Onboarding & Building Your Corporate Funding Team

Today, I'm here to talk about onboarding and building the capacity of your corporate fundraising team. Last time, we discussed the tools and infrastructure you need to execute a fundraising strategy and how to build the team that will help you achieve it. Now, we’re going to dive into how to effectively onboard that team and develop their capacity to ensure success.

The truth is, whether you’re working with existing team members or bringing in new hires, many may not fully understand how to execute the corporate fundraising strategy. Even if they know their roles, they might not know the exact steps to take or the tools available to help them achieve the results you've set out. That’s why it’s essential to properly onboard your team and, if necessary, build their capacity.

Onboarding is all about alignment. You need to ensure that everyone is aligned with the strategy and fully understands the objectives, their role in achieving them, and the specific actions they need to take. This is where onboarding plays a crucial role.

The goal of onboarding is to create that alignment—making sure everyone understands the strategy, the objectives, and how they fit into the bigger picture. Additionally, onboarding provides an opportunity for strategy introduction. This is the time to ensure that the team executing the plan is fully briefed on key events related to the strategy, understands their roles, and knows the tools available to them. By the end of onboarding, your team should be clear about what’s expected of them, understand how to use the tools, and be motivated and enthusiastic to bring the corporate fundraising goal to life.

Unfortunately, many organizations skip or rush through onboarding after building their team, simply handing them tools and expecting them to start executing immediately. But onboarding gives your team a chance to come together, discuss the goals, clarify roles, and understand how they can support each other to achieve success.

Capacity building is the natural extension of onboarding. It comes into play when some team members aren’t fully skilled in the areas they’re expected to work in. For example, if you have a marketing director tasked with leading marketing within the corporate fundraising strategy, they may be skilled in marketing in general, but they might not have experience in marketing to corporate partners. That’s where capacity building comes in.

Corporate fundraising often involves setting up meetings, making the ask, and securing funding. Your team needs to be trained not only in the logistics of setting up these meetings but also in the nuances of approaching and pitching to business executives. You might think they already know what to do, but if you’re aiming for long-term success, investing in training is critical. Capacity building focuses on skill development, strategy execution, and optimizing their roles to achieve results.

Lastly, capacity building also ensures your team knows how to optimize the tools and messaging available to them. It’s about understanding the technology, resources, and messaging that will help you meet your fundraising goals.

To sum it up, onboarding and capacity building are not optional; they are crucial for the success of your corporate fundraising strategy and the personal success of your team members. Understanding their roles, mastering the tools, and being properly trained is how your team will drive results.

Tomorrow, I’ll be back to discuss efficient and effective execution of fundraising efforts. Once you’ve onboarded your team and built their capacity, the next step is ensuring that execution is both efficient and effective. I’ll dive into how that looks and what your team needs to do to be successful.

That’s the brief value I have for you today. Tomorrow, we’ll explore another exciting topic. In the meantime, if you need assistance this week, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can schedule a free call with us by scanning the QR code on the screen. We’re here to help your organization not just meet its goals, but consistently raise the funds needed to make a real impact. Until next time, take care and let’s create some results today!

Rooney Akpesiri is the Vice President of Solutions Matter LLC Schedule a free call: https://calendly.com/solutionsmatter/freeassessment