Your Board Members Can Become “Door Openers.” Here’s How!

As a nonprofit leader, what would you most love your board members to do?

Many nonprofit ED’s share that  – of all possible things – they wish their board members would simply open doors. That’s all.

Just open doors and make introductions.

But what happens when you ask board members to make introductions and open the door to prospects? They shy away from it, and back off because it feels awkward.

Often they may agree to help, but then nothing happens.

So how do help them move forward to help in this all-important area? Give them tools and training. Give them a comfortable format to use. Then they will help make introductions happily and successfully.

Here are 4 steps to help your board members learn how to open the door.

Board members tell us that this approach is easy and very doable. It’s even enjoyable.

So give this a try with your own board and let us know how they like it too.

What we are doing is teaching them how to use their elevator speech to start a conversation with their friend about the cause, and then create a followup next step.

Then, the door just might open up, because their friend is curious and wants to learn more.

1. Develop their elevator speech/personal message.

Board members all need a personal message that is inviting and inspiring.

They need practice with a personal elevator speech – but it can’t be learned or memorized.

It has to be their own personal story of why they care.

We offer a powerful morale-boosting exercise/game you can play with your board members to help them create and rehearse their personal story.

Inspire them with their own personal passion for the cause and why the cause is so important.

2. Create contagious energy by removing the fear of soliciting.

Your board members have to be happy, fired up and passionate.  Help them get their mind-set right before they move forward.

If they are like that, then they’ll be engaging.  To anyone.

If they are embarrassed about what they are doing, then they put people off.

Energy is, in fact, contagious. (as we all know.)

Great energy is catching – and awful energy is catching too.

Be sure your board members are excited, and totally standing in their passion for the cause.

If you take the emphasis AWAY from soliciting, then they will relax and be amazing.

3. Create a conversation.

Once your board members learn how to share the wonderful story of your organization’s work with their friends, they need to learn how to create a conversation.

They need to learn how to “shut up” and let the other person react and comment.

We teach board members to ask our favorite fundraising question: 

“What are your impressions? . . . ”

They need to learn listening skills and how to develop their prospect’s interest by staying quiet and asking questions. This is NOT intuitive, but board members welcome the training!

4. Invitation to followup for a next step.

Here’s an example: Say your wonderful board member has inspired a friend with her passionate story about your organization’s work.

She has contagious energy and an enthusiastic attitude.

All this is wasted unless she can offer a next step:

• “Can you come down for a tour?”

• Or “I”m having a small group over to my house next week to meet the new director, can you come?”

• Or “Can I take you out for coffee and get your own ideas on how we tackle this huge community problem?”

That’s how you follow up. You have to show your board members how to conclude their elevator speech with an invitation.

Then, when the friend attends an event, you can find out how they might want to be involved and then ask, would you like to know how you can help?

Then you’ll be on your way.