CFRE Volunteer and Board Fundraising Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Effective volunteer recruitment for a fundraising campaign should begin with:
- Posting a generic social media request for volunteers
- Identifying individuals with connections to the mission and capacity to open doors to prospects (Correct answer)
- Hiring a volunteer coordinator as a first step
- Waiting until the campaign is publicly launched
Correct answer: Identifying individuals with connections to the mission and capacity to open doors to prospects
Recruiting volunteers who have personal connections to the mission and relationships with prospective donors dramatically increases campaign effectiveness compared to general recruitment.
Question 2: Which of the following is a key responsibility of a campaign chair volunteer?
- Processing all gift transactions
- Providing leadership credibility, making a lead gift, and helping recruit other major donors and volunteer leaders (Correct answer)
- Writing all campaign communications
- Managing staff performance reviews
Correct answer: Providing leadership credibility, making a lead gift, and helping recruit other major donors and volunteer leaders
A campaign chair provides visible leadership by making a significant personal gift and using their reputation and relationships to attract other leaders and major donors to the campaign.
Question 3: What is the best way to sustain volunteer engagement over a multi-year capital campaign?
- Assigning the same tasks repeatedly to build routine
- Providing regular updates on campaign progress, celebrating milestones, and recognizing volunteer contributions (Correct answer)
- Reducing volunteer involvement after the silent phase
- Switching volunteers to different campaigns mid-cycle
Correct answer: Providing regular updates on campaign progress, celebrating milestones, and recognizing volunteer contributions
Sustained engagement requires keeping volunteers informed of progress, celebrating shared achievements, and consistently recognizing their contributions to maintain motivation over time.
Question 4: A fundraising 'board retreat' focused on development is MOST useful for:
- Reviewing the organization's investment performance
- Building board understanding of fundraising expectations, developing shared strategy, and practicing donor conversations (Correct answer)
- Processing staff performance reviews
- Filing annual state charitable registration documents
Correct answer: Building board understanding of fundraising expectations, developing shared strategy, and practicing donor conversations
A board fundraising retreat aligns board members on their philanthropic role, builds confidence for donor conversations, and creates shared ownership of fundraising strategy.
Question 5: When a board member feels uncomfortable asking for gifts, the fundraiser should:
- Remove them from all fundraising activities
- Train them in lower-risk fundraising roles such as cultivation, stewardship, and opening doors rather than direct solicitation (Correct answer)
- Require them to complete a solicitation quota anyway
- Report the discomfort to the executive director as a performance issue
Correct answer: Train them in lower-risk fundraising roles such as cultivation, stewardship, and opening doors rather than direct solicitation
Not every board member needs to make face-to-face asks; effective development programs offer multiple engagement roles that play to individual strengths and comfort levels.
Question 6: The concept of 'peer-to-peer fundraising' relies primarily on:
- The organization's staff making all solicitations
- Donors and supporters soliciting their own networks on behalf of the organization (Correct answer)
- Social media advertising algorithms
- Grant funding from foundations
Correct answer: Donors and supporters soliciting their own networks on behalf of the organization
Peer-to-peer fundraising leverages the personal networks and relationships of supporters who solicit their own friends, family, and colleagues, dramatically expanding the donor base.
CFRE Volunteer and Board Fundraising Management 2
Effective volunteer recruitment for a fundraising campaign should begin with: