The latest Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC) study on board member engagement in fundraising concludes, among other things, that board members serve two primary fundraising functions: helping the organization reach new prospective donors (access) and indicating the organization’s value to the community by their own association with the group (signaling).
Here are some key findings:
– Engaging board members in fundraising helps organizations reach their fundraising goals. For 2011, 60 percent of those that did engage board members met their goal, compared with just 53 percent of those who did not.
– Working with a board-level development committee increases the chances an organization met its goal in 2011: 63 percent of organizations with a board-level development committee met their fundraising goals for 2011, 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 was $1,000, but it is higher for arts ($2,000), and education nonprofit organizations ($2,500). The minimum amounts also increase with organizational budget size.
You can view the full report here.
About the Survey
The Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC) conducts surveys two times a year. Each NRC member has, at a minimum, a decade of direct experience collecting information from nonprofits concerning charitable receipts, fundraising practices, and/or grant making 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.
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