board champions

Board Championsby David Allen

Presented to the

Texas Land Trust Council26 February2014

David AllenDevelopment for

Conservation• 30 years raising money by asking

– 13 with TNC Chapters in OR, TX, and WI– 10 with Sand County Foundation

• Membership Systems to $18MM Capital Campaign

• FT Consulting since March 2009

AGENDA• Introductions• Theoretical• Structural• Operational• Your Plans and Next Steps

But That’s Not All• Organizational Pairings

– TLC – Guadalupe Blanco– Connemara – Pines and Prairies– Valley Land Fund – Hill Country Land Trust

• Three conference calls with each group• One conference call with everyone TBD in

September

INTRODUCTIONS

Seven Ideas• Conduct a Campaign for Your Board• Screen your Membership• Institutionalize Short Practice Activities• Use Events to Meet and Cultivate Donors• Keep Good Records• Talk Openly About Fear (but don’t let it stop

you)• Roleplay Asking (and Getting Appts, and

Meeting People You Don’t Know, and so on)

FREE Executive Summary

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Giving USA 2013 at

www.givingusareports.org

Definitions:• Annual expectation (renewal)

• General organizational appeal (operations)

• Mail or phone solicitation

• Quick response

• Small(er) gift size

• Measure of success = YES

Annual Gifts

Definitions:• Specific need

• Unique appeal

• Personal ask

• Multiple visits

• Large(r) gift size

• Measure of success = ADVANCE

Major Gifts

Ultimate (Planned) Gifts• Bequest gifts – gifts left in the will

• Long-term relationship with organization

• Organization is one of donor’s only charities

• Desire to leave a legacy

• Perhaps self-conscious about ability to give during lifetime

SustainabilityRobust, resilient, sustainable organizations work with their donors on annual gift, major gift, and planned gift programs, all three, at the same time with systematic board member engagement and adequate staff support.

Why do People Give?1. What’s being done is worth doing

• Belief in the Mission

2. The organization involved can get it done• Fiscal stability • Regard for staff leadership• Respect for the organization locally• Regard for volunteer leadership

Job Responsibilities of a Board Director

• Governance

• Management

• Fundraising

• Celebration

Fundraising is about building relationships

“Access” means that if I call you and leave a message or email you, you will call me or email

me back.

Getting StartedAccess?

Regular, Systematic Cultivation

Ready to Start “The

Conversation”Ready to be

Asked

Major Gift Potential• • • • •

• • • • •

• • • • •

• • • • •

Getting Started• What’s the next cultivation step?

• Who’s going to do it?

• By when?

LEGACY

ExerciseConsider your last day on the job.

Looking back on your tenure with the organization, what would you

like to say that you accomplished?

List at most three things.

Five Basic Principles• Prospects selected based on giving capacity

• Three-year cultivation plans

• Facetime is KING

• Redundancy

• Relationship is recorded in the files

Five Types of Easy Cultivation• Annual Renewal Solicitation and Acknowledgement

• Introductions to other org leaders

• Invitations to YOUR events

• “Chance” meetings at their events

• Share news and stories

BARRIERS

Cultural ChangeLeading Change:

Why Transformation Efforts Fail

John P. Kotter

Harvard Business ReviewReprint # 95204

Tools for SuccessStrategic Plan

• Create Urgency• Why are we doing this?• Frank discussion can lead to consensus• Vision trumps planning – Talk about the

vision ALL the time

Tools for SuccessChange Champions

• Leadership is Critical• Critical Mass is…….critical• Three-year rule

Tools for SuccessNew Systems

• Expectations• Activities• Accountability

Tools for SuccessPractice

• Lead by Example

Tools for SuccessAccountability

• Create short-term wins

Structural Changes• Recruit new Board Members from your

existing donors

• Consider skills and background, gender balance, diversity, access – but work from a list that is three-five years long

• Consider marrying the board recruitment with the Development Committee

Rethink the Orientation

Re-Think• Re-Think in terms of showing new board

members what you want them to know.

• Re-Think in terms of practice.

• Re-Think in terms of the story they will tell others.

Checklist Items• Sit in on one meeting of each board

committee, • Serve for a year on the Finance Committee,• Visit a project site, • Develop and practice an “elevator speech,”• Call a donor to say thank you,• Get to know a set of donor prospects,• Attend an organizational event.

Checklist Items – Chair• Serve on each committee for at least one

year

• Serve as Vice-Chair for at least one year

• Demonstrated leadership in donor relations

LUNCH

DC DC

Dir DirDirDir

Donor

s

So What?• TALK about DONORS at meetings

– Figure out ways to MEET them. – Review their files. – Plug them into organizational events. – Introduce them to organizational leaders.

• Let the organization of events happen outside DC meetings.

So What?• Leave meetings with each person having

something tangible to do with a deadline. • The list of “somethings” is all the minutes

you need.• DC Members report in next meeting, not

only on their tasks and donors, but also on their “partners’” tasks and donors.

• Always ask “What’s the next step?”

ALSO• Create space at DC meetings and at Board

meetings to tell stories. • Roleplay when people have trouble.

– Re-inact phone calls using chairs back to back.

– Don’t expect to have all the answers. Seek group support, ideas, and afterthoughts.

• Keep good notes, and keep good files.

ELEVATOR SPEECH

Exercise

I support my organization financially because……

Seven Ideas• Conduct a Campaign for Your Board• Screen your Membership• Institutionalize Short Practice Activities• Use Events to Meet and Cultivate Donors• Keep Good Records• Talk Openly About Fear• Roleplay Asking (and Getting Appts, and

Meeting People You Don’t Know, and so on)

Board CampaignBoard• Chair, FR Chair, ED set Board goal

• Chair sets the tone, makes his/her gift first

• Chair solicits other Board members

• First Quarter Activity

• Pledges OK

Screening• List of all current donors

• Circle each one you know & have access to

• Star each one who is capable of making a $10,000 giving decision

Practice• Thank You Calls

• Elevator Exercise

• Roleplays

Events• Pre-event Briefing

• Post-event Debriefing

• Creating Next Steps

Donor Files• You need them

• Include essential contact info

• Copies of everything that comes from THEM – including email and checks

• Strategy and cultivation planning

FEAR

ExerciseImagine asking someone for $1,000.

Where is your fear?

What do you think will happen?

What will the person think of you?

What will you think of yourself?

Asking• Preliminaries

• Introductions

• Establish Common Ground

• Make the case for the gift; go from big picture to specific project; haul out maps and the photo book; focus/concentrate on the prospect NOT on what you want to say next

Asking• Describe the envisioned role for the prospect;

haul out fundraising plan

• ASK; "Would you consider a proposal for $10,000 to help ______?"

• Pause

• Close

Three Points About ClosingClosing means that you know:• What’s supposed to happen next,• Who’s supposed to do it, and • By when.

Closing means that you have agreed with the prospect on the above, and that you have communicated the detail to the office.

Closing means that you know what you are going to do if it doesn’t happen.

Asking• Preliminaries• Introductions• Establish Common Ground• Make the case• Envisioned role for the prospect• ASK• Pause• Close

ROLEPLAY

Metrics

CONCLUSIONS

ServicesAssessment, Planning, Training, Coaching

You can raise more money for your organization – I can help.

fundraisinghelp@sbcglobal.net 608/239-5006