How to Get Your Board Members to Actually Fundraise

Why Board Members Don't Fundraise (It's Not What You Think)

Ask any executive director to name their biggest frustration and you'll hear some version of this: "My board is great at governance but won't touch fundraising." According to BoardSource's Leading with Intent survey, only 27% of nonprofit CEOs are satisfied with their board's fundraising performance. It's the lowest-rated area of board engagement, year after year.

But here's what most EDs get wrong: they assume board members don't fundraise because they don't care. In reality, most board members avoid fundraising for three very specific, very fixable reasons:

• They don't know what "fundraising" means in practice. When you say "we need the board to help with fundraising," they hear "we need you to cold-call your friends and ask for money." That sounds terrible. Nobody signed up for that.
• Nobody set clear expectations before they joined. If fundraising wasn't explicitly discussed during recruitment, board members reasonably assume it's not part of their role.
• They're afraid of damaging relationships. The number one fear is that asking friends or colleagues for money will make things awkward. This fear is legitimate — and completely addressable with the right training.

The solution isn't to guilt your board into making asks. It's to redefine what board fundraising looks like, set expectations early, give them specific tasks they can actually do, and make it feel like partnership instead of punishment.

Start With a Give-or-Get Policy (But Do It Right)

A give-or-get policy means every board member is expected to either personally donate a certain amount or raise that amount from others (or some combination of both). Most established nonprofits have one. Most small nonprofits don't — and it shows.

But here's where organizations go wrong: they set the number arbitrarily, announce it at a board meeting, and hope for the best. That doesn't work.

How to implement give-or-get effectively

Set the amount based on your board's actual capacity. A $5,000 give-or-get makes sense for a board of business executives. It's absurd for a board of community volunteers at a grassroots organization. The number should be meaningful but achievable for the majority of your board. For small nonprofits, $500–$1,000 per year per board member is a common starting point.

Discuss it during recruitment, not after. Every prospective board member should hear this before they say yes: "Every board member contributes or raises [amount] per year. It's part of the role. Is that something you're comfortable with?" If they say no, that's fine — they're not the right fit for the board, and it's better to know now.

Make "get" genuinely easy. The "get" side of give-or-get shouldn't mean "go sell tables at the gala." It should include tangible, low-barrier activities: hosting a house party, sharing a fundraising email with a personal note, introducing the ED to a prospective donor, or sponsoring a peer-to-peer page. More on these below.

Track it transparently. Share a simple dashboard (names anonymized or not, depending on your board culture) that shows where each member stands against their goal. Social accountability works. Nobody wants to be the only person at zero in October.

The Fundraising Menu: Give Them Choices, Not Orders

The single most effective technique for getting board members to fundraise is what consultants call a "fundraising menu" — a list of specific activities at varying comfort levels that board members can choose from.

This works because it replaces the vague, terrifying mandate of "go fundraise" with concrete, manageable tasks. It also respects that different people have different strengths. Some board members are natural connectors. Others are better at writing. Some are comfortable asking for money face-to-face. Others would rather eat glass.

Sample fundraising menu

At the beginning of each fiscal year (or at a dedicated board retreat), have each board member choose 3–5 activities from the menu. Write them down. Check in quarterly. This transforms fundraising from an abstract obligation into a personal action plan.

The House Party: Your Board's Secret Weapon

If there's one fundraising activity that works for almost every board member — including the ones who say they hate fundraising — it's the house party. It goes by many names: friendraiser, cultivation event, parlor meeting. The format is simple:

1. A board member invites 8–15 friends, neighbors, or colleagues to their home (or a restaurant, or their office after hours)
2. Light food and drinks — nothing fancy, nothing expensive
3. The ED or a program leader gives a brief (10-minute max) presentation about the organization's work
4. A beneficiary or volunteer shares a short personal story (3–5 minutes)
5. The board member makes a brief personal statement about why they're involved
6. A soft ask: "If you'd like to support this work, we'd love your help. Here's how to give."

That's it. Total event time: 60–90 minutes. Cost: a few hundred dollars for food and wine.

