Bob RaminNational Aquarium

Martha H. Schumacher, ACFREHazen Inc.

2012 Bridge ConferenceGive…Get…Gulp!Navigating Board and Staff Roles in FundraisingWednesday, August 8, 2012

1The Board’s Role in

Fundraising 2Board/Staff

Fundraising Partnership

3Fundraising Best

Practices

What We’ll Be Covering Today

The Board’s Role in Fundraising

The

Boar

d’s

Role

in F

undr

aisi

ng • Understand and publicly embrace the mission. • Serve as lead ambassadors and spokespeople

by succinctly and passionately communicating your mission. More on this later…

• Make what is for you a significant personal financial contribution. Set an example by committing to a multi-year pledge.

• Attend all Board and Committee meetings.

The

Boar

d’s

Role

in F

undr

aisi

ng

(con

t.)• Invite friends, family and colleagues to targeted

events and tours as appropriate. These individuals should be identified as having Capacity, an Affinity with your mission and a Philanthropic history (CAP).

• Attend organizational events, especially those that focus on donor and donor prospect engagement.

• Conduct donor and funder cultivation and stewardship tasks including writing thank you notes, performing community outreach, etc.

• Create a board agreement – all board members read, sign and date annually.

• What else?

Oleander the Albino Alligator

Board/Staff Fundraising Partnership

(1) Staff must set clear expectations for volunteers

(2) Volunteers must follow through on commitments

(3) Ultimate goal: trust and mutual respect for each other = best fundraising results

(4) Create a Development Committee with non-Board member volunteers

(5) Ambassador Training

What is an Ambassador?

An Ambassador is an individual whose primary mission is to spread the word about your pivotal programs and the critical needs being addressed locally, regionally, nationally and/or around the world.

What Do Ambassadors Do?

• Promote a positive image.• Project success.• Talk about your organization’s strengths and

about opportunities for other individuals to be a part of your winning team and long-term vision.

• Spend more time listening than talking to understand the donor prospect’s motivations, interests and passions.

What Don’t Ambassadors Do?

• Promote negative messages.• Project desperation or dire need. (Leave that

to direct mail!) • Talk about internal politics.• Spend more time talking than listening.

Your Organization’s Core Messages

• How is your organization addressing community/societal needs?

• What programs are meeting those needs and how?• What are your organization’s tangible results?• Summing up these bullets, what are your top three core

messages?• Now take those three messages and distill each one into

one or two succinct sentences. Hint: to create a compelling case, use passionate language and incorporate targeted storytelling.

Ambassador Practice

You are having lunch in a park and a woman sits down near you. She notices the the logo on your tote bag. The woman introduces herself as Nina Nouveau-Riche and asks about your organization. Nina has never been involved with your organization before, but is aware of it and expresses passionate feelings about your mission. She is taking a quick break between meetings, so you have a maximum of five minutes.

Your assignment: first, take no more than two to three minutes to convey your strongest “elevator speech” to Nina using your core messages. Second, promote organizational engagement opportunities. Last, ask for Nina’s contact information and reassure her that you will be following up only in that context.

Remember: this encounter is NOT about the “ask” – it’s about positively representing your organization and engaging Nina for future involvement. And make sure you do involve her further with prompt follow-up!

Practice De-brief

• What was your biggest challenge?• How did it feel to be an organizational Ambassador?• How did it feel to be Nina? Did the Ambassador

represent her/his organization effectively?• When you played Ambassador, were you able to get

Nina’s contact information? Why or why not?• What did you learn from this exercise that you can apply

to your every day work - not just with donor prospects, but also with staff, organizational partners and others?

Next Steps

• Create an Ambassador Toolkit. Ensure that the materials in your kit are compelling and effectively tell your organization’s story. Annual reports, a timeline of accomplishments, newsletters, brochures and a website promo piece are all good examples of effective materials. These materials may be used by volunteers and staff alike.

• Establish a Culture of Philanthropy. Engage your Board and staff members in becoming organizational Ambassadors. This is the first step towards establishing a culture of philanthropy.

• Inspire by Example and Education. Model good Ambassador behavior. And never miss an opportunity to teach those around you how they can be the best possible Ambassadors.

• Build Long-Term Relationships. Represent your organization well and you have just laid the groundwork for creating a long-term relationship with your donor-to-be.

National Aquarium Ambassador: Calypso

Fundraising Best Practices

CheerleaderConnectorConvenerCreativeCollaboratorCommunicatorContributor

Y

Questions?

Thank You!

What’s Your Message?

Bob Ramin, Executive Director, National Aquarium Washington DCMartha H. Schumacher, ACFRE, PresidentHazen Inc.Building Fundraising Relationships That Last202.210.9459 * hazeninc.com