Becoming Funding Ready

Alright, let's get to work.

I know what you're thinking. You bought a program about fundraising sustainability, and the first step isn't about finding donors or writing grants. It's about your board. You might be tempted to skip this, to jump ahead to the parts that seem to be about money.

Let me be crystal clear: This is the money part.

This is the most important step in the entire blueprint. Everything else we do—prospecting, planning, campaigning—will either succeed or fail based on the strength of the team you build right here. Fundraising doesn't start with a donor list; it starts in your boardroom. Your board is not a group you report to; they are the engine that will power your fundraising. If your engine is broken, misaligned, or missing key parts, you will go nowhere, no matter how great your fundraising tactics are.

This step is about building that engine the right way. It is about transforming your board from a passive group of well-intentioned observers into an active, fundraising-ready leadership team. Don't half-do this. This is the foundation of everything. Let's get it right.

 

Phase 1: Diagnosis — The Foundation of Clarity

Before you can build, you must diagnose. You cannot fix a problem you do not understand. The first and most common mistake founders make is assuming they know what's wrong. They think, "My board is just lazy," or "I just need to find richer people." This is like a mechanic replacing a $43,000 engine when the real problem was a simple blown injector seal. The Board Audit is your diagnostic tool. It’s where you trade wishful thinking for facts.

1. The Mirror Test: Your First Action Before you even think about your board, you must look at your own leadership. Everything rises and falls on leadership, and your board’s culture is almost always a mirror of your own approach.

Action: Open your Board Empowerment Toolkit. Find the Founder's Private Audit Tool. Go somewhere quiet and answer those questions with radical honesty. This is your "Mirror Test." Get clear on how your actions, even with the best intentions, might be contributing to the problem. This is the work that separates good leaders from great ones.

2. Preparing the Audit for Your Board: Now that you've looked in the mirror, it's time to prepare the tool for your team.

Action: In your Board Empowerment Toolkit, you will find a link to the customizable Board Audit Form template. Click it and make a copy. This form is broken into three parts: The Founder's Audit (where they review you), the Complete Board Audit (where they assess the team), and the Self-Evaluation Audit (where they assess themselves). Review the questions and customize them if needed to fit your organization's language.

3. Initiating the Process with Confidence: How you introduce this audit is critical. You are not accusing anyone; you are inviting them to be partners in building a better future.

Action: Open the email templates in your toolkit. Customize the "Board Audit Introduction" email. Be sure to include two key things:

• The link to the Board Audit Form you just created.
• A clear deadline. Give them a reasonable but firm timeline, for example, "Please complete this by the end of the day next Friday." This creates a sense of professional urgency. Send it out.

4. Interpreting the Responses: Once the audit responses are in, you have the data. The real breakthrough comes from interpretation.

Action: Use the Interpretation Guide in your toolkit. Start with the low-tech "whiteboard analysis" method described in the guide to sort the feedback into key themes. Then, if you choose, use the guide's specific questions to leverage an AI partner like ChatGPT to get an unbiased, objective perspective on the patterns in the responses. This will give you a complete picture before you have a single conversation.

5. The Re-Engagement Conversations: With the audit data understood, you are now ready to have the most productive conversations you've ever had with your board. This is not about confrontation; it is about clarity.

Action (One-on-Ones): Use the email template in your toolkit to schedule a confidential 30-minute one-on-one meeting with every single board member. Review their specific audit response beforehand and define your objective. Your goal is to create two clear paths: a Graceful Exit for those who are ready to move on, and a Renewed Commitment for those who want to step up.

Action (The Group Conversation): After your individual meetings, you will convene the remaining, re-committed members for a group meeting. The principle here is shared ownership. In this meeting, your job is to facilitate. You will present the high-level, anonymized findings from the audit. You can say, "The feedback shows we have incredible passion, but we have a clear skill gap in fundraising and marketing." Then, you guide them to a collective conclusion by asking the question: "Based on this data and our strategic goals, what skills and connections are we missing, and how do we best fill those gaps?" The board itself will arrive at the only logical answer: "We need to recruit." When this decision comes from them, it creates the universal buy-in you need for the next phase.