Why house parties work so well

• The board member isn't making the ask. They're hosting. The ED or development director handles the actual solicitation. The board member's role is to open their home and their network — which is exactly the kind of contribution they're uniquely positioned to make.
• Social proof is built in. The guests know the host. The host is clearly invested. That implicit endorsement is more persuasive than any brochure.
• It's intimate and personal. A living room conversation is more compelling than a gala ballroom. People ask questions. They connect emotionally. They give.
• The math is outstanding. If 12 people attend and half give $100, that's $600 from one evening — plus you've introduced 12 new people to your organization who may give again, volunteer, or host their own event.

A board of 10 members, each hosting one house party per year, can generate $5,000–$15,000 in direct donations plus a pipeline of 100+ new prospects. That's transformative for a small nonprofit.

Thank-a-Thons: The Easiest Entry Point

If your board is truly resistant to fundraising, start here. A thank-a-thon is the most non-threatening fundraising activity that exists, and the data on its impact is staggering.

The format: gather board members for 60–90 minutes. Give each person a list of 8–10 recent donors and a phone script. The script is three sentences:

"Hi, this is [name] from [organization]. I'm a board member, and I'm calling to say thank you for your recent gift of [amount]. It means a lot to our team and the people we serve."

That's it. No ask. No pitch. Just gratitude.

Research by Penelope Burk found that donors who received a thank-you call from a board member within 48 hours of their gift were 39% more likely to give again the following year. A single phone call. No ask involved.

How to run a thank-a-thon

• Schedule it quarterly (or monthly if your volume supports it)
• Provide printed call sheets with donor name, gift amount, and the program it supported
• Give board members a simple script but encourage them to personalize it
• Make it social — do it together at a board member's office or over pizza at the nonprofit's space
• Track completion: how many calls made, how many reached, any notable conversations

Thank-a-thons are the gateway drug to board fundraising. Once a board member calls 10 donors and has a positive experience — which they almost always do, because people love being thanked — the fear of "fundraising" starts to dissolve.

Training: The Missing Piece

You wouldn't ask a volunteer to run your food pantry without training them. But most nonprofits ask board members to fundraise without any training at all — and then wonder why they don't do it.

What board fundraising training should cover

Reframe what fundraising is. Fundraising is not begging. It's inviting people to be part of something meaningful. It's giving someone the opportunity to make a difference in a way that aligns with their values. When you ask someone to donate, you're not taking from them — you're offering them something: the chance to be part of a solution.

This reframe sounds simple but it's genuinely transformative for people who associate fundraising with discomfort. Spend real time on it.

Practice the elevator pitch. Every board member should be able to answer "What does your nonprofit do?" in 30 seconds or less, in plain language, with a concrete example. If they can't do this fluently, nothing else matters.

Run a drill: pair up board members and have them practice the pitch on each other. Time it. Give feedback. Do it again. This is a skill, not a talent — it improves with practice.

Role-play the ask. For board members who are willing to make direct asks, practice the conversation. Have someone play the prospective donor. Practice handling "let me think about it," "not right now," and "how much are you looking for?" in low-stakes pairs before anyone does it for real.

Teach them to share, not sell. The most effective board fundraisers don't "pitch" — they share why the organization matters to them personally. "I got involved because my daughter went through their program, and it changed our family's life" is infinitely more persuasive than any talking points document.

What the ED and Staff Owe the Board

Board fundraising is a two-way street. If you want board members to step up, the staff needs to make it as easy as possible. Here's what that looks like:

Give them the tools

• Talking points: A one-page document with your current impact numbers, one story, and answers to the three most common questions donors ask
• Shareable content: Pre-written emails and social posts that board members can copy and personalize. Don't make them write from scratch — most won't.
• Event support: If a board member agrees to host a house party, the staff should handle invitations, RSVPs, presentation materials, and follow-up. The board member's only job is to invite their friends and show up.
• Donor research: When a board member identifies a prospect, staff should research the prospect's giving history, interests, and capacity before the meeting — not leave the board member to wing it.

