Fundraising has been delegated to the CEO.
Some board members want to plan campaigns. Some want to help staff when asked. Others believe fundraising is not board work at all.
Who is right?
Carver and Charney ask the board to define its job in rehearsal 6.2.[1]
The board is right only after it decides.
Policy Governance does not declare that every board must fundraise or that no board may fundraise. It requires clarity. If fundraising participation is part of the board’s job, the board should state the expectation. If fundraising operations are delegated to the CEO, members should not take them back through informal enthusiasm.
BoardSource treats fundraising as a fundamental board topic and recommends a written board fundraising policy.[2] A policy can state personal giving, introductions, stewardship, event participation, advocacy, and other member responsibilities.
I would separate three roles.
As governors, members define Ends, set boundaries, monitor performance, and ensure adequate governance.
As ambassadors, authorized members can tell the organization’s story and build relationships.
As volunteers, members may help execute a CEO-led fundraising plan.
The same person may wear all three hats. The authority changes with the hat.
A trustee helping at an event does not supervise the development director. A member introducing a donor does not promise a program. A board committee does not take control of a campaign unless the board has deliberately redesigned delegation and accepted the accountability consequences.
I prefer a partnership in which the CEO owns the integrated fundraising operation and the board adopts clear member expectations.
The CEO can offer a menu of useful actions.
Learn the case for support.
Make a personally meaningful gift.
Open appropriate doors.
Thank donors.
Attend selected events.
Share stories consistent with privacy and communication policy.
Ask for support when trained and willing.
The board can monitor whether its members fulfilled the policy. The CEO can report whether fundraising results comply with board expectations. Those are different accountabilities.
There are organizations where board-led fundraising is necessary, especially with little or no staff. The board should then assign operating roles explicitly. Members doing campaign work report through the chosen operating structure, not through individual board status.
I would not recruit someone with the sentence, “You will not have to fundraise,” if the real culture expects it. I would not recruit someone only for a contact list either. Both promises diminish the person and store conflict for later.
The board should also ask whether fundraising methods fit its values. Restrictions, donor influence, cost of acquisition, privacy, and treatment of beneficiaries may require Executive Limitations.
Those policies govern the CEO’s means.
They do not require trustees to plan the gala.
You can write the board job on one page.
If fundraising is on the page, define the behavior and monitor it.
If it is not, stop shaming members for failing an unwritten duty.
Clarity makes generosity easier.
It also keeps a helpful board from becoming an unaccountable development department.
The policy should also say who coordinates member activity. Without one point of contact, two trustees may approach the same prospect with different stories or interfere with a relationship staff has cultivated for years. The CEO or development leader can maintain the plan while the board monitors its own promises.
Helpful enthusiasm becomes productive when timing, message, and follow-up are shared.
Footnotes
[1] Miriam Carver and Bill Charney, The Board Member’s Playbook (Jossey-Bass, 2004), rehearsal 6.2, pages 194–197.
[2] BoardSource, “Board Fundraising Policy: Key Elements, Practical Tips, and Sample Policy”.
Additional reading
BoardSource’s The Nonprofit Board Answer Book gives practical options for board giving and fundraising roles.
Peter Greer, David Weekley, and Tiger Dawson’s The Board and the CEO helps boards support revenue work without blurring executive authority.