Key Takeaways

Does the Thought of Asking Your Board to Fundraise Make You Want to Cringe?

You’re not alone.

71% of nonprofit executive directors and CEOs in America say board fundraising is their number one challenge. There’s no staffing, programming or technology. Board fundraising.

But here’s what makes this even more striking. 84% of board members believe they are highly engaged in fundraising activities. Yet only 20% of executive directors agree.

That gap isn’t just frustrating. It’s the root of one of the most persistent and painful dynamics in nonprofit leadership. Your board thinks they’re doing great. You know they’re not. And nobody’s quite sure how to say that out loud.

Understanding this dynamic is central to the nonprofit CEO’s fundraising responsibilities — and it starts long before a single ask is ever made.

Here’s what I want you to understand before we go any further: this is not a board problem. It’s a systems problem.

By and large, your board members are not lazy or uncaring. They’re volunteers donating hours to your organization every week, every month, every quarter. What they lack is clarity, tools, and the confidence to engage in ways that actually help.

Once you fix the system? Their behavior starts to change.

Why the “Give or Get” Model Is Broken

For decades, nonprofits have used a model called “give or get” — a contractual commitment where board members agree to give a set amount or raise it from their network.

It made sense once. It no longer does.

Here’s what’s actually happening with that model today — and why fundraising strategies that actually produce results look very different:

1. It treats all board members the same. Your attorney, your hedge fund contact, and your environmental scientist don’t have the same networks or the same means. A one-size-fits-all ask creates resentment and multiple tiers of guilt.
2. It feels transactional and punitive. When something shifts from something you get to do to something you have to do, the energy around it changes entirely.
3. It gives people an end line. Some board members will write a check just to say they gave — and then they won’t open their networks. You get money. You don’t get relationships.
4. It doesn’t build a fundraising culture. It builds an obligation. And obligations rarely produce your best results.

The good news? There’s a better framework. And it doesn’t require blowing up your board structure to implement it.

Introducing the Four I’s: A Better Way to Engage Your Board in Nonprofit Fundraising

Research from Adelphi University on high-performing nonprofit boards identified a framework that’s proving far more effective than give or get. It maps board capacity across four areas — and it works because it meets board members where they actually are.

#1: Involvement — Active Participation in Your Mission

This is active participation in your mission — not just showing up to board meetings.

Involvement looks like:

• Volunteering at programs or events
• Attending site visits alongside the CEO or development staff
• Participating in program delivery (even occasionally)
• Bringing their families to experience your work firsthand

Here’s why this matters: it’s really hard to authentically fundraise for something you don’t personally experience on a regular basis. Involvement deepens passion. And passion is what moves people to give — and to ask others to give.

#2: Insights — Using Board Expertise Strategically

This is where their professional expertise becomes strategic gold.

Most nonprofit leaders are not lawyers, MBAs, marketing professionals, or HR experts. Your board should be. And when you actively draw on that expertise — not just for fundraising, but for strategic thinking and organizational decisions — two things happen.

First, you get smarter as an organization. Second, board members feel genuinely valued, not just used as ATMs.

A board that contributes its wisdom is a board that stays engaged.

#3: Investment — Rethinking Board Giving

Yes, money still belongs here. But the conversation around it needs to change.

Not every board member should be expected to give the same amount. A hedge fund leader and an environmental scientist don’t have the same resources, and that’s okay.

What matters is this:

• All board members should give. Every single one.
• Their gift should be personally significant — this organization should be in their top three to five philanthropic priorities.
• The board should give first. They set the trajectory. They signal to every other donor that this organization is worth investing in.

You can’t ask others to invest if you haven’t invested yourself.

#4: Influence — The Most Underutilized Board Fundraising Tool

This is the one most boards underutilize — and it has some of the highest potential return.

Influence means:

• Making warm introductions to potential donors
• Hosting cultivation events (even if the invitation list isn’t entirely theirs)
• Advocating for your organization in their networks — at work, in their communities, in their daily lives
• Connecting you to corporate or foundation contacts

And here’s something worth naming directly: the discomfort of asking is costing your mission. When board members hold back because asking feels awkward, real people who could be helped go without.

One practical shift that makes this dramatically more effective: stop asking broad questions. “Do you know anyone who might want to donate?” is too wide. People freeze.

Instead, try this: “We’re looking for donors who are privately held business owners who care deeply about giving back. Do you know three or four people like that we could have a conversation with?”

Specificity unlocks engagement. Every time.

How to Map Your Board Against the Four I’s

Here’s a simple exercise to run at your next board meeting or retreat.

