Fundraising, just like academic oversight or financial oversight, is a board responsibility.
Philosophical Alignment about Private Fundraising and the Board’s Role
1. What is the role of private fundraising for the organization?
How much $ is needed over what period of time?
What % above and beyond per pupil is sustainable> realistic? appropriate?
What should the staff be doing towards the goal? the committee? individual trustees?
What does sustainable fundraising look like? The board and school leadership need to answer these questions, and all get on the same page. Then…..with that hammered out the “give/get “ question gets easier……
2. Everyone needs to be part of the fundraising process.
Fundraising, just like academic oversight or financial oversight, is a board responsibility. Not just the work of one or two trustees.
A key responsibility of the governing board is short and long-term organizational viability, and having the financial resources to accomplish the organization’s mission and achieve and exceed its charter promises.
This doesn’t mean that everyone who serves on the board has to be wealthy, but it does mean that everyone needs to help. Some can write a check, others can get great donations, and others can bring friends or colleagues to the school who can become donors.
The Best Give/Get Approaches We Have Observed include:
1. A key trustee (Board Chair/Chair of the Development Committee) who meets with each trustee to help them set a personal give/get goal that is personally meaningful.
2. The total amount the board will raise this year is declared as the goal by the Development Committee. This goal is the tally of all the individual targets.
Individual amounts are not disclosed to the full board—just the total.
3. Then, the Development Committee reports regularly with a roster of individual trustees' names with the % towards their personal target achieved.
So, for example, if my personal fundraising goal was $5,000, and I got friends and family to chip in a lot of small checks, but they totaled $1,000, my contribution would be "20% of my target achieved".
This approach holds people accountable but doesn’t pressure them to commit to a specific dollar amount. It also allows for the healthy board diversity you need on a charter school board. Someone on the board could have a personal stretch goal of $1,000, and someone else's could be $20,000—the point is you want everyone digging deep and contributing to the overall whole as a team.
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