The Corpses on Your Nonprofit Board of Directors Aren't Out Fundraising

As a grant writer, I see many nonprofit organizations with wonderful programs that can't quite get off the ground due to insufficient funding.

That's why they've called me. The overworked executive directors and dedicated volunteers have dreams powerful enough to change the world. But nobody knows about them and the accountants are worrying about the solvency of the organization already. 

When I ask what the organization's board of directors is doing about the fundraising problem, the answer is usually "nothing." 

Sometimes the executive director tells me his board of directors is "concerned" about the lack of money. Quite often, they've asked the director to "do something about it" or to hire a "wordsmith to talk others into doing something about it." Some boards have even read handouts and books about fundraising techniques and the primary duties and responsibilities of a board without realizing that such information applies to them.

Truth be told, no amount of wordsmithing is going to save a nonprofit organization with a dead board of directors. 

The buck starts and stops with them, but they don't know it. Quite likely, the individuals sitting on the board of directors don't know why they're there. For honor, perhaps, or because they know somebody who conned them into filling a vacant seat. 

Some directors think the board is a social club whose members are the first to hear about new programs. Other directors simply like serving because it adds to their resumes and makes them look like pillars in the community. Social service organizations, museums and other non-profit groups have been known to founder, or at least fall far short of their mission statements, while the board drank tea and enjoyed being supposed movers and shakers.

Bottom line, fundraising is always the number one priority of any nonprofit board of directors. Legally, it's their duty. Pragmatically, it stands at the top of every director's to do list. 

When it comes to money, the old adage is true: Each board member must be able to give money, get money from others, or get off the board. It's that simple.