FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ — “Ask most people associated with most nonprofits how much money they think they can raise in a fundraising cycle and usually they’ll smile and answer, ‘As much as we can.’ But that’s a tragic mistake,” says Dr. Stephen L. Goldstein, “the fundraising guru.” Nonprofits need to set working goals and energize their boards to achieve them.

Goldstein’s free assessment tool for benchmarking every nonprofit’s fundraising potential is available at www.fundraisingassessments.blogspot.com.

Goldstein says that an organization’s “Fundraising Threshold” (FT) is equal to the amount of money its board personally donates annually times 10. In other words, if the board of nonprofit X collectively contributes $100,000, it is reasonable to expect that it can raise $1 million yearly.

Of course, in some years, an organization may have a windfall — a major gift from an estate, for example. That’s always good, just not predictable. By contrast, an organization’s FT establishes the parameters of its ongoing activities, putting it on a reliable, solid footing.

The FT formula is based upon two important assumptions. First, the board of every nonprofit must understand that it is the key to an organization’s successful fundraising. As fiduciaries, board members are their nonprofit’s primary fundraisers. Paid staff guide and assist them in their fundraising role; they cannot and should not take their place.

Second, board members “worth” anything should be able to get at least 10 others to donate as much as they do. They agreed to be on the board presumably because they were committed to the mission and goals of the organization. So what’s the big deal?

Before even considering making a major gift, potential donors should ask the board member asking them how much he or she gives, how much the board donates as a whole, and at what levels board members give, without naming names. The reason is simple: Why should a potential donor bankroll an organization, when the people who are supposed to be committed enough to it to be on the board don’t ante up?

So, to increase your fundraising goal, determine your current FT, motivate your board to give more — then score a perfect 10!