Category: Volunteers

Aligning Different Board Members

Most nonprofits seek to recruit board members from the corporate world, especially tech, to turbocharge fundraising, energize strategy, and open new doors. But when these unicorns are recruited, clashes often ensue that frustrate, even bewilder, all parties. The frustrations I hear are: “Why does it take the Board sooooooo long to make decisions?” “Doesn’t she… Read more »

Fearless Facilitation for Board Leaders

This special evening session will focus on the complexity facing board chairs who are facilitating peers, often colleagues and friends, in board meetings. How do you handle delicate issues that trigger strong emotions and opinions? What do you do when a board meeting is hijacked by one or more members who are stuck in the… Read more »

Cultivating Your Fundraising Team

This panel discussion will explore how to create and nourish a successful fundraising team – staff and board. Panelists will offer approaches and techniques bases on real experience. Panelists TBA. Registration not yet open.

Succession Planning for Effective Boards

Learn how to approach succession planning to develop every board member as a leader, and create a process that cultivates a deep bench of officers and committee chairs. This workshop will be interactive, providing successful case studies, and practical tools for immediate use.

Powerful Board Recruitment

This seminar is a follow-up to the Succession Planning for Effective Boards workshop on March 11 at the Foundation Center, which is also a seminar pre-requisite. We will look at how to create and engage a rigorous recruitment effort to build a board that is active and committed.

Unleashing the Fundraising Power of Boards

Transform your board from resistant fundraisers into passionate ambassadors who share their commitment to inspire support for your nonprofit. Discover how to initiate dynamic discussion about about fundraising, beginning with recruitment and building to enthusiastic involvement. Takeaways will include practical and inspirational tools for motivation and support, finding your fundraising ambassadors, dos and don’ts for… Read more »

Five Board DevelopmentTo-Dos

What is key to developing your board’s effectiveness? Please take a look at this brief video about five factors that are essential, and that you can begin to put in place right now! This was an interview with the Foundation Center San Francisco: http://www.grantspace.org/Multimedia/Video/Lisa-Hoffman-on-Board-Development-2013-03-20  

The Fundraising Power of Membership

Membership organizations are in a powerful fundraising position because there is a core of passionate and committed constituents. This panel discussion will explore how small, medium and large organizations effectively integrate membership and fund development to raise more money.  Panelists are:  Kellie Brownell, Donor Relations Coordinator, Electronic Frontier Foundation; Stacy Rackusin, Membership Manager, Asian Art… Read more »

Tackling a Tough Board Issue

Changing a nonprofit boards culture is incredibly challenging, and I wrote the following article, about a board that has accomplished this, for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Gate Chapter. I very much appreciate their invitation to share the story of a board that has transformed its communication practices