Your Nonprofit ROI Sucks...but It Doesn't Have to!

Board recruitment sucks.

Donor acquisition sucks.

Business relationship development sucks.

ROI creation and justification sucks.

But what if all those things didn't have to? Or at least lessen the suckiness?

Over the last week or so, I have been involved in a boatload of conversations & trainings with organizations of all sizes with the same concerns, problems and complaints.

Good people are hard to find.

Whether it is people that would be willing to say “yes” to a board leadership position that requires their hard-earned time, volunteers who would be willing to give their talent, or new donors who are enthusiastic about giving their treasure.

Well, duh.

At no point in history has this ever been untrue.

However, it seems that these unicorn humans who we want to serve our mission are becoming more elusive.

And I think I’m figuring out why.

Picture this: you’re in a board‐recruitment meeting armed with a 37-slide deck, three half-drunk coffees, and the same old pitch—“Join our board and make an impact.” 

You watch eyes glaze faster than day-old grocery store donuts.

Then somebody drops a line so good the fundraising gods pause their Zoom calls:

“We’re looking for individuals who have excellent ROI. Return on Involvement.”

Hell yes. Now we're talking!

Suddenly the room feels less like a polite hostage situation and more like the set of Shark Tank—everyone leaning in, calculators metaphorically bursting into flames trying to re-run the math.

This, my fellow do-gooders, is the reframe we’ve been waiting for.

So how do we re-train our eyes, ears and guts to find board members, business partners, or donors who match this new path forward?

I got you:

1. Board Recruitment: Stop Selling Seats, Start Selling Stories

Traditional ROI math says, “Give us X hours and we’ll show you Y dollars raised.”

Snooze.

Return on Involvement (RoI—I’m adding a rebellious lowercase “o” because branding) asks a better question: “What personal transformation will this board journey deliver?”

That might sound woo-woo, but I’m convinced that’s what will make the difference between getting a great human on your leadership team rather than simply getting an ordinary butt-in-a-seat.

And God knows, you don’t need any more than that.

You already have Dave.

Just think about it. More Dave’s?

Nope. No thanks.

Here’s what adventures you can sell to folks you have on your board radar:

• Identity boost: Prospects aren’t just adding a résumé line; they’re becoming ambassadors for a cause that makes holiday small talk actually interesting.

  
  

• Community cred: Involvement offers front-row seats to local change. Board members get thanked in public more often than I quietly yell at refs on TV during football games as if I have any idea or professional qualifications to know better than them.

  
  

• Skill XP: Think of your finance committee like the side quest that secretly teaches stealth accounting skills. No PowerPoint slide can compete with “I saved a shelter 20% on utilities—using my day job superpowers.”

  
  

When recruiting, ditch the ask-to-task ratio and pitch the plot twist:

“Join our board and unlock the character development arc you didn’t know you needed.”

2. Donor Engagement: From Transactional to Transformational

Every fundraiser has heard some sort of form of the question: “So, what’s my ROI?”

Translation: “Convince me I’m not funding the nonprofit equivalent of getting socks and underwear at Christmas.”

The answer? Return on Involvement flips the script.

This alternative way of approaching individuals who you think (nay, know!) would make great donors for your organization gives you so many different angles to take in conversations than what you’ve read or seen at that conference talking about “best practices.”

Try any one of these ways to pivot your chats that your donors can be involved with:

• Co-creation over check writing: Invite donors to brainstorm program tweaks, sit in on impact tours, or even guest-star in your TikTok explainers (The Grandma Griddy for Good? Seriously. Someone steal this. Please). The more they do, the more they feel the mission.

  
  

• Emotional dividends: Data proves recurring givers stick around longer if they see themselves in the story. Monthly donors who get quarterly behind-the-scenes updates in video or phone calls will have higher retention. That’s not sorcery—it’s involvement.

  
  

• Narrative ownership: When a donor’s birthday fundraiser buys the last laptop for your tutoring program, send a selfie video from the kid who boots it up first. That’s a return you can’t chart in Excel but will light their phone like Times Square on NYE.

3. Business Partnerships: ROI That Hits the Bottom and Top Line

“We need more businesses to give to us!” cry nonprofit leaders everywhere I go.

Welp. Businesses don’t care about your nonprofit.

Because they don’t know who you are. They are also not obligated to give to you. They also don’t just give money or time away without getting something in return.

