| Quick answer: Board members usually want to help fundraise but don’t know how, and ‘please ask your network for donations’ is too vague to act on. Get them championing your giving list by giving them a concrete, bounded ask (‘share this link with ten people’), ready-made content they can send in seconds, a specific list section to own, and visible recognition. A free MyRegistry giving list turns an uncomfortable money ask into an easy, shareable one. |
Every executive director knows the awkward board meeting moment: you ask members to help fundraise, everyone nods, and nothing happens. It’s rarely reluctance, it’s that ‘help us fundraise’ asks them to invent a plan, find the words, and make a money request of their friends. A giving list removes every one of those barriers. Here’s how to turn a passive board into active champions.
The mechanism is simple: a MyRegistry giving list gives every board member one concrete, branded thing to share instead of an abstract request for money.
Why Boards Freeze
Asking your network for money is socially expensive, it feels like trading on a friendship. Most board members aren’t fundraisers by trade, so a vague ‘use your connections’ leaves them with no script, no tool, and a vague sense of dread. They don’t act because you gave them a task, not a plan.
Boards don’t freeze from reluctance — they freeze from vagueness.
Why a Giving List Changes the Ask
Sharing a giving list isn’t asking for money, it’s showing people concrete needs they can choose to meet. That reframing matters enormously to a hesitant board member. ‘Would you buy a backpack for a student?’ is socially far easier than ‘would you donate?’ The list does the asking; the board member just makes the introduction.
| Ask to a board member | What they must do | Likelihood |
|---|---|---|
| ‘Help us fundraise’ | Invent everything | Low |
| ‘Use your network’ | Find words, make a money ask | Low |
| ‘Share this link with 10 people’ | Send a ready message | High |
| ‘Own the tools section’ | One bounded, visible job | High |
| Give your board one thing to share — create a giving list on MyRegistry . |
Four Moves That Work
- Make the ask bounded and specific. ‘Share this link with ten people this month’, countable, finite, achievable.
- Hand them the content. Ready-made email text, social posts, and an image. If they have to write it, they won’t send it.
- Give each member a section to own. One board member owns the tools section, another the supplies. Ownership beats collective responsibility.
- Recognize publicly and report back. Show at the next meeting what their shares brought in. Visible results turn a one-off effort into a habit.
Bring It to the Board Meeting
Don’t email the request, do it live. Put the giving list on screen, show a filled item and its impact, hand out the pre-written messages, and ask each member to send one before they leave. Ten minutes in a meeting will outperform ten emails, because the barrier was never willingness, it was activation energy.
| Feature | MyRegistry Giving List | Single-store list |
|---|---|---|
| Add items from any store | Yes | No — one retailer |
| Cash gift funds | Yes | Rarely |
| Your logo & branding | Yes | Minimal |
| Embed on your website | Yes | Limited |
| Real-time tracking | Yes | Within that store |
| Cost | Free | Free |
A Real-World Scenario
An ED asked her board for fundraising help at every meeting for a year, and got polite nods and nothing else. She changed the ask: she put the giving list on screen, gave each member a pre-written message and one section of the list to own, and asked them to send it before leaving the room. Eight of nine did. Their networks filled most of the list within a fortnight. Same board, same year, the only change was giving them something concrete and easy instead of a vague obligation.
| ✔ Pros — Board Champions With a Giving List | ✘ Cons — Board Champions With a Giving List |
|---|---|
| • Sharing a list isn’t asking for money | • Requires preparing the content for them |
| • Bounded asks get done | • Needs live activation, not another email |
| • Ready-made content removes the barrier | |
| • Section ownership beats collective duty | |
| • Reporting back builds the habit |
| ★ Expert recommendation: Never ask a board to ‘help fundraise.’ Put the giving list on screen at the meeting, hand each member ready-made text and one section to own, and ask them to send it before they leave. Sharing concrete needs is socially easy in a way money asks never are. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why won’t our board fundraise?
Usually not reluctance, vagueness. ‘Help us fundraise’ requires them to invent a plan and make a money ask. A giving list gives them something concrete and easy instead.
What’s a good board ask?
Bounded and specific: ‘share this link with ten people this month,’ with the message pre-written and one list section for them to own.
How do we keep them engaged?
Report back visibly, show at the next meeting what their shares brought in. Results turn a one-off into a habit.
The Bottom Line
Boards act when the ask is concrete, easy, and not about money, a giving list is all three. Give them one to share, free, at MyRegistry for Nonprofits.