Remove friction

• Make it easy to give online by providing a direct link to your donation page that board members can share
• Provide pre-formatted email templates they can forward with one click
• Create a simple peer-to-peer page they can set up in under 5 minutes
• Handle all follow-up — the board member makes the connection, staff does the rest

Close the loop

When a board member makes an introduction, hosts an event, or shares a campaign — tell them what happened. "The donor you introduced us to last month just gave $1,000" is the most powerful motivator you have. If board members feel like their efforts lead to nothing, they stop trying. If they see results, they do more.

Recruiting Fundraising-Ready Board Members

The long-term fix for a non-fundraising board is better recruitment. Here's how to build fundraising capacity into your board over time:

During recruitment, be explicit

Before a candidate says yes, they should know:

• The give-or-get expectation (specific dollar amount)
• The expected time commitment for fundraising activities (separate from meetings)
• That fundraising is considered a core board responsibility, not optional

Show them the fundraising menu. Ask which activities interest them. If they blanch at everything on the list, they're not the right fit — no matter how impressive their resume.

Look for connectors, not just experts

The best fundraising board members aren't necessarily wealthy. They're well-connected, enthusiastic about the mission, and willing to open doors. A public school teacher who coaches Little League and knows every parent in the neighborhood can be a more effective fundraiser than a CFO who keeps to themselves.

Diversify for network reach

If every board member runs in the same circles, you're asking the same 200 people for money through 10 different channels. Recruit board members from different industries, neighborhoods, faith communities, and social circles to expand the total universe of prospective donors your board can reach.

The Board Fundraising Calendar

Don't leave board fundraising to chance. Build it into your annual calendar:

Measuring Success (and Celebrating It)

Track board fundraising the same way you track any other organizational metric. Report on it at every board meeting — briefly, without shaming anyone, but with transparency.

Metrics to track

• 100% board giving: This is the gold standard. Every foundation and major donor will ask "does your board give?" and you need the answer to be yes. The amount doesn't matter as much as the participation rate.
• Total board-driven revenue: Direct gifts + gifts from board-introduced donors + event revenue from board-hosted events
• Number of new prospects identified: Board members' networks are the organization's largest untapped pipeline
• Activities completed per member: Track against the menu items they committed to at the start of the year

Celebrate publicly

When a board member hosts a successful house party, makes a great introduction, or reaches their give-or-get goal — celebrate it at the next board meeting. Public recognition reinforces the behavior and creates positive peer pressure for other members.

Some organizations give a small annual award to the board member who contributed the most to fundraising. It doesn't need to be fancy — a framed certificate and genuine acknowledgment from the ED goes a long way.

When a Board Member Still Won't Fundraise

After all of this — clear expectations, training, tools, support, menu options, and a full year of encouragement — some board members still won't participate in fundraising at all. Not a personal gift. Not a shared email. Not a single thank-you call.

This is a governance issue, not a fundraising issue. A board member who refuses to engage in a core board responsibility is not fulfilling their role. The board chair (not the ED) should have a direct, private conversation:

"We really value your expertise on the board. Fundraising is a core part of what we ask every member to do, and we haven't seen engagement in that area this year. Is there something we can do to help? Or is this role no longer the right fit?"

Most of the time, this conversation either unlocks participation (they were waiting to be asked directly) or leads to a graceful exit (they realize they can't commit). Either outcome is better than another year of silent non-participation.

The Bottom Line

Board fundraising isn't about turning your directors into development staff. It's about leveraging the one thing every board member has that staff can't replicate: personal relationships and community trust.

When a friend invites you to support a cause they care about, you listen differently than when an organization sends you a brochure. That personal connection is the board's superpower — and your job is to make it easy, comfortable, and rewarding for them to use it.

Set clear expectations before people join. Give them a menu of options at every comfort level. Train them. Support them. Thank them. And build fundraising into the rhythm of your board's year, not just the last two months of it.

Start with a thank-a-thon. It takes 90 minutes, it costs nothing, and it will change how your board thinks about fundraising forever.