Tips for Turning Your Board into Fundraising Ambassadors

Your board guides your nonprofit, helping you navigate crises, seize opportunities, and establish long-term strategies for growth. Of course, some boards are more active than others, and boards that take a hands-on approach to fundraising can dramatically improve their organization’s rate of successful campaigns.

If your board has limited participation in fundraising activities, don’t panic. Your board is dedicated to your nonprofit, and the right strategies can turn passive board members into reliable fundraising ambassadors. 

What are fundraising ambassadors?

Board members, volunteers, staff, peer-to-peer fundraisers, and anyone else fundraising on your nonprofit’s behalf can be a fundraising ambassador. Essentially, these individuals are representatives of your mission and earn donations for your cause by:

• Presenting your nonprofit’s mission. By sharing your nonprofit’s stories, explaining your mission, and discussing their personal reasons for supporting your cause, fundraising ambassadors can help put a human face on your organization and inspire others to lend their support.
• Networking on your nonprofit’s behalf. Fundraising ambassadors have networks that extend beyond your nonprofit’s current audience. By discussing your nonprofit, facilitating introductions, and promoting your campaigns to their networks, fundraising ambassadors can help you grow your audience and connect with high-value donors.
• Soliciting gifts. A fundraising request from someone you have a personal relationship with is always more effective than a fundraising request from a new organization. Fundraising ambassadors leverage their relationships with friends and family to make effective appeals themselves or help your fundraising team do so.

As board members tend to be influential members of your community, major donors, or both, they can be especially helpful fundraising ambassadors. When discussing how your board can step up to help with fundraisers, ensure you explain a fundraising ambassador’s role and how they impact your nonprofit. 

Make fundraising a board priority. 

While boards are responsible for establishing your nonprofit’s long-term strategy, fundraising might not always be on their meeting agenda. As a result, board members may feel distant from fundraising efforts and not feel a responsibility to participate in them.

Reorient your board’s thinking to keep fundraising top-of-mind, reinforcing their potential impact. For example, you might ensure that fundraising updates are always brought up at board meetings. Just by continually checking in and providing reminders about your fundraising team, you can increase board knowledge of and investment in your fundraising results.

Additionally, educate your board about ongoing fundraisers, so they have the necessary context when approving budgets, setting strategies, and participating in your efforts. For instance, capital campaigns require large upfront budgets to power multiple years of intensive fundraising, and cautious boards may be hesitant to fund these projects. However, by explaining their fundraising potential, discussing how the budget will be used, and getting board members involved in capital campaign planning committees, you can ensure they not only understand but are active advocates for your campaign. 

Focus on your board’s strengths.

From marketing personnel to major gift officers, fundraising teams are composed of multiple roles, each requiring a unique skill set. Similarly, your board members have different abilities and comfort levels. To increase board participation in fundraising, accommodate their interests and point them toward roles where they can thrive.

A few different roles you might give your board members include:

• Gift solicitation. A member of your board can lend authority to your fundraising asks. However, soliciting gifts is often the most anxiety-inducing part of fundraising, and some board members may be hesitant to take it on. For those who are willing, encourage their interest and provide them with the backing and resources they need to participate in making fundraising appeals.
• Donor stewardship. Maintaining relationships with donors is essential for earning steady revenue. Board members can help your fundraising team with donor stewardship efforts like writing handwritten thank-you notes, calling donors to thank them for their gifts, and attending events where they can meet donors in person and have one-on-one conversations.
• Behind-the-scenes planning. While talking to donors is a major part of fundraising, introverted board members can still lend their skills to fundraising by helping with administrative responsibilities. For example, board members might help with event planning, fundraising strategy direction, and budget management.

No matter what role they take, ensure board members receive the proper training to maximize their fundraising potential. For instance, while a charismatic board member with many connections may already be skilled at networking, they can still benefit from specific lessons on how to pitch donation requests. 

Check in on your board’s achievements regularly. 

Once board members become fundraising ambassadors, encourage them to continue taking an active role in fundraising and help improve their efforts by regularly checking in. This helps keep fundraising top-of-mind, provides board members with the opportunity to reflect on their contributions, and creates a space to improve their fundraising strategy.

When checking in with board members about their role as a fundraising ambassador, be sure to:

• Set individual goals. Inspire board members to motivate themselves by setting individual fundraising goals. Based on the board member’s role, this might be to source a certain number of prospects, reach a personal funding goal, or simply spend a specific number of hours each week on fundraising. Encourage board members to challenge themselves, but also set realistic goals based on their unique abilities.
• Review fundraising metrics. Discuss relevant fundraising metrics with your board as a whole, such as total amount raised, donor acquisition rate, donor retention rate, and so on. This data helps board members better understand the current state of your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts and determine where they should focus their time.
• Celebrate accomplishments. Fundraising can be challenging, and any efforts your board members take to help out should be applauded. When an individual board member achieves something significant related to fundraising, such as helping secure a new major donation, recognize their contributions. This might take the form of calling out their accomplishments during board meetings, sending them a personalized thank-you card from your fundraising team, or even providing a present like a gift basket.  

Maintaining consistent communication with your board about fundraising encourages continued participation and inspires board members to make a personal investment in their role as a fundraising ambassador.

Your board is one of your nonprofit’s greatest fundraising assets. If they aren’t already contributing to your fundraisers, set your board up for success by giving them the resources, direction, and training they need to become confident fundraising ambassadors.