How Board Members are Helping the Boys and Girls Club Make Their Year-End Goals

I’m just back from the Northeast Leadership Conference of the Boys and Girls Club of America where I spoke yesterday afternoon at their Regional Leadership Conference. (Love those BGCA folks!)

Here’s what Dovie Prather, the Senior Director of Development Club Resources for BGCA Northeast Region, shared with me about their year-end fundraising strategies.

(That’s Dovie in the picture right here along with Glen Staron, Vice President, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Northeast Region, and me.)

Dovie spends her time coaching board volunteers and staff in the various Boys and Girls Clubs in her region – from Maine to Maryland.  She has worked with her share of reluctant board members who don’t want to go on fundraising calls.

But the staff needs the board members to help if they are going to make their goals.

And face-to-face visits are a key part of her year-end fundraising strategy recommendations for her Boys and Girls Clubs.

She’s counting on those one-on-one calls for $1k or more with key supporters to help the Clubs meet their goals. (See my earlier blog post on Focusing on Individuals to Make Your Year-End Goals). We all know that we can count on individuals this fall far more than we can count on our foundation and corporate supporters.

But most of her board members think they won’t be successful in face-to-face visits. And she doesn’t really want to send the board members out alone anyway.

So here’s her solution:

She asks board members to accompany staff on these calls. Many times all the board member has to do in the call is to tell their own personal story about why they are involved in Boys and Girls Clubs.

A board member’s personal story is a very, very powerful in-person, live testimonial. And it happens right there in the call in front of the donor. Bringing a board member along to share their story is a bit like bringing a portable live testimonial with you.

We all know that stories are more powerful than facts. And that a volunteer’s endorsement is more powerful than anything we can say or do.

Be sure you include face to face visits in your year-end fundraising strategy.  And bring board members along.

It just might make all the difference!