By naming its fund-raising team “the friendship committee,” The Adoption Exchange has set the tone for board fund-raising: it’s about relationships first. This premise helped the nonprofit develop a board that could bring in the funds that are so critical to their operations.

The Adoption Exchange plays a crucial role in child welfare. It places abused and neglected children in permanent adoptive families, offers support services, and trains child welfare professionals in 50 states. But since it does not charge fees and maintains independence from any single source of funding, it looks to its board to play a key fund-raising role. We spoke to president and executive director Dixie van de Flier Davis about the nonprofit’s board of directors and some of the steps they’ve taken to strengthen its fund-raising ability.

Can you provide some history on the growth of your board?

The Adoption Exchange was established 25 years ago by people with big hearts but no fund-raising experience. Over the years our board has become a governance and fund-raising board, and our budget has grown to $4 million.

How did The Adoption Exchange achieve this growth?

We started by selecting board members with professional expertise to help us develop our infrastructure. Then we cultivated small donations, thinking long-term—10 to 20 years out. We made fund-raising a team effort, really stretching the staff and relying on the board. Now our board cares as much about fund-raising as our development team.

How do you communicate expectations for giving to your board?

Our expectations for board giving used to be softly stated. One of our biggest turning points was when we started setting global goals and asking for 100% board participation. We don’t set the amount for personal giving, but we set a goal for the board as a whole. Every time we’ve done that the board has exceeded its own goals.

What is The Adoption Exchange’s philosophy behind fund-raising?

We remind our board that fund-raising is about building relationships and making friends. We created a committee and called it the “friendship committee”—not the “fund-raising committee”—because we want board members to care more about the friend than the donation. We also acknowledge and honor the small gift as much as the large gift. In fact, our first six-figure gift came from a gentleman who’d only contributed $10 prior, and it had been over five years between that small gift and the really big one. That gesture taught us a lot about relationship-building and fund-raising.

How do you motivate your board to fund-raise?

We start every board meeting with stories that inspire and help us focus. We tell donor stories—like the donor who keeps a coin jar on his dresser in memory of his wife—our own fund-raising success stories, and stories about the children who have benefited from our services.

What do you think is the main reason your board has become better at fund-raising?

They know that we all are involved for only one purpose – the children. They are recruited to our board because they share that commitment. The rest is easy. 

To learn more about The Adoption Exchange, visit www.adoptex.org.