A successful and sustainable fundraising program is dependent on strong, committed and generous volunteer leadership and engagement and contributions. But that cannot happen without the effective leadership of capable, professional staff leadership.

Explore the role of the organization's lead executive in raising funds for your mission.

Some leaders want nothing to do with conversations about generosity. The reality is key staff and board members are positioned to have tremendous relationships alongside passion and knowledge of the organization making them tremendously important in the fundraising function. This roundtable will focus on being equipped to be a leader for generosity. We will also discuss ways to empower the board/council to take on this role and thrive in it. Because of the MLK holiday, this session was pre-recorded and is posted in the videos section of the Center website.

Keeping your Board of Directors healthy and engaged begins with clear expectations. As a rule, board members want to do well and contribute to the mission of the organization. Offering a comprehensive orientation that sets clear expectations and then an annual follow up to allow for accountability can help move board members toward giving their very best. Use the attached document as is or adapt it for your purposes.

Having a code of ethics can help inform board members of expectations and give you the grounding to accountability. This is a great sample to get you started in shaping your own code of ethics for your organization. Have members sign this at the start of their term and review it on an annual or quarterly basis when you gather.

It’s early January and we should know what our plan for securing generosity for the year will be. Do you have a development calendar? What about goals? Does your board/council know how to monitor the plan and provide assistance in reaching the goal?

Leadership culture can significantly drain or dramatically empower your organization in achieving its goals and delivering its mission. Whatever role you play in the organization, you have the opportunity to influence and shape a culture of leadership. We’ll discuss ways you can help shape a leadership environment that empowers your people and strengthens your organization. Bring your real world situations for us to unpack together and leave empowered to take action.

What should you be raising money for? How are you raising it? What kinds of communication are supporting those efforts? Clear priorities, at all levels, empower organizations to achieve fundraising success. We’ll discuss ways to cultivate and orient your priorities for mission fruition and fundraising success, sequencing and aligning institutional strategic priorities on through to fundraising and marketing priorities. Bring your real world situations for us to unpack together and leave empowered to take action.

Board members need to know their responsibilities and when they are a board member and when they are not. What are their duties and obligations?

It would seem counter-intuitive to view a crisis as a blessing. Yet we hear of many examples where people take a tragedy and use it as a platform for good going forward. Organizations have the same opportunity when they have experienced a crisis. How do they make the future better because of this experience? How can they leverage what they learned for their good and for the over-all good of many? During this roundtable we will discuss not only how to manage through a crisis but also how to leverage it for better outcomes going forward.

Effective meetings build energy and engagement in organizations by ensuring leaders gifts are used in impactful ways. In this session we will explore practical steps you can implement today to ensure fiduciary responsibilities are met, while increasing engagement and impact.

Healthy and effective organizations start at the board level. Taking the next warm body on the board that says, “I guess I will do it,” will only serve to weaken the organization. Implementing a system for identifying and recruiting strong, passionate, knowledgeable, and generous board members must be a priority for any organization wanting to raise more money and advance their mission. During this roundtable you will receive the steps and an annual calendar for getting this work going well.