Archive for the ‘Board of Directors’ Category

It’s wonderful to see a board chair assume rightful leadership and challenge her board members to action.  Here’s a brilliant example of excellent leadership from a nonprofit board chair.

I’m on the board of our local AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) chapter here in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. (If you don’t know about AFP, you need to join!

Our wonderful board chair, Eli Jordfald, took on a personal priority this year – to reinvent our annual “National Philanthropy Day” celebration in November.

If this “reinvention” was going to happen, Eli needed every single one of us board members to commit to a part in making this successful.  With only a part-time staff person, we rely on our board volunteers to make it happen.  So if we didn’t pull through, then we wouldn’t even have an event.

Eli send out an email last week with the subject line: “Call to Action.”  Take a look at this professional and very specific note to her board members.

She was not necessarily “asking for help.” Instead it was “rallying the troops.”

How long has it been since you issued a Call to Action to your board,  your staff or your volunteers? These words alone get immediate attention.

Good morning,

Our NPD committees have been working diligently to re-invent NPD for the
Triangle.  I’m proud of their efforts and the incredible creativity they
have brought to the event planning.

The ultimate success of NPD will depend on the community’s response and we, as board members, must lead by example.

*This week, I am asking each of you to consider how you
personally (and your organization) can participate. Please consider
these 3 opportunities to help your donors, volunteers, your cause, and
AFP shine:

* Commit to a table of 10 at the non-profit, special rate of $400 to
honor an outstanding volunteer
* Nominate one, two or more donors and volunteers in any of the
categories Bert’s committee recently announced.  It’s so easy and
you can do it on-line.  Lineberger is nominating in two categories
this year
* Help secure a sponsor at the $500 or $1000 levels.  Jeff has
turn-key packets for you to personalize for your prospect

I would like to ask each of you to either reply to all or send me an
e-mail indicating to what extent you are able to commit to one, two or
all three of the above*.  It will boost our “ask” to others to step up.
It will also help us get an early snap shot of what our board
participation will be.

I appreciate all that you do to make our chapter excellent and look
forward to hearing back from you by the end of the week.

Warm regards, Eli

Here are the things that she did right in this note:

1. She made it clear that “we, as board members, must lead by example.”  I can’t think of another way to say this more plainly!  She reminded us of our responsibility as board members.

2. Her tone (attitude toward us) was correct: she was not lecturing us; she was not wagging her finger like a schoolmarm.

3. Her request was professional and business-like – she was not pleading or begging or manipulating. She simply requested plainly and succinctly, treating us as the capable professionals we all are.

4. Her words were inspirational. She rallied us to our higher purpose and reminded us of what we all wanted to accomplish.

5. She is putting her money where her mouth is and leading by example. She let us know that her organization is buying a table.

6. She gave us clear actions we needed to take and a choice of actions.

7. She asked us to respond to her personally, not to someone else. That way you know that she herself is keeping tabs on who is doing what.

8. She gave us a deadline to respond to her. That way there was a clear time frame for us to take action.

This is the right way to motivate and activate your own board. Give it a try and you’ll get some great results.

Tell you what – I’ll let you know how this Call to Action did as we go forward. I, for one, leapt to action. I have already made two sponsorship solicitations and will do more!

Can you share an experience when a board chair issued a Call to Action?  Let’s hear your own stories!

A question I am frequently asked is, “Once I get my board fired-up, then how on earth do I keep my board members motivated and enthusiastic? Whenever the board members gather together, we get excited and energized about our work. But my board members frequently get distracted with other priorities.  What to do?”

The first thing you must do is take responsibility for keeping your board energized.   If you are the nonprofit CEO, do everything you can to keep them going.  AND if you are the chair of the board, also, do everything YOU can to fan the flames of your board members’ energy.

When you assume responsibility, then you can’t expect that someone else will assume this role. Do you know the saying, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me?“  Well, here’s the perfect place to implement that idea.

If your board is gonna stay excited, motivated and energized, it won’t happen without YOU taking the lead.

You can’t expect your busy board members to keep focused and energized on their own. If you leave it up to them, you just may be disappointed. This is “Volunteer Management 101” – and the number one job of managing volunteers is motivating them.

Here is a real life best practice example from a board I am currently serving on. This is from the CEO of  Lillian’s List, a political action group on whose board I serve.  Our CEO, Carol Teal, is just about the best nonprofit CEO I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

Here is a recent “cheerleading” email Carol sent us board members. Needless to say, it pumped us up and made us feel really good about the results we are creating in the world. We are all engaged in a big project to systematically and personally thank our donors.

Carol wrote:

‘Thank you to all the Board members for taking the time to help us say thank you.  The connections that we all have with each other is what sets this organization apart from any other I have been involved with in the past 20 years.

