Effective Fundraising

2Governance

ODDLY ENOUGH, the right place to begin the discussion of fundraising is with the governance committee of the organization's board of trustees (see Figure 2.1). At the core, this group is responsible for assembling and developing the fundraising talent and leadership on the board, and setting the tone for development. These trustees must facilitate the assembly of a core network of givers and connectors, and ensure the right level of staff is present in the organization. In times of a head change, the governance committee works very closely with the search committee to assess how important fundraising skills will be in the next head, and to ensure that the final candidate possesses them. As noted earlier, it is not unusual for 50% or more of a nonprofit CEO's time to be devoted to fundraising activities over their years of leadership (clearly, therefore, this is usually a very relevant skill requirement).

Governance Committee Composition

The governance committee of the board (see Figure 2.1) is normally made up of its most senior trustees. It has six critical roles:

1. Selecting, evaluating, and coaching of the CEO. It often does the selection by commissioning a special search committee of the board for the task.

   

   Figure 2.1 Partial Organization Chart

2. Recruiting new members of the board, making sure the skills are on the board for future leadership, and ensuring ...