Q: Having been Executive Director of this organization for nearly a decade, I have yet to be successful in having 100% of our board contributing to the organization. Many of our the members are educators, and they feel their time is enough. Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Edward in Massachusetts

A: My first response, Edward, is to give up. Seriously, have you ever noticed how board members, much like ourselves, will do whatever they darn well feel like? In the end, there is really nothing we can do to make them give.

Having said that, and understanding where you are coming from, I recommend the overall approach of treating each of your board members, regardless of what you know for certain to be their current giving potential, as if they will eventually become one of your largest donors. In other words, treat each of them the way you would treat all those other potential big donors on your dream list. Let them lead the pace of the dance. Then keep in step with them. In the long run, they will remember you for having taken this approach.

Now, knowing that it truly does send a message to the community and to your major funders in particular, to know that 100% of your board gives, here's what I suggest:

Let each board member know, during the courting process before they agree to serve on the board, that your organization strives to achieve 100% board giving. Let them know there is no minimum gift that is recommended. That way, when the time of year comes to ask your board to give, they won't be completely surprised.

In other words, I do not recommend having a minimum giving level for board members. In today's world, people's giving capacities vary greatly. If you are striving to achieve more diversity of all kinds on your board, let people determine their own comfort levels.

I recommend that you have the most enthusiastic fundraising person on your board make the presentation at that board meeting. She says something like this: "As you know, when we each came on the board, we agreed to the 100% board giving policy. This is the time of year when we kick off our annual giving campaign. I'd like to ask each of you to think about how much you would like to give and, in the next couple of weeks, I'll give you a call. We have given each of you a pledge card today just to remind you of the suggested giving levels we have in our Multiple-Year Giving Society. If you would prefer to complete the card today and turn it in, that would be fine."

In other words, you treat each board member as an individual. Use this as an opportunity to visit with them one-on-one, either by phone or in person. During those individual visits, your asker may want to suggest a particular gift level, but don't push it. Remember, what you are after here is 100% board giving. You can always go back and meet with your major donors one-on-one to ask for a larger gift for your Major Gifts Campaign.

The last thing you want is for your board members to be left with that icky feeling of having been pressured to give more than they wanted to give.

Good luck,

Terry