Board Engagement Critical to Meeting Fundraising Goals
Posted by Sarah Barnes on Mon, Sep 24, 2012 @ 12:01 PM
September 24, 2012 - Washington, D.C.:
The Nonprofit Research Collaborative’s (NRC) latest survey shows a direct connection between active fundraising by nonprofit board members and the organization meeting its fundraising goals.
"Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed ask board members to request
contributions to the organization from family and friends," said James D. Yunker, Chair of the Giving USA Foundation, a member of the NRC. "That simple step is probably the single most important thing an organization can do to engage board members in fundraising. It is associated with meeting fundraising goals for all sizes of organization, proving again that fundraising is all about relationships."
Key Findings
- Engaging board members in fundraising helps organizations reach their fundraising goals. In 2011, 60 percent of the surveyed organizations that engaged board members met their goal, compared with just 53 percent of those who did not.
- In 2011: 63 percent of organizations with a board-level development committee met their fundraising goals, compared with 52 percent of those without that type of committee.
- Organizations in which board members request friends or business associates to make a financial contribution met their fundraising goals for 2011 more frequently than did those that did not ask board members to make similar requests.
- Among organizations that require a minimum board member contribution, the median amount is $1,000, but is higher for arts ($2,000), and education nonprofit organizations ($2,500).The minimum amounts also increase with organizational budget size, with some very large organizations asking for minimums of more than $100,000.
About the Survey The Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC) conducts surveys two times a year. The current report is available at
www.NonprofitResearchCollaborative.org.
The online survey was conducted January-February 2012. The 1,602 U.S. respondents form a convenience sample. There is no margin of error, as it is not a random sample.
About the Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC) Each NRC member has, at a minimum, a decade of direct experience collecting information from nonprofits concerning charitable receipts, fundraising practices, and/or grantmaking activities. NRC partners are the Association of Fundraising Professionals; Blackbaud; Campbell Rinker; Giving USA Foundation; and the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute. Giving USA Foundation; and the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute.
About Campbell & Company Campbell & Company, a Giving Institute member, is a national consulting firm offering advancement planning, fundraising, communications and executive search services to nonprofit organizations in nearly every sector.
Through thirty-six years and more than a thousand engagements, we helped our clients anticipate and manage the challenges of the philanthropic marketplace. Our offices are located in Chicago, Boston, Portland, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, DC. For more information, please call toll-free (877) 957-0000, email
info@campbellcompany.com or visit
www.campbellcompany.com.