundraising consultant, developed to cultivate the taste of raising money in a non-profit board. He suggests that board members be offered a menu of opportunities to help with fundraising that meets them where their interests (and anxieties) lie. For those who are anxious about fundraising, start with writing a newsletter article, follow-up with a course of thank you calls, and graduate with dessert by personally asking a friend to support the organization. You can’t skip courses – you have to pick something from each!
It’s a great approach that I’ve used several times to great success with boards. See if you can adopt it for yours. Here’s a copy of the fundraising menu that was passed to me and here’s a link to Andy Robinson’s site.
