Joan Didn’t Like To Fundraise,
But Was A Great Board Member

By Gary Rick, Vice President
Mid-Atlantic Region

Joan loved our organization. She was passionate for what we did in the community. When I recruited her to the board, she was clear: “I will do anything, but…I will not fundraise!”

Sound familiar? So many board members committed to service simply refuse to fundraise. They maintain, “I am not good at fundraising.”

When Joan joined our board, I respected her boundaries regarding fundraising and instead asked her to share our story. She became the champion of our case for support; she connected her friends, her friends’ friends, and hundreds of acquaintances with our mission. She cultivated support and helped us develop relationships with people whom we otherwise never would have touched. In truth, Joan was a good fundraiser fulfilling a basic criterion for success by fervently sharing our case. Like other organizations, we tried to get our message out via direct mail, brochures, website, newspaper articles, and special events. But marketing efforts cannot replace the value and impact of the personal touch that Joan had in telling others about her love for our organization. Her efforts led to increasing our donor base because: 

• Donations result from relationship building inside and outside the organization; and
• We acquired a new base of donors willing to share their time, talent and treasure simply because Joan’s stories illustrated how we met our mission in the community.

One day I asked Joan how many people she talked to each week. Her reply: “About 15.”  At that rate, Joan shared our mission with nearly 780 people within a year. I began to wonder what our donor acquisition program would look like if all 15 of our board members shared our story with 15 community members each week. The answer: we could touch 11,700 people per year, each in a very personal way. It seems to me that board presidents could implement the “Joan Cultivation Program” by identifying:

• How current donors first found out about the organization; and
• Learning who introduced them to becoming involved.

What separated Joan from many of my board members was that she took the time to learn and embrace the story of the impact of the organization’s work on individuals. As a result, she was able to tell it to others in a passionate and even entertaining manner. Joan never had to deal with her fear of making the fundraising ask because she was not directly asking for anything except the listener’s attention. She was so moved by a couple of the stories that she could not wait to tell others. She would say, “You know, I volunteer at XYZ Organization and I want to tell you about the neatest thing that happened there. I just need to tell someone about it.” 

• Emotion and stories of impact drive support, not brochures or the words of a mission statement
• Your “brand” is in the customer’s mind. What counts is not what the organization says about itself, but what others say about it
• Are your board members excited about what your organization does and can they articulate it?
• Are YOU excited about what your organization does?

To learn more about the work of the organization, Joan volunteered to get involved in the interviews of those who benefitted from the organization’s efforts. She saw firsthand how lives were improved. She witnessed how much these people appreciated the service. This gave even more meaning to what she was doing. You can help your board members tell success stories by:

• Gathering testimonial letters;
• Collecting stories year-round; and
• Interviewing beneficiaries of your programs.

Each month at the board meeting, Joan would report her efforts. At first, the board thought she was wasting time, but they soon realized the impact of her storytelling as some of those she talked to became donors and volunteers with the organization.

Joan may not have made large monetary contributions to our organization, but her outreach was priceless. And, Joan discovered that the repetition of telling the story to others made her believe even more in the impact of the organization. This made it easier for her let go of the “I don’t fundraise” feeling. Now she is one of the top fundraisers. She proudly asks others to join her in donating to support our mission.