You want your board to be more strategic governors, more compelling ambassadors, and more effective fundraisers, but you don’t know how to get there. Well, Susan Howlett knows how! Her simple, no-cost suggestions can help your board bring all their gifts to the table and serve your mission more powerfully – with joy and ease.

Susan has been strengthening boards for nearly 50 years, as a trustee, a development director, an executive director, and a consultant to thousands of nonprofits across the continent. Susan was core faculty in a year-long program at the University of Washington for 30 years and has spoken at hundreds of conferences from coast to coast. Her down-to-earth approach is laced with humor, and her practical responses to age-old problems make her a sought-after speaker and facilitator of board retreats.

Boards on Fire

About Boards on Fire

Boards on Fire! Inspiring Leaders to Raise Money Joyfully distills Susan Howlett’s years of experience working with thousands of boards into a slim volume that can be read in a couple of hours.

In a few short chapters you’ll learn:

why board members struggle with asking

what gets board members excited about raising money

which donors and prospects leaders should focus on

how to turn trustees into compelling ambassadors

what board members need to be successful fundraisers

Boards on Fire offers simple steps and practical solutions to get your board on fire about fundraising. And at the end of each chapter, she offers clear next steps, augmented by common pitfalls and helpful resources, including videos, checklists, examples and more. This is one how-to book that leaders of nonprofits will actually read! And when they’re done, they’ll say, “That makes sense! We can DO that!”

Boards on Fire Resources

Barrier 1: Expectations Are Unclear

Barrier 3: The Board Doesn’t Own the Budget

Finance Videos for Boards

Barrier 4: Trustees Aren’t Engaged in Governance

Barrier 5: The Mission Is Muddy

Barrier 6: Goals Aren’t Driving Behavior

Barrier 8: The Fundraising Strategy Is Ill-Defined

Barrier 9: The Board Isn’t Being Used Optimally

Barrier 10: Leaders Aren’t Equipped To Be Ambassadors

Last Chapter

Video: Fundraising Joyfully: How One Board Caught Fire

Additional Resources

Boards on Fire Reviews

A must have for any governing group by Carole J Jones

Wow. Our development team has used several books for guidance but this one really nailed it. Short topics that pack a punch really worked for us. It helped us bring our actions back to the reason we are fundraising–our mission statement. That alone brought the first burst of energy.

Excellent, easy-to-implement tips for inspiring boards to help raise funds by Shelley K Milne (Bothell, WA)

This little gem of a book is a quick read, yet packed full of excellent information, tips, and tools to help transform a fundraising-resistant board into an inspired one, ready for action. As a nonprofit consultant, I have utilized Susan’s suggestions with great success. In my opinion, every Executive Director should read this book at least once per year to beef up their board’s fundraising prowess.

Transform Your Board by Andrea Kihlstedt (New York, New York)

It’s tempting to berate board members for not doing their part in fundraising. “My board just won’t ask.” is an all too common refrain. Susan Howlett, in her book Boards on Fire doesn’t castigate board members for being ineffective. Rather, she describes eleven barriers to fundraising and outlines the things an organization can do to remove those barriers.

By the time I finished reading Boards on Fire! I was convinced that the suggestions in this book could help transform the members of any board into willing and effective fundraisers. And that’s no small accomplishment!

Simply by doing things like clarifying commitments when recruiting board members, helping board members understand the broader community context in which their organization operates, and finding a way to have board members internalize the organization’s mission, you can inspire your board members in a way that will help them get over their resistance to fundraising.

This book reminded me that board members don’t shirk their fundraising duties because they want to, but because they aren’t well prepared to carry them out. Most people who agree to serve on boards would like to do their jobs well and by following the advice in this slim and appealing book, we can help them do just that.

]Blissfully short, well-written and with many references to specific tools, Boards on Fire! is a great resource for any organization that is having trouble getting its board to fundraise.

Boards on Fire Excerpt

Read an Excerpt of Boards on Fire in PDF format.

Boards on Fire Podcasts & Audio with Slides

Engaging your board optimally in event fundraising Podcast with Swaim Strategies’ Samantha Swaim and Kristin Steele

Helping boards of arts organizations get excited about fundraising
Podcast with RSC’s Bob Swaney

Ways to get board members to engage with fundraising
Podcast with Asking Matters’ Brian Saber (audio with slides)

Bloomerang’s Steven Shadduck talks with Susan Howlett
Podcast with Bloomerang’s Stephen Shadduck (audio with slides)

"Who would have thought we could get so much work done in one day!? And everyone's still upbeat and ready for action!"

Evaluation from board retreat

"Why didn't someone twenty years ago tell us that it was this easy? Susan simplifies everything and makes it all achievable."

Bob, historic preservation group

"Everything Susan says turns into money when I get back to work!"

Tara Morgan

"Susan has a wonderful gift for understanding what we need to learn, and giving it to us in a way we can absorb."

Johna Thomson

"This lady is clearly in love with what she does. She makes everything look like fun!"

Charise Diamond

“Our time with Susan was like walking out of the woods into a clearing. Her presence and thoughtful advice made us ready to take the next step.”

Jonathan White

Resource Institute

Video by 501 Videos

Buy Boards on Fire

Volume discounts

Volume discounts are available on all our hard copy books:

2-10 copies = 20% discount
11-20 copies = 30% discount
21+ copies = 40% discount

Contact Susan Howlett

206.545.2186
susan(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)susanhowlett.com