 

Phase 2: Recruitment — Building Your Founding Team

Now that your re-engaged board has agreed on the need to recruit, you must avoid the foundational mistake that keeps so many nonprofits stuck in the startup phase.

The Mistake: Recruiting a "Governance Board" Too Soon Most founders hear "board of directors" and think they need to recruit a passive group of overseers who meet four times a year to approve minutes. This is a governance board. While important for mature organizations, recruiting one too early is a critical error.

In the early stages, your board isn’t just a governance body; it’s your founding team. You don't need more oversight; you need more builders. You need a team of collaborators with functional expertise who are willing to roll up their sleeves and build the organization's core systems alongside you. Recruiting the right founding team is the single most important factor in your ability to grow and become sustainable.

1. Identify the Skills You Need: Your first action is to get clear on the specific expertise you need to build your organization. Your audit from Phase 1 gave you a starting point.

Action: Open your Strategic Recruitment Package. Review the "Essential Skills for a Nonprofit Startup Board" checklist. This list includes the 11 core roles your founding team needs to cover:

• Fundraising & Development
• Marketing & Communications
• Strategic Planning
• Program Design & Evaluation
• Finance & Budgeting
• Legal & Compliance
• Operations & Project Management
• Partnerships & Stakeholder Engagement
• Technology & Systems
• Community Outreach & Advocacy
• Human Resources

Use this checklist to pinpoint the exact 2-3 roles that are your highest priority right now. Let me be crystal clear: one of those roles must be a Fundraiser.

2. Follow the 7-Step Recruitment Process: The second mistake founders make is simply "inviting" friends or acquaintances onto their board without a formal process. This sets a tone of informality and leads to a lack of commitment. A professional process is not about creating bureaucracy; it’s about honoring the commitment of your potential board members and attracting other professionals.

Action: Use the detailed 7-Step Recruitment Guide in your package. This is your roadmap. It will walk you through each critical phase:

Board Recruitment Planning: How to map out your strategy with your committee.
Developing Recruitment Materials: How to create a professional board prospectus, application form, and outreach content.
Launching Your Outreach: Where to find prospects and how to post your opportunity.

Vetting and Interviewing: How to conduct a "Board Awareness Call" that feels like a conversation but gives you the information you need.

Background and Reference Checks: The non-negotiable step to protect your organization.

Onboarding: The crucial session where you clarify expectations and secure commitment before they attend their first meeting.

Introductory Board Meeting: How to integrate your new members into the team.

3. Use the Tools Provided: Do not reinvent the wheel. Every tool you need to execute this process with the confidence of a seasoned expert is in your toolkit.

Action: As you follow the 7-step process, use all the templates provided in the Strategic Recruitment Package. This includes the board application form, the board prospectus, the interview questions, and all the email templates. As a bonus, you have access to my private database of professionals who are actively looking to join boards. Start there. This is your warm lead list.

 

Phase 3: Activation — The 2-Hour Strategic Plan

The final step in building your fundraising-ready board is to give them a plan they feel they co-created. A board that plans together, executes together. This is where you activate the team you've just built.

The Mistake to Avoid: The Marathon Retreat I used to be a fan of long, multi-day strategic planning retreats. But I've learned that they often result in a loss of momentum and a detailed plan that no one ever looks at again. A fast-paced, 2-hour session, when properly prepared for, forces high-level thinking and creates an immediate bias toward action.

1. Prepare for Success (The Pre-Planning): The success of the 2-hour session is determined by the preparation you do beforehand.

Action (Community Outreach): Before anything else, ensure your plan is grounded in reality. Use the Community Outreach Template in your Action Planning Playbook to survey your community and stakeholders. Your programs must stem from their needs, not just your ideas.
Action (Board Pre-Planning): Use the Pre-Planning Email Template and the refined questions in your playbook to get your board thinking strategically before the meeting. Compile their anonymous feedback and send it out to the group 48 hours before you meet.

