3 Tips for Creating a World-Class Board Experience
Every board member wants to do a good job as a board member.
Every organization wants to create a great experience for their board members.
Imagine a board that fundraises and makes the give/get requirement obsolete, shows up and brings their best energy and ideas, and it’s fun working together!
How to do it?
Here I will cover a few things that create a world-class board experience.
Focus on their strengths.
It’s helpful to think of board members in three groups: Catalysts, Assimilators and Pastors.
Catalysts are always asking “Who are the new people we are bringing into the fold?” and they are usually adept at helping you fundraise, recruit new donors and build new partnerships. These are the board members you should be communicating with most frequently as they are pivotal to your organization’s growth.
Assimilators are the leaders who can help with the onboarding new board members or interviewing in the nomination process. They are adept at bringing people into the fold and get acclimated to the team.
Pastors are the ones who are concerned with the experience that current donors are having and wonder how it might be improved. This is paramount because the ROI of retaining current donors outweighs new donors hands down every day of the week.
Certainly there are some leaders who are both catalysts and pastors or assimilators and pastors, but there is one type that is predominant.
This can also assist you in reviewing and rethinking your board composition. Are you pastor-heavy and need more catalysts?
Communicate often.
It can be tempting to scale back on the communication with your board because you don’t get responses from them and you know how busy they are. But, I assure you, they read them. Even if there is no reply.
Send an email once a week that is a review of the week and keep it BRIEF: one highlight or win (ideally a story of a member or participant with photo), one challenge you are facing and what you are doing about it, and one CTA - what is one thing you need from this group this week?
If that seems like too much, send a story, photo of impact to this group as insiders each week. It will take 10 minutes. Put it as a recurring meeting with you and your laptop at the same time every week.
I’m not talking about your newsletter.
I’m talking about a personal note that is written from your heart to your group of the most important members of your team: your board.
This will not only give them continuous stories to remind them of the life-changing work you do together, but will be a great reminder for YOU of how urgent and powerful your work really is.
Take great care of their friends and colleagues.
It is no small thing when they invite a coworker, family member or friend to donate, attend a (virtual event, forward your email. Once they do, it is up to you and your team to create a stellar experience for those new prospective donors.
If you don’t know what experience they have, conduct an audit. What is it like to donate on your website? What are the automations? What are the messages received or not received? How frequent is the communication? What is the ratio of asking for dollars to thanking and storytelling? You have total control over this.
Most of all, ask your board member, “How can we work together to create a great experience for (first name)?”
Automate this in a survey so that when a board member introduces a new person, you have their answer logged in your database.
There will most likely be a pattern that will emerge that will allow to level-up the experience for your entire donor base.
You might be surprised how simple the answer is.
But, asking the question goes a long way with your board member. It builds trust, credibility, and shows you are intentional.
If you can take great care (communicate often, share tangible impact they have had, share wins and challenges all in various forms of communication) of 1 new donor that your board member brought in, then you can take great care of more. This is the path to sustainable growth.
If you’d love some support in building a board that is thriving, engaged and joyfully exceeding the give/get, book your 1:1 strategy session today. I’d be happy to help. 🙌
