Board Engagement: The Clean Before the Clean

Thanks to everyone who joined our August Lunch and Learn to prepare now for end of year board engagement! For those who missed it, we talked a lot about the clean before the clean.

If nothing else, this conversation validated my own cleaning habits: sometimes I don’t for a while. I’m a busy gal; and getting my kids out the door with two shoes on and getting nutrition in their bodies and actually enjoying them sometimes can eat up HUGE chunks of time - and rightfully so! But when it’s time to have people over, or even host guests overnight, it’s time to play catch up. 

What I’ve learned is that taking things on as ONE BIG CLEAN doesn’t work. I am never actually prepared, and whatever I miss will be visible (and possibly smellable?) to my guests. So I’ve adopted the clean before the clean: dust off my cleaning skills a week before I need to, then I have muscle memory AND a a more complete clean when people show up. And if I miss a spot, you get a week-old blip, not an [insert time period too long to admit publicly]-old situation. 

Translating this to board engagement: if you want your board ready to fundraise for the end of year, dust off those cobwebs now! That doesn’t mean you have your board start their end of year work today, but find something immediately actionable, meaningful, and achievable that warms them up for the big time. This way, they are using the muscles they will need come November without the cognitive dissonance of “it’s too hot and terrible out here for me to feel motivated for the holidays right now” causing inaction.

Also, we are focusing on practicing the actions we want board members to take this year, not just fundraising in general. So if you want folks to share requests with their network, have that be the ask right now! Can’t you imagine the conversation with your board chair, or your development chair, where you generate a plan to engage now for better engagement in two months?

And remember: the clean before the clean is not a lather, rinse, and repeat! If it wasn’t right for your board last year, doing it twice may not be what makes it right this year. And any learning from the first engagement can be incorporated into the end of year implementation! 

Keep up the great work; our lives are better because of the resources you’re securing for your mission!