Engaging Your Board in Fundraising Without the Struggle
July 8 @ 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Virtual Workshop – Live/Online
Fee: $50 for MCN members / $70 for nonmembers
Engaging boards in fundraising is one of the most frustrating challenges for nonprofit leaders. We want them to help, but not too much, and in just the right way.
In order to ease the tension with our boards when it comes to fundraising, we must:
- Use a gift table to determine what we need from board members. The number of donor introductions is determined by the number of prospects we need. A gift table helps us figure that out.
- Determine their role in fundraising by looking at the board’s governance structure. Working boards provide a different level of support than governance boards. We align our expectations with the governance structure.
- Map board engagement opportunities to the specific fundraising strategies you’re prioritizing—whether that’s major gifts, events, grants, annual giving, or corporate sponsorship.
You’ll leave with a concrete next step to deepen board engagement in fundraising—one that fits your board’s structure, your current priorities, and your organization’s fundraising plan.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Clarify the role of their board in fundraising based on whether they operate as a working board or governance board.
- Identify the most effective ways their board can contribute to different fundraising strategies (e.g., major gifts, events, corporate sponsors, grants).
- Use a gift table to determine specific fundraising needs, including the number of prospects and asks needed to reach a goal.
- Facilitate a board storytelling activity that equips your board members to engage others in a conversation about their “why” for supporting your organization.
- Leave with one actionable next step to engage their board more meaningfully in the fundraising process.
Event Details
This virtual event will take place on the Zoom platform.
Your access link will be emailed to you the day before the event after 12 p.m.
This session will be recorded. The recording will be made available to registrants after the live event.
Captioning is provided automatically through Zoom. For information on requesting CART, ASL, or another accommodation, please visit our Registration Policies page.
To learn more about events, registration, and payment, visit our Event & Registration FAQ page.
Speaker Information
Hillary Frances has over twenty years experience working with nonprofit leaders. She is the Founder and CEO of Flying Whale Strategies, a boutique consulting firm working to launch a new wave of nonprofit leaders who design definitive solutions to age-old problems. She has supported over 125 national organizations and nearly 300 leaders as they clarified their fundraising strategy and operationalized their day-to-day practice.
She has worked for state government through the Colorado Refugee Services Program, and higher education as the Dean of Adult Education and the Language Learning Center at Emily Griffith Technical College where she was responsible for employment-focused education programs for over 2000 refugee and immigrant students per year. She is the co-founder of Prodigy Ventures, a non-profit social enterprise apprenticeship for young adults in Northeast Denver. She teaches as an Affiliate Faculty member of research methods at Metro State University. These roles have built her reputation as a thoughtful and lean program designer and program evaluator.
Hillary holds a Master’s degree in International and Intercultural Communication from the University of Denver.
