10 Shocking Reasons Why Your Board Members Aren’t Giving Bigger Gifts

That’s right, you’ll be shocked to hear why you’re not getting larger donations for your cause.

There’s a great board exercise in the book Train Your Board and Everyone Else to Raise Money by Andrea Kihlstedt and Andy Robinson called How High Will You Go? The exercise gets board members to think about their own giving, as well as the reasons other people give.

I’ve used this exercise at several board retreats — the answers as to why people give more are shockingly consistent. They’re also shockingly underused by development directors, executive directors, and board members to help their organizations raise more money.

Top 10 Reasons Board Members Would Give Bigger Gifts

You’ll have a “duh” moment when you hear some of the reasons board members would give more, but I’d like you to note each one carefully. Then develop a strategy to take advantage of the ones that make the most sense at your organization.

Here are the top 10 reasons board members say would motivate them to give more. After I reveal each reason, ask yourself how well your organization is doing on that point.

10. If I win the lottery.

While this is a reason many people give, it doesn’t exactly work for the board exercise. Board members are specifically instructed to use their current resources to make their gifts. Still, I wanted to include it for the sake of completeness.

So if you hear through the grapevine that one of your board members recently came into some money through a windfall, it would be a great time to chat them up.

9. If I get a big bonus at work.

This is much more likely than winning the lottery. This one is all about timing. You’ll want to give board members an opportunity to give generously when they receive their bonuses. So your strategy must include knowing the right time of year to ask.

8. If my spouse was involved.

This one is interesting. How often do you try to engage your board member’s significant other?

Next time you meet with your board member or invite them to an event, be sure to include their spouse on the invitation. The added bonus here is having two people invested in your organization’s success.

7. If it would help more people.

Whenever you’re expanding programs and services, it’s a great time to share your needs with your board. If this is their motivation, leverage it whenever possible.

6. If it was a new project.

Okay — some people just want to give to something new. Fair enough. Your job is to find new ways to approach the same old financial needs of your organization.

Sometimes feeding children is feeding children. But maybe you’re adding a nutrition component to your program and you haven’t talked to your board about it yet.

But don’t let the tail wag the dog, so to speak. In other words, don’t let a donor’s desire for funding something new force you into a programmatic area you’re not yet ready to go. So if you’re not doing anything new, it’s best to ignore this one.

5. If I felt connected to the mission.

Yikes! Board members aren’t connected to your mission? Sad, but often this is true.

Strategize as a group … what can be done to make your board members feel more connected to your mission?

4. If I knew more about the project.

Ugh! If your own board members don’t know about the project, you need to do a better job communicating. This may also be an opportunity for board or spouse involvement.

3. If there was a matching gift opportunity.

So true. Many people are motivated by the idea of their money leveraging more.

So how can you get someone to offer up a matching gift opportunity?

2. If there was an urgent need.

Again, it’s important to be able to communicate the urgency. Recently I did a video on the difference between urgency and desperation — be careful not to confuse the two.

How can you convey urgency, especially if the need doesn’t seem urgent?

An example I love is fundraising at Harvard. They have an endowment of millions and billions… amounts too big to comprehend. So, how do they continue to raise tons of money each year? The successfully communicate an urgent need to say the BEST university worldwide. Does Harvard really need more fundraising dollars? Maybe yes, maybe no. However, they are able to communicate an urgent need, and you can too.

And the number one response from board members … drumroll, please…

1. If I was asked.

This one seems obvious, but it continues to come up over and over.

Have you asked your board members, individually, and in person (not as a group) to stretch their giving?

What about your biggest and most loyal donors?

This is consistently the number one reason why someone says they would give more, so get out there and ask!

Leveraging Your Board & Raising Major Gifts

There you have it … 10 reasons board members would give more to support your cause. So, take two or three and develop strategies to communicate better, ask for more, and raise more money!

Now, let me ask you, what is it worth for you to become a master at raising major gifts?

You can become a master using my 7-week online course, Mastering Major Gifts. You’ll get strategies, worksheets, ideas, and techniques that would take you years to learn, if at all, on your own. And an entire module involves how to best leverage your board. Learn more here »

The videos on my blog give you a small glimpse of what’s available in the course. Make a smart investment now in both your nonprofit and yourself to become a master fundraiser. Successfully raising major gifts could be the key to helping your organization do so much more. Join today!