The Board must be actively and directly involved in the targeted donor cultivation and solicitation activities.
Some Board members may not want to hear this, but all the studies show that soliciting individuals for large amounts of money simply does not work unless the Board is leading the way.
The staff is too busy to do this, and it is not appropriate for consultants to be doing this.
Effective Board members practice the three "Gs" of fundraising (Give money, Get money, or Get off the Board), and the Ministry's case should be no different.
This means that all Board members should make some monetary contribution (whatever their comfort level is) in addition to their volunteer time.
This is because many funders ask the question, "What percentage of Board members monetarily contribute to the organization?" The answer they are looking for is "100 percent.
" Board fundraising leadership is a theme that needs to be introduced and reinforced to the Board regularly.
Some Board members will be more active and adept at this than others.
Regardless, they all must play some role in the fundraising process or very simply put, the process in doomed.
The Ministry also should look at the possibility of adding new Board members who may significantly enhance its fundraising capacity.
Community and business leaders are good candidates.
Train the Board on how to cultivate and solicit funders.
Being personally asked to give by someone they knew well is the number one reasons funders cite when they are asked the question "Why did you give?" Therefore, Board members need to become skilled in how to ask for money.
This can be done through a series of Board training sessions on "how to make the ask.
" This also ties in with concept in goal area one that Board members must target interested donors with a high capacity to give if the local $100,000 fundraising benchmark is to be met.
Whenever possible, a potential donor should be approached by a Board member whom they know or have some sort of connection.
Remember, the secret to success in soliciting potential donors is to find out two things: 1) their interests; and, 2) their capacity to give (e.
g.
- how much they give and how often they give).
Develop information and resources for the Board and staff to use for fundraising.
The Ministry already has developed business and community leader fundraising form letters.
These can be used as templates, but they should always be customized whenever possible to play to the donor's interest and their capacity to give.
Additional tools that would be useful include: an easy-to-develop one page fact sheet or case statement (2-4 pages) that can be used for fundraising.
Another tool that would helpful would be an annual report.
This can be as simple as a tri-fold brochure, but it is very important for fundraising.
Funders often require submission of an annual report as part of their grant application process and it provides Board members with a user-friendly script they can use to help sell the organization to potential funders.
Develop a five year strategic plan to guide Ministry fundraising.
The Ministry exists to serve youth, not to raise money.
Therefore, a strategic plan is needed as a roadmap to guide the Ministry towards that purpose.
Once the strategic plan is developed, then the fundraising plan can be carried out in a way that enables and supports fulfillment of the strategic plan.
Remember, the strategic plan is about organizational purpose and mission.
The fundraising plan is about money.
Purpose and mission should never be overruled by money.
Therefore, a strategic plan will help keep the Ministry's fundraising in its proper place and perspective.
Create short-term budget and cash flow finance options.
This may not sound like fundraising, but alternative means of finance are an important part of the fundraising picture.
For example, one innovative way of community giving is to convince a local bank to offer the Ministry an interest free line of credit (LOC).
An LOC is relatively cost free for the bank but would bring invaluable financial flexibility to the Ministry.