Ask not-for-profit board members if they enjoy fundraising and their responses will vary widely. Some members are happy to participate if given the green light by their organizations. In my experience, however, many board members find soliciting donations uncomfortable or even distasteful. Some feel they don't have the necessary personal connections or wealth. Or they say, "It's just not my job."

Today, however, fundraising is everyone's job if a not-for-profit is to be successful and sustainable.

If you've worked at (or with) a nonprofit, you've struggled with your board members at some point. We all have. It's normal! The relationship between nonprofits and their boards is that of checks and balances and strategy. Frustration happens.

One of the most common sources of frustration is getting board members involved in fundraising. Many—maybe even most—nonprofits expect their board members to support their fundraising efforts both by donating and by taking on an active role in finding and recruiting donors. Getting board members to donate is pretty straightforward, but getting them to actively raise money for you is another thing altogether.

Board members have a lot of responsibility to the organization they represent, to the community for which they are stewards of the nonprofit’s resources, and also to the organization’s CEO. The CEO’s success is tied closely to the support he or she receives from the board. How can individual board members support their CEO’s success? Below are the six ways I’ve found that have the greatest impact.