Ask each board member — and yourself — these three questions:

1. Which of the Four I’s is your board currently strongest at? Start with the strengths. This isn’t about deficit-listing.
2. Which of the Four I’s represents your biggest opportunity? Not which one you’re worst at — which one has the most scope for growth?
3. What is one specific action you could take in the next 30 days to strengthen that area?

When you map this out across your full board, you’ll start to see who should be your corporate liaison, who should be hosting cultivation events, and who should be your strongest advocates in the community.

Not every board member can do all four. But every board member can do at least two or three — well.

The Board Fundraising Accountability Question (And Why It’s Harder Than It Sounds)

Here’s where most organizations stall.

You run the exercise. You get commitments. And then… nothing changes. The next meeting comes around, and nobody mentions it. The cycle continues.

Accountability with your board is genuinely tricky — after all, they’re your boss. But it’s not impossible. The key is building it around three C’s — and anchoring them inside a fundraising plan that holds everyone accountable:

Clarity: Setting Unambiguous Board Fundraising Expectations

As Brené Brown says, clarity is kind. Every board member should know exactly what they’ve committed to, by when, and how it will be tracked. If there’s any ambiguity, accountability falls apart before it starts.

Consistency: Building Accountability Into Your Board Rhythm

Accountability only works when it’s predictable. If it happens sometimes — when someone remembers to bring it up — it’s not accountability. Build it into your board meeting rhythm. Make it a standing agenda item. Every quarter, you review progress together.

Community: Making Accountability Relational, Not Punitive

This is the most underrated piece. When someone hits a milestone, celebrate it publicly. When someone is going through a hard season, the community covers the gap with grace. Accountability isn’t punitive — it’s relational.

And when someone consistently doesn’t follow through? The conversation gets progressively more direct, with clear consequences. That process should be documented, agreed upon, and followed the same way for everyone.

One Practical Board Fundraising Step You Can Take Right Now

If you’re reading this in January or early in the year, you have perfect timing.

Before your next board meeting, try this:

Ask each board member to write five handwritten thank-you notes to existing donors. Bring a list. Divide it up. Do it right there at the meeting.

It sounds small. The data says otherwise. Organizations that use handwritten outreach see donors who receive those notes give at a rate 64% higher than those who receive standard communications.

It’s bite-sized. It’s tangible. And it starts building the muscle of board members connecting directly with your donor community. From there, it’s worth reviewing what’s actually working in your development program so you can build on momentum — not just repeat effort.

Frequently Asked Questions About Board Fundraising

Why don’t board members fundraise even when they genuinely want to help?

In most cases, they lack three things: clarity on what’s actually expected, the tools and talking points to do it confidently, and a system that makes it easy to take action. It’s rarely a motivation problem — fear around asking is more common than you’d think, and it affects board members just as much as staff. It’s almost always a systems problem.

How do we give board members talking points without it feeling scripted?

Create a simple one-page “brand script” — a document that centers the problem your donors want to solve, positions them as the hero of the story, and explains how your organization helps them solve it. The goal isn’t for board members to memorize lines. It’s to give them a framework so they feel confident and your message stays consistent across every conversation.

What if our board members just won’t engage, no matter what we try?

Start by having honest one-on-one conversations. Sometimes disengagement signals that someone is ready to rotate off the board and doesn’t know how to say so. Other times, it reveals unspoken concerns about expectations or direction. Either way, the conversation needs to happen.

How do we handle the power dynamic when holding board members accountable?

Consider delegating accountability facilitation to your board chair or a governance committee, so it’s board-to-board rather than staff-to-board. When accountability is built into your board culture — with clear expectations everyone helped create — it feels less like discipline and more like mutual commitment.

How do we recruit better board members in the first place?

Be specific about what you need and transparent about what’s expected before someone joins. Map your current board against the Four I’s and recruit deliberately for gaps. Once you have the right people in place, build a funding strategy your board can rally around — one that gives them a clear role in a larger plan. And don’t remove term limits for poor performers — but do consider flexibility for your highest contributors. Losing your best board members because of arbitrary rotation is an avoidable loss.

Building a Board That Fundraises Well

Board fundraising is hard. But it doesn’t have to stay hard.

The gap between what your board thinks they’re contributing and what you’re actually experiencing isn’t a character flaw on their part. It’s a signal that the system needs work.

When you replace give or get with the Four I’s, when you create real clarity around expectations, and when you build accountability into your board culture — things change.

Trust in nonprofits went up five points in 2024, even as trust in nearly every other institution declined. Your board members, your donors, your community — they want to be in partnership with you.

Give them the clarity, the tools, and the invitation to do that well.

The rest tends to follow.

Ready to get your board fully engaged in your fundraising mission?