Setting Board Giving Expectations Without Losing the Room

Ninety percent of the board conflict I've watched over 20 years traces back to unspoken expectations. Board giving is at the top of that list. Fix it once, in writing, and most of the drama disappears.

Three models that work

1. 100% participation, no minimum. Every board member gives something every year. Simple, defensible to funders, and rarely alienates anyone.

2. Give or get. Every member gives or raises a defined amount. Works well for organizations with a strong events culture.

3. Personal stretch. Every member commits that the organization is one of their top three annual gifts. Hardest to enforce, most transformative when it lands.

How to introduce it

Not at a board meeting. In one-on-one conversations by the chair before the meeting. By the time it hits the agenda, every member has already been asked and agreed. The vote is a ratification, not a debate.

What to put in writing

A one-page board giving policy — model, expected timing, confidentiality, and the recruitment language new members will hear before joining. If a candidate can't say yes to the policy, they're not ready to serve.

The awkward truth

A nonprofit whose board doesn't give at 100% is a nonprofit that will lose foundation grants once funders start asking (they will). Fix it now, gently, one conversation at a time. Don't wait for the crisis.