AFP DC, Washington DC Metro Area Chapter Event: Activating Board Engagement

Tuesday, May 02, 2023 | 8:30 PM - 10:30 PM EST

The most successful non-profits have boards that embrace the power of a philanthropic culture. Engaged leadership is an essential pillar of any successful fundraising effort. In the case of campaigns, Trustees not only provide about 30 to 40 percent of fundraising totals, but they also inspire and influence others to donate, ultimately resulting in almost 75 to 80 percent of total fundraising in a campaign coming from, or being influenced by, Trustees.

Inova Health System (Inova) has been a multi-year journey to enhance the engagement of Trustees. Inova, Northern Virginia’s leading nonprofit healthcare provider, facilitates more than 2,000,000 health care visits each year across the region and invests more than $370,000,000 back into the community. In addition to the Inova Health System Board of Trustees, Inova has three philanthropy boards with over 60 Trustees, each with unique histories, experiences, and community relationships that made addressing board engagement prior to the launch of the campaign essential.

In 2021, CCS partnered with Inova to accelerate the work necessary to prepare for the largest campaign in the organization’s history. A comprehensive engagement assessment of the philanthropy boards revealed that Trustees were ready and willing to engage in a range of activities including, but not limited to, hosting events, making connections, participating in acts of gratitude, and requesting gifts. Trustees gave firsthand accounts of the types of information they would find most helpful in fulfilling their job descriptions and provided helpful guidance on how to make their engagement more meaningful in meetings, events, and other activities.

This session will highlight the years of work Inova has invested, while also highlighting essential findings from a CCS-led Assessment that began a year-long partnership to create, deploy, and refine essential content, materials, and processes that directly addressed Trustees feedback.

The implementation of the recommendations from the assessment were wide ranging, and included both quick wins and mid- to long-term initiatives such as:

• Adding Trustee names to the website
• Making quarterly meetings more engaging
• Developing personal Board Engagement plans
• Redesigning Board Meeting materials and reporting
• Developing and deploying materials to support Trustees participating in acts of gratitude and hosting events

This panel brings together insights and lessons learned from the leaders of three unique philanthropy Boards active at Inova Health System, facilitated by one of the CCS Directors who partnered on this essential work. Examples of the content developed with be available (either in print or digital form) and preliminary insights on the impact of Inova’s Board Engagement implementation will be available in the session.  

While this session is set in the background of preparing for a campaign, the lessons learned, and recommendations implemented, are relevant for leaders who are working to engage their Trustees at any stage of development and planning and calls on industry best practices.