So think differently dammit. And bubble to the top of the consideration list because of your newfangled approach here!

Corporate social responsibility teams live for ROI spreadsheets.

Hand them a new acronym and watch them perk up like coffee company marketers getting the green-light to use their yearly “limited-edition pumpkin spice” phrasing.

 Here’s how to turn involvement into mutually assured delight:

1. Employee engagement fuel: Offer paid volunteer days that involve brains, not just brawn. (Yes, building playgrounds or stuffing backpacks is noble; but data clean-up with pizza can be just as heroic—oh, if you could only ask a sentient CRM how they feel after it finally balances.)

   
   

2. Brand story amplification: Companies crave authentic narratives. Co‐host a live podcast episode from their lobby featuring clients whose lives changed because of the partnership. Voilà—content for LinkedIn, Instagram, AND someone’s quarterly report. Freaking GOLD.

   
   

3. Talent magnet: Gen Z jobseekers want to know how they can join a company that makes their community better. They also like really fancy titles. When you can’t offer something like “Wizard of Lightbulb Moments and Oxford Comma Destroyer” at your office, “Return on Involvement” projects signal purpose-driven culture, boosting recruitment without another ping-pong table expense.

4. Measuring the Immeasurable (Without Losing Your CPA’s Friendship)

“But Patrick,” you cry, clutching your calculator, “my board treasurer still needs numbers!”

Fear not; we can quantify the warm fuzzies without you having to rewire your brain to comprehend that growth doesn’t always mean percentage of increase in silent auction item values.

• Engagement hours logged: Track volunteer/task time like billable hours—because it is value.

  
  

• Story touches: Count donor‐generated social posts, referral emails, or user-generated videos. Those impressions are marketing gold you didn’t pay a dime for.

  
  

• Retention uptick: Compare churn rates pre- and post-involvement strategy. If you shave even 5% off attrition, that’s straight-line revenue preserved.

  
  

Wrap those stats in a tidy infographic, sprinkle in a couple of tear-jerker quotes, and your treasurer will fist-bump you at the next finance meeting (or at least nod sternly—which is basically treasurer-translation of an awkward side-hug).

5. So…What would you say Your RoI Game Plan is?

Oh you want actionable tasks?

This whole blog sounds great, but you need a bit more hand holding and demand a distilled next steps list in order to take this info and run!?

Fine. You’re so demanding.

But I do it because I love you and your work.

And you click “like” a lot so it satiates my High I on the DISC chart in order for me to feel god about things. HA!

Here’s your three-step homework—no clipboard required:

1. Map roles to rewards. For every stakeholder—board, donor, corporate partner—list tangible and intangible wins they get by leaning in. Trust me, NO ONE is doing this, which makes you stand out in a crowd. And? A really good practice to be curious about what you give in exchange for what you get.

   
   

2. Bake involvement into onboarding. First touchpoint? Hand them a micro-mission, not a brochure. People learn by doing. You remember sitting in a room watching a VHS tape on culture on your first day right? No? Just me? I’m the old one here? Ok. Then just IMAGINE that…and today’s version of that for onboarding is making them read a 90 page PDF or clicking through a website. Be more creative and quicker about it.

   
   

3. Tell live stories early and often. If a tree falls in a forest and nobody live-streams it, the algorithm shrugs. Also, there’s nothing less enjoyable than having zero clicks working on a 3 hour mini-documentary. Instead, celebrate involvement in real time: short videos, thank-you reels, behind-the-scenes GIFs. Remember, we all have the attention span of fruit flies. Act accordingly!

   
   

In the nonprofit universe, dollars matter (duh).

But loyalty, passion, and kitchen-table advocacy? Those are the meteors that move mountains.

Return on Involvement lets us measure what truly matters: humans showing up for humans.

So, next time someone asks, “What’s the ROI on that gala/board retreat/donut-themed Mario-Kart-athon?” smile knowingly and reply, “Infinite—if you’re involved.”

Then hand them a volunteer waiver or signup sheet along with a sprinkle donut.

Trust me, that’s one KPI you’ll both remember.

You got this!

-Patrick

PS: Got another idea or need some help rolling this out? Well, you’re in luck – because that’s what I’m good at! Ping me and see how we can help! Patrick@DoGoodBetterConsulting.com