2. Facilitate the 2-Hour Planning Session: Your role is to facilitate, not dictate. You are the guide, not the hero.

Action: Open your Action Planning Playbook and use the Strategic Planning Facilitation Guide. This is your script. It will walk you through the timed agenda, from discussing the community needs and conducting a rapid SWOT analysis to the most important part: the Mission-Defining Questions. For each key area (Marketing, Partnerships, Resource Development, etc.), you will use the specific questions in the guide to help your board create a clear, one-sentence mission statement. This is how you build a plan with them, not for them.

3. Delegate Real Ownership: A plan without an owner is just a wish.

Action: At the end of the session, your final act as a facilitator is to delegate the leadership of each of these areas to a specific board member. The fundraiser you recruited should lead the Resource Development plan. The marketer should lead the marketing plan. This is not just assigning tasks; it is empowering leaders. This is the critical moment where you resolve the Founder's Paradox we discussed in the book, giving you room to navigate the vision while your team builds with you.

4. Write the Plan as the Integrator: Your role is not to write the strategic plan alone.

Action: After the session, you will start a master document. You will fill in the sections the board already agreed upon. Then, as each board member submits their in-depth plan for their area, you will integrate it into the master document. This ensures the final document is not "your plan," but truly "our plan."

 

Phase 4: Execution — Building Your Funding-Ready Organization

Now that you have a re-engaged team and a board-driven strategic plan, it's time to execute. But let me be crystal clear about what "execution" really means at this stage. This isn't just about getting work done. This is where you build an organization that is funding-ready. No major donor or foundation writes a big check to a chaotic, disorganized nonprofit. They invest in organizations that have their act together. This phase is where you, alongside your board, build the professional systems for marketing, programs, and operations that prove you are a safe and powerful investment.

1. Building Out the Action Plans: After delegation, your job as the leader is to work with each board member to ensure their detailed plan is built according to the mission spelled out by the board.

Action: Your role here is that of a coach and a resource. Check in with each board member responsible for a plan. Provide them with information, ideas, and professional insights. Some members may not be experts in the areas delegated and will need your support to build a robust plan. You can also help them prepare for their presentation to the board by acting as their audience.

2. Presentation and Board Alignment: Each board member must present their detailed action plan back to the full board.

Action: At your next board meeting, each board lead will present their plan. This is a critical step for alignment. It ensures every board member has a voice and understands what's about to happen in each aspect of the organization. The presenter will also formally ask for approval for their budget so resources can be released.

3. Recruiting Your Execution Team: Your board members' role is strategic oversight, not day-to-day execution. The next step is to recruit the people needed to do the hands-on work, guided by the board lead.

Action: For organizations yet to raise funding for staff, you will work with your board leads to recruit volunteers and contractors. For example, the board member leading marketing can recruit a volunteer social media manager and a contract graphic designer. As your fundraising capacity grows, you can transition these roles to paid staff.

4. Developing Your Materials: Now that you've recruited the team, it's time to create the materials needed to execute.

Action: Work with each board lead and their execution team to create the necessary assets. For marketing, this could be flyers, social media content, and videos. For programs, it could be outreach materials and curriculum. Ensure all materials are properly branded and accessible to the team.

5. The Execution Kick-Off Meeting: Before launching into full execution, it is powerful to hold a formal "Execution Kick-Off Meeting."

Action: This is a dedicated meeting where all the board leads present the final, approved versions of their plans to each other. It ensures everyone is aligned, understands the interconnectedness of their work (how marketing supports programs, for example), and starts the execution phase with a shared sense of energy and purpose. This meeting signals the official transition from planning to doing.

 

Conclusion: You Have Built the Engine

Take a breath. Look at what you've just learned how to do. You now have the complete, detailed process to transform a group of individuals into a fundraising-ready leadership engine. You have moved from diagnosis to re-engagement, from recruitment to activation. This is the most foundational work you will do as a founder, and it is the work that stops the cycle of burnout.

But a blueprint is only powerful when you use it. Do not let this become another document that sits on your desktop. The clarity you've gained is only valuable if you turn it into action.

You don't need to be perfect. You just need to act.

Your next small step is simple: open the Board Empowerment Toolkit and customize the first email to send to your board. That's it. Start the diagnosis.

Take that step today.