Why Don\'t Board Members Do What They Are Supposed To Do?"

Editor's Notes

• #2: Change this slide to Erie, not Bishop Spencer Place
• #4: Why am I qualified to teach this topic (Education, 23 yrs exp behind the desk, 4 as consultant doing capacity building, some in Erie)Jean is an expert in Senior Living fundraising, has extensive experience with volunteers in her career and is consultant as wellOur firm has experts in different sectors… mine is human service organizationsDevelopment work in 38 sectorsCapacity building, great ROI (Spend $6K/month and increase fundraising capacity 5x!!!It is hard to raise money if you don’t‘ have a planWork locally (Erie DAWN, Y of Greater Erie, Erie County Diabetes, Junior Achievement, Grove City YMCA, YMCA of Greater Cleveland) organizations large and small. SAT ON YOUR SIDE OF THE DESK FOR 23 YEARS!!!!!!Ran Ys for 23 years and doing this for four years. I love it. I wish as an exec dir that I knew as much then as I do now about fundraising. Oftentimes, as administrator it is hard to see the forest through the trees. We get wrapped up in day to day and do not dream. ALL of you have an important cause or you would not be a 501c3 organization.
• #10: Why it is worth spending money to increase capacity for fundraising, to have specific goals and timetableIf you do not have a financial plan, you need one, otherwise drifting and LEAVING MONEY ON THE TABLEHelps you to reachGood Exercise --- if someone wanted to give you $50K, would you be able to tell them exactly what you would use it for?Need to get the list of Resource Development plan from other workshop
• #12: Most fundraising training for board members misses the mark by jumping straight to soliciting. It eventually inhibits, rather than pumps up, board member energy and excitement for the cause. Introducing board members to fundraising by presenting a seminar titled "The Art of the Ask" is not a way to bring them gently to the table so they will embrace fundraising enthusiastically.
• #13: Asking for money, not building and keeping friends. Many board members are mistaken about fundraising. They think it is "asking for money." The actual moment of asking for a gift, however, is only one small step in the long, time-consuming process of building relationships with donors. Compare SALES TO MARKETING, when I learned the Marketing at PSU. Your board members can help you in the marketing process. Not everyone is going to be good in the sales presentation. Find out which ones are!
• #14: Board Members Can Play in Development ProcessEvery board member can support your organization's fundraising—without ever asking for one red cent. There is a fundraising role for each person on your board. In my board retreats we often end by asking each board member to sign up personally for one or two of these jobs, and they are happy to do so. Make Friends for the Cause Identify Your Organization's VIP Friends (Very Important Prospects) Open the Door with Advice Visits Gather Friends with Small Socials (Point of Entry Events) Become a Tour Guide—And Show How We Change the Worl Acknowledge Donors' GenerosityMentoring (show and tell, more powerful than just tell)Use technology: Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Website, Email, etc. effectively. Ask them to refer others to YOUR website, Google Alert your prospects names, put info in fileWeb research list . (Good reason to bring some younger board members who have experience in this and enjoy doing it). National Treasure with Nicholas Cage. (Rowdy)WORD OF MOUTH!!! If you do not have anything interesting to say about your products or service, why would you expect others to talk about you? Find what is interesting about you. Have interesting, upbeat meetings dealing with big-picture issues.Grass Roots fundraiser (FirstGiving)
• #15: 4. Gather Friends with Small Socials (Point of Entry Events) Who’s Who in community…they want to be there!You can expand your community relationships and make friends fast through "Small Socials." This job is perfect for social board members who have many friends and like to host gatherings.A Small Social can take several formats. It can be a coffee, a tea, dinner, or cocktails. It can be breakfast meetings or luncheons. It can include 3 people or 100.A Small Social must follow these rules:A board member or volunteer invites people to it and hosts it.There is no charge.It is a cultivation event designed to fire up people about your cause.A plan is in place for following up after the event. If you don't have a follow-up plan, don't do the event at all. (See "Following Up on the Small Social or Tour" at the end of this article for more information.)Small Socials always have a short presentation in the midst of the socializing. The board volunteer host should welcome everyone with a few words from his or her heart sharing why he or she cares about your organization. This welcome is very powerful because it is the host's personal story, which often has more impact than a formal presentation.Then the CEO steps forward with a high-impact message about your organization. This is the CEO's—well, actually, your organization's—chance to shine. Think passion and urgency. Think Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech—full of vision and inspiration, with a clear call to action at the end. 5. Become a Tour Guide—And Show How We Change the WorldBoard members can host tours to bring prospective friends closer to your organization. A carefully scripted tour can be a powerful way to demonstrate your organization's good work and to illustrate unmet needs in the community.The tour lets your work speak for itself. Your guests will hear staff members or even clients/students/stakeholders express in their own words their personal firsthand experiences with your organization's mission—and the good it does—in the community.A well-planned tour has many of the same components as the Small Social. It has the board volunteer host's welcome, the CEO's visionary message, and the same follow-up card and phone call. 6. Acknowledge Donors' GenerosityOne of the most powerful actions a board member can take is to phone to thank a donor soon after his or her gift is received.When board members call to thank donors, the donors receive a very powerful message. They think: "This organization appreciates me," "I am a real person to this organization, not just a checkbook," "This organization is well run."Donors who receive phone calls from board members invariably tend to give larger gifts the next time and tend to stay on board as donors longer.Some studies have shown that donors who were called by board members within 24 hours of making a gift later made gifts that were 37 percent higher than those from donors who did not receive a call. This means that board members can directly improve your organization's bottom line without having to solicit!  
• #16: If you do not have anything interesting to say about your products or service, why would you expect others to talk about you? Join in the conversationDon't sit on the sideline and be passive in letting word of mouth to happen. Engage in it. People are probably already talking about you online. It's easy to find out. Just set up a Google Alert or check Technorati for the latest blog posts. If people are saying nice things, thank them. Thanking them reinforces for everyone the great things they heard. If someone is less than flattering, fix the problem publicly and show the world you are proactive in addressing customer issues. Don't be afraid to blog or use social networks as well. Keep conversations open and involved. But remember, you are an organization that treats clients and supporters with respect. So when engaging in online conversation, always be open about who you are and whom you represent. The Web community is very savvy. If you are spoofing people, they will find out, and the results won't be pretty.You now have a great foundation to engage in word of mouth marketing. It's time to put together a plan, make it easy for the conversations to take place, and get them started!
• #18: Hairspray example, with celebrity…
• #19: Hairspray example, with celebrity…