As the name suggests, fundraising boards play an integral role in raising capital for an organization.
Successful board engagement in raising funds starts with understanding board responsibilities so directors can actively participate and ensure the organization has sufficient resources to advance its mission.
Want to discover more about fundraising boards? Read on to learn a fundraising board’s roles and responsibilities.
What is a Fundraising Board?
Fundraising boards focus on raising funds to ensure the organization is financially stable and able to fulfill its missions. Traditionally, a fundraising board oversees the financial development of a nonprofit or corporation. Members brainstorm viable ideas and establish a fundraising strategy. This could mean identifying potential donors and building an engagement plan in a nonprofit.
A fundraising board collaborates with key stakeholders to foster success. It also provides oversight and represents the organization across all fundraising efforts.
Fundraising Board Roles and Responsibilities
Your fundraising board is responsible for the following key duties:
Set Clear Expectations for Fundraising Campaigns
A fundraising board must set clear expectations for board members to contribute to fundraising goals. With apparent expectations, each director can serve the board to the best of their ability. Performance standards should also be distinct, so when the board faces challenges along the way, it’s easy to identify ways to improve.
Create a Fundraising Plan
The board prepares a fundraising plan foundational to how campaigns will be executed. The plan outlines how the board is prepared to fundraise throughout a specified period and shows the financial goals the organization wants to achieve.
Building and implementing a fundraising plan helps the board work toward predetermined goals. The board can also choose specific aspects to focus on while maintaining accountability throughout the process.
Make Personal Donations
This applies to nonprofit fundraising boards. Personal donation from all board members sets a good example. It shows volunteers, staff, and other donors that the board is dedicated to the organization’s mission and fundraising cause. Keep in mind personal contributions can be obtained through personal fundraisers.
Be Fundraising Ambassadors for the Organization
Mission-driven organizations rely on board directors to tap into their personal connections for donors and corporate sponsorships. Each member of a fundraising board acts as an advocate for the cause. This could be through sharing the organization’s significant impact with friends and on social media. As a result, the organization expands its donor network and builds new, lifelong relationships that may boost fundraising efforts in the long run.
Support Fundraising Efforts
Supporting fundraising is one of the most prominent roles, considering most nonprofit directors are volunteers. The support may be in the form of commitment to attending fundraising meetings, making thank-you calls to donors, and attending fundraising events to meet potential donors.
Efficiently track and document board decisions with our Meeting Minutes Template
Fundraising Board Software
Fundraising boards enable the organization to raise the necessary capital to achieve goals and objectives. However, some boards don’t have a solid approach to fundraising. This is often due to board directors not discussing fundraising extensively and effectively during board meetings.
Board management software is purpose-built for any board to hold engaging and more effective meetings. Board processes are complex, high-stakes, demanding, and cyclical. Board portals like OnBoard support best practices within and across each cycle of board activity.
For example, our software eliminates manual, recurrent tasks like building an agenda and emailing meeting reminders to board members. This simplifies processes so boards can work smarter, move faster, and achieve more for their organizations.
And the best part?
Fundraising board members can collaborate seamlessly on OnBoard because it’s designed with team effort in mind. Our board portal removes friction so directors can do their best work together. It addresses administrators, executives, and board members’ unique needs, from meeting preparation to planning and board follow-up.
Here are the top features of our board portal that make it a worthy investment for fundraising boards:
- Reliable virtual meeting tools: OnBoard integrates with Zoom so boards can meet face-to-face on the platform: no switching between apps and no learning curves. Board members can attend meetings from anywhere at any time—no more geographical barriers.
- Heavily encrypted document storage platform: We built OnBoard with top-notch security in mind. Our industry-leading encryption method ensures board materials stay secure. Store, organize, and distribute board documents without worrying about data breaches and unauthorized access to board materials. Our platform hardens security around all board records.
- Advanced board member collaboration: Focusing on the way forward requires real-time decisions and sustained board collaboration. OnBoard simplifies board communication so every decision is based on well-organized data.
- Intuitive technology: The best board portal should be easy to use. We designed OnBoard for directors of any skill level so board members quickly find value and immediately take action. It’s a single source of truth for every director to access board communications.
- Engagement analytics: Know when board materials are read and where annotations are made. These analytics help you hold more intelligent meetings by revealing topics receiving more attention and requiring extended discussions.
Administrators can easily share updates with targeted announcements and create shareable annotations—on the same platform. On the other hand, board members can start individual or group conversations through a secure messenger and meet virtually.
Board meetings should be informed, uncomplicated, and effective. That’s why we designed OnBoard as the most effective, simple, and secure platform to run board meetings.
Our board portal improves decision-making, reveals vital insights, and takes governance to the next level. Replace text messages, emails, and other communication channels with a heavily encrypted, unified system of records. Board leaders can easily collaborate while ensuring records are safe and compliant.
Don’t take our word for it.
Request a FREE trial to see how OnBoard is a game-changer.
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About The Author
- Josh Palmer serves as OnBoard's Head of Content. An experienced content creator, his previous roles have spanned numerous industries including B2C and B2B home improvement, healthcare, and software-as-a-service (SaaS). An Indianapolis native and graduate of Indiana University, Palmer currently resides in Fishers, Ind.
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