GIVING BY THE BOARD: An Old Bone of Some Contention

 
The question "Should Board Members Be Required to Give?" was addressed in an excellent piece by Jan Masaoka, executive editor at Blue Avocado, on September 12, 2009 in their e-mail newsletter (http://www.blueavocado.org/content/should-board-members-be-required-give).

This issue certainly constitutes an old bone of some contention and often leads to endless debate among those involved in nonprofit governance management. And rightly so!

With the kind indulgence of Jan Masaoka, I'd like to reprise, paraphrase and expand upon my own comments on her September 2009 piece and use them as the basis for this blog posting.

In my own experience over many years in nonprofit advancement, I have come to realize that it is far more important to stress for new or current board members the expectation that they be willing, committed and enthusiastic participants in their organizations' process of advancement --- from building and educating constituencies, to cultivating and managing relationships and productive philanthropy.

The problem is that once you get to the fund-raising piece, traditional wisdom says that a board member cannot be a credible solicitor of others until he/she has made his/her own financial commitment to the organization. That always has made a lot of sense to me. It also seems to make a lot of sense to the typical prospect being solicited. It is not at all unusual for a prospect to ask about the solicitor's personal giving to the organization.

A couple of months ago, I had an inquiry about trustee giving from the chairperson of a governing board with which I worked several years ago. The organization's experience in its endowment campaign at that time revealed a need for routine education of its board on the importance of member giving, as well as a need to build board membership in such a way that is not difficult to achieve broad understanding of board-giving expectations.

Having completed its endowment campaign, this organization was now more focused on annual giving, and the chairperson was attempting to install a limited major-gifts initiative as part of annual giving. Once again, he was looking for board understanding of the need for all members to step up to the plate, this time for annual giving.

My renewed advice to this board chairperson was to strive to make this issue one that he handles in a partnership with the chief executive and advancement director. Failing that, it should be the board leader's responsibility and resolve to lead the way in board giving by first making his own commitment to the annual fund and then, having set the example, to personally solicit all fellow trustees for their annual gifts before they set out to seek support from other donors.

Solicitation of and giving by a governing board should never be a matter of bragging or shaming --- or hounding! Giving by board members also needs to include the other "gifts" that they bring to the table (i.e., time, talent), and those gifts can and should count for something. But not to the total exclusion of treasure!

In the final analysis, the giving expectations of board members will work well only in direct proportion to the quality of the manner in which they are handled by the board leadership and executive staff. To be fair about it, those expectations always should be calculated on individual capacity and ability and clearly communicated to board members before they first take their seats. To be smart about it, the individual board member's financial support should not be end of the story on his/her commitment to the organization.

I go back to my original and larger point. Individual board-member giving should be only the first step in the process of being fully involved in the organizational advancement process. All members of any governing board have an obligation to function as advocates and ambassadors for the organization --- to articulate its case and to ask for financial support of the mission. First, give yourself. Then, ask others to do the same.