“Thank you to Karen and Ernestine for joining the Trailblazer Major Donor Club and thank you to Kim for providing the excellent support to all of us so we can say thank you.  And thanks to Claire for keeping us all engaged with the Fund Development part of our mission.  Onward!

“I’m leaving now to meet with another potential Trailblazer. I love asking and I thank all of you for being part of thanking.”

Carol complimented various board members for their efforts and successes.  By praising them in front of other board members (which is something all board members love), she sets the bar higher for all the other board members. She holds these folks up as examples for the rest of us.

And do note that she ended by letting us know how excited she was about raising money. She is out there making solicitations all the time. We can’t let her down!  It makes us feel like we are all in this together.

It’s a wonderful feeling! And you can bet that this board is sure FIRED-UP!

So many nonprofit board members are enthusiastic and well-meaning but too often they back out of their commitments.  Bet you have run into this problem!

And I have been on the other side too, as a board member. In the heat of an exciting discussion, I suddenly found myself making personal commitments. Then later, in my office, I thought better of those ideas and was not so very enthusiastic about them.

In nonprofit organizations, it’s hard working with volunteers, who actually don’t HAVE to do anything anyway.  You simply can’t MAKE volunteers work.  That’s why I always say that we are in the motivation business.

You have to be able to motivate and charge up your board members and volunteers if you want them to be productive.  It’s a rare nonprofit volunteer who can keep herself fully pumped up with excitement and enthusaism all the time!

Here’s my secret weapon in motivating my volunteer committees. And it’s an old standby of teamwork and leadership theory:  PEER PRESSURE.

Here’s the most important thing to know about board members: they never, repeat, never want to look bad in front of their peers.

In fact, if for some reason you should inadvertently embarrass a board member in front of the group (or if another board member does so) – it’s likely they will never forgive you.

I remember a board meeting I was attending last summer. The chair of the development committee publicly called a certain committee to task for not coming through on their fundraising event, when all the other board members had done so.

Ooooh boy. Those were fightin’ words.  We had a behind the scenes uproar later because those board members were embarassed and angry.  We are still picking up the pieces of this one!

So if peer pressure is the best way to motivate your nonprofit board members, how do you employ this?

Lots of ways:

1.  In the meeting packets for every board meeting, include a list of board members and the actions they have taken on behalf of the organization since the last meeting.

2. In your meetings, go around the table with everybody reporting in on their accomplishments. I can guarantee you that there will be a flurry of work right there at the last minute so that everyone will have something to report.  They don’t want to look bad in front of their peers!

3. Publicly praise the board members who are pulling through. Send emails out to everyone lauding accomplishments. And in meetings, hold up the high-performing board members as examples and honor them.

4. Send emails out with lists of board members and their “to-do” commitments so that everyone can see who has committed to do what.

5.  And when you have a board member who is lagging on his or her promises, just call them up and ask them if there is any way you can help them.  You’ll then have a friend as well as a board member!

What are your favorite ways to motivate your own board members?

My site has lots of ideas and strategies for catapulting your fundraising results, your board and your organization - all to new heights.  It is my honor to help you in any way I can – as a trainer, blogger, consultant and coach to nonprofit leaders.

PLEASE sign up now for my newsletter to get regular tips and strategies to help you motivate your board and raise that money your organization needs.

Also do check out my new webinar series for board members to learn about friendraising and fundraising:

End Your Board’s Frustration and Nervousness about Fundraising

Train Your Board Members in Friendmaking and Fundraising

My New Fast Track For Board Members Webinar Series Will Show Them How

If you are supporting or leading a nonprofit board, I’m sure you want to see every single person on your board excited, engaged, involved, and working hard for the cause.

I’ve designed a series of webinars for nonprofit board members – in their language, from their perspective, with humor and practicality.  And it gives them exactly what they need to know in order to be successful.

• March 11: How to be a Supremely Effective Board Member
  
• March 30: How to Become An Influential Advocate For Your Cause
• April 22: How to Start the Conversation and Open Any Door in Town: The Art of  Friendmaking for Your Cause
• May 13: Six “No Ask” Fundraising Strategies for Board Members
  
• June 3: How To Never Get Turned Down When You Ask for Funds and Support
  

The webinars will be all at 1pm eastern and will come with discussion questions to help turn your board into a fired-up, action-oriented friendmaking TEAM. Find out more here.

FREE AUDIO:  “Asking for Major Gifts: How to Never, Ever Get Turned Down”

Here’s everything you need to know about successful solicitations and the secrets to get your donors to say “yes.”  I hope you’ll take the time to listen to this hour-long session.  Download it now and learn how to secure those most important BIG GIFTS!

You can find out more about hiring me to fire up your board for fundraising, present a keynote speech or seminar, or help you as a consultant.

Do check out my calendar of events for my upcoming monthly webinars, and definitely sign up for my newsletter!

Thanks again for visiting!

Gail

PS: You can contact me personally and connect on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. I personally respond to everyone who writes.