We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits 665. Working Session: Activate Your Board + Grow Your Pipeline with Rhea Wong
If year-end fundraising feels like an all-gas-no-brakes sprint, this Working Session is your moment to regroup, refocus, and rally your strongest allies. We brought in fundraising expert and author Rhea Wong for a rapid-fire strategy session on two mission-critical moves: activating your board before December 31 and turning year-end gifts, signals, and conversations into a predictable 2026 pipeline — in under 30 minutes.
Rhea walks us through her signature approach to board engagement and donor outreach: one rooted in clarity, specificity, and creating micro-yes moments that move relationships forward.
You’ll learn how to give board members turnkey actions they’ll actually complete, how to structure two-call closes for warm prospects, and how to use January to set up a smarter, stronger pipeline for the entire year.
Top 3 Takeaways:
- Your Board Is Your Force Multiplier: Stop sending blanket emails. Start giving individuals clear, specific, low-friction tasks — from making their own gift to nudging warm contacts to posting on LinkedIn. Activated intentionally, your board becomes your most powerful surface-area expander.
- December Is for Decisions: Rhea breaks down her two-step outreach process — the R for R.O. (Reason for Reaching Out), the alignment call, the opportunity call, and the art of making a clear ask and then staying quiet.
- January Is Your Pipeline Launchpad: Retention workflows, short donor surveys, micro-engagement signals, and a simple “schedule time with me” link in your email signature can dramatically increase donor conversations. Plus her favorite January homework: donor interviews that build your 2026 avatar and deepen relationships with zero solicitation pressure.
This episode is packed with low-lift, high-impact tactics to help you close strong this year — and build a donor pipeline that carries you confidently into the next.
Welcome back to Working Sessions: hands-on, clarity-filled conversations designed to help you move real work forward inside your organization.
Let’s get to work.
Episode Highlights:
- Four Quick Board Actions for Year-End Fundraising (00:58)
- Getting Your Nonprofit and Board Members on LinkedIn (03:39)
- Making Board Engagement Fun & Effective (04:01)
- Removing Friction: Scripts, Emails & Turnkey Tasks (05:08)
- How to Move Unengaged Board Members to Action (05:39)
- December is for Decisions: Triage Your Donor List (08:08)
- The Two-Call Strategy for Major Gift Closes (09:10)
- 0:12:06 – Handling Objections & Building Consent at Every Step
- What to Do in January: Retention & Stewardship (14:25)
- Using Surve
Join us at the We Are For Good Summit on February 12!
If you’re looking to build capacity, clarity, and momentum in the new year, we hope you’ll join us at our first-ever We Are For Good Summit, Powered by Givebutter on February 12. Expect workshops, roundtable conversations, and a playbook to get you activated this year. Register for free today!
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