I have become a big fan of webinars for professional development, and I attended several in 2024. I gleaned good information from each of them, and am appreciative to all who hosted, but I found the follow-up resource I received from one of Gravyty’s webinars especially helpful. It’s called the 2025 Donor Pipeline Workbook, and with Gravyty’s permission, I’m sharing the resource here: Gravyty’s 2025 Donor Pipeline Workbook
At Project Partners, I have the privilege of serving an exceptional nonprofit board of directors—the HEB ISD Education Foundation—as their consultant and project manager. While I have collaborated with numerous nonprofit boards across the nation, this group of leaders truly stands out as one of the best in the country! Every day, I am inspired by the dedication, leadership, and passion that these volunteer leaders bring to the table. Their unwavering commitment to the mission, along with their readiness to contribute time, treasure, and talent, profoundly impacts the success of this organization, which supports HEB ISD’s commitment to excellence in education. Working alongside them has been an incredible learning experience, and today, I want to share some insights on what it means to be an effective board member.
In three recent conversations with executive director clients, the topic of re-establishing relationships was discussed. Our community is experiencing a shift in those taking leadership roles within our philanthropic landscape, plus the way people work, meet, and communicate has changed in recent years. So, the need to go back to the basics of researching, identifying, cultivating, and soliciting donors, collaborators, and board member prospects is top of mind to many nonprofit executives.
Because of that, I reached into our files to retrieve a handout that we provided in one of our Good Advice Over Coffee sessions held as part of our 25th anniversary and pulled the advice we provided on building a base of community support for your cause.
After thirty years of service to nonprofit leaders, our archives are rich in resources. Last week I ran across a 2006 paper in our files from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) titled “Tips on Succession Planning,” and it really caught my eye.
Some principles of board engagement stand the test of time, including those that follow from that AFP article on board succession planning, which I happily share with you today, with only a few edited updates, this many years later!
I have heard from many Executive Directors and Board Chairs over the years who share a common frustration. “We can’t get our board to do anything. There is so much to accomplish for our mission, but we feel like we’re not getting help beyond attendance at meetings.” My first thought in response is almost always, “but have you asked for specific help and if so, in what way?”.
