Helping Your Board Fundraise

Written by Tim Viands

Helping boards thrive is one of the roles of the head and their development team.   I have found that a toolkit is an effective way to help the board effectively raise funds for your school.  After all, fundraising does not come naturally to most people, and giving the board the tools to use will greatly increase the capacity of the board.

A toolkit should include, but not be limited to:

• Talking points About the Organization

  • The “elevator” pitch: How to describe your school in 2 minutes

  • Why should someone give to your school?

  • What is the need?

• What does your school do?  Provide an overview of programs and services.

• Key Selling Points of Your School

  • Impressive facts about your school that will catch someone’s attention.

  • The school’s value proposition.

• Stories and Testimonials

• Outcomes and Effectiveness

  • How do you define success?

  • How do you measure your efforts?

Other items to add to the toolkit might be data points for enrollment, program success and capital campaign / annual giving progress.  Whatever your tool kit contains, it should help put board members at ease and help them contribute (no pun intended) to the schools’ advancement efforts. 

IndySchool Consultancy can assist school leaders engage with their boards in many critical areas, including strategic planning, re-thinking the business model, and board retreats and workshops. Connect with us today to LEARN MORE.