Navigating “Shiny Object Syndrome” With Your Well-Meaning Board

Many grant writers know the experience of dealing with well-meaning board members who love to share new grant opportunities.

Although helpful, often, oversharing and pushing me toward certain grant opportunities at the expense of my current work will derail my grant strategy.

If you can relate to my experience, here’s how I get through it. I take a deep breath and repeat the wise (and very direct) words of Dr. Bev Browning, author of Grant Writing for Dummies:
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“I'm not going to be a pushover for chasing shiny objects. We're not going to act like Gerbils running on a wheel.”

Now I don’t say this to my board, but remembering it gives me the confidence to stick to my guns. My grant strategy is just that: a strategy.

In this article, I’m going to share what I’ve learned from gathering expert advice on how to navigate what I’m going to call The Shiny Object Syndrome with your board.

I’ll explain how to avoid it, as well as how you can engage your board more productively.

Sound good? Let’s dig in!

Board engagement is a great thing—they’re invested in making your organization better. But when their passion and enthusiasm lead to the shiny object syndrome, you need to be prepared with an adept response.
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Shiny object syndrome happens when you get distracted by the latest trends, chasing new opportunities with little strategy or forethought.

Members of your board might share a new opportunity they heard about and expect you to jump on it immediately. While they may have your nonprofit’s best interests at heart, there are some significant pitfalls to this approach. Let’s go over a few:

Limited Staff Capacity

We all know that winning grant money isn’t a quick process. It takes months of planning, identifying opportunities, tracking deadlines, and so much more. It’s best accomplished through a thoughtful strategy, balancing your organization’s needs with what your staff has the time and capacity for.

However, board members often don’t see that. They see the overall plan and will often draw on their business acumen to identify efficiencies that aren’t practical in nonprofit management.

In reality, if you pursued every opportunity the board threw at you, your staff would quickly burn out. You’d have high turnover, which would end up costing you even more in the long run.

Dr. Bev Browning, with her background as a CEO, Senior Consultant, and Director/Founder, has a great suggestion on how to handle this:
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“I draw a line in the sand (in my mind) to prepare me for the push-back from the board that wants $1 million in three months or less.”

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As you consider how to best navigate this situation with your board, make sure that you’re an advocate for your staff. You are their mouthpiece, so it’s up to you to speak up and stand up on behalf of the staff members and departments who are doing the grant work.

Mission Drift

If you’re not careful, shiny object syndrome can also quickly lead to mission drift.
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When urged by your board to pursue constantly changing grant opportunities, you might end up adjusting your mission and programming to fit a funder, ultimately moving away from your nonprofit’s intended purpose and goals.

Mission drift can happen one small decision at a time. You might start by trying to fit them all into your grant calendar, but you’ll end up missing deadlines producing subpar applications. You’ll also compromise your mission to fit the mold of funders.

In continually trying to change your nonprofit to meet funders’ needs, you’ll lose sight of your core mission and struggle to make a real impact.

Matt Hugg, President and Founder of Nonprofit Courses, has a great suggestion on how to keep your board mission-focused:
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“Educate [your board] on the causes and pitfalls of ‘mission drift.’ Train them to ask themselves, and to expect you to ask them, ‘How does this fit into our mission?’"

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If they don’t have a clear answer, it should be easy for them to see why that grant isn’t worth pursuing.

Treating Every Grant Like It’s THE Solution

As much as we might wish there were a single grant that could completely transform our organization and meet all the fundraising needs for the year, there’s not.

Sometimes, board members might come across a funding opportunity and think that it’s the perfect solution—and that it must be prioritized over everything else. However, we fundraising professionals know that a single grant or donation will not magically meet all of the needs of our organizations, which is why a differentiated grant strategy is necessary.

Dr. Bev Browning is all too familiar with this phenomenon:
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“Sorry folks, unless you're willing to put the work in for building relationships with potential funders (monthly, year-round), don't expect miracles from your grant writing consultant.”

While your board might push you to apply for these “miracle” grant opportunities they come across, you need to be prepared to explain to them why staying the course with your diversified fundraising plan is actually the best strategy.

Examples include:

• Grants
• Donations
• Earned income
• Memberships
• Sponsorships
• And more

A diversified fundraising strategy will protect the overall health of your organization.

You never want to find yourself in a position where you’re relying on a single grant to keep your doors open.

While it’s true that large, multi-year awards can transform your nonprofit, you shouldn’t pursue them blindly and at the expense of your overall strategic plan.

Just because you don’t want your board overwhelming you with grant opportunities doesn't mean you don’t want them engaged in your fundraising efforts in other ways.

With the right approach, you can cultivate healthy board engagement that’s beneficial for them and your grants team. Keep reading to learn how.

Keep Your Funding Strategy Organized and Collaborative

The best defensive strategy is an offensive one.

By keeping your board apprised of your fundraising strategies, they’ll be less likely to push new opportunities your way or unintentionally get you off track.

When asked how she navigates shiny object syndrome, Jeannette Archer-Simons gave some great advice:
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“I would have a conversation about prioritizing grants that are connected to the strategic plan. It is an opportunity to get the board thinking about the strategic initiatives that are most important to them.”

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The key here is to communicate clearly and proactively with your board what your grant strategy is and how they can play a part in it.

Instrumentl makes this easy.

Designed with nonprofit collaboration in mind, Instrumentl provides a centralized hub where you can:

• Track all your grants
• Assign tasks to your team
• Organize your awards
• Develop reports
• And so much more.

For example, create a report that lists all of the grant opportunities you’re currently pursuing and plan to apply for in the upcoming year.

Sharing this report with your board will give clarity to your fundraising strategy. They can easily see what you have coming up in your grant application pipeline.

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You can also use Instrumentl’s calendar feature to keep track of key dates and schedule meetings with your board.

During these meetings, you can keep them informed of your progress and how you’re tracking toward funding progress. This visibility will help prevent them from throwing new opportunities your way when you’re already at capacity.

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This is just the start of what you can use Instrumentl to do to help streamline communications to drive board engagement. But the key point is this: make sure to prioritize transparency with your board when it comes to your fundraising strategy.

They want to be engaged in the process, and the more clear you are, the better they will be able to help you—which leads us to our next tip!

Redirect Enthusiasm Towards Building Funder Relationships

If your board comes to you with well-meaning yet unhelpful grant suggestions, you should try redirecting their focus toward building funder and donor relationships. This is one of the best ways they can help you!

You can encourage your board to:

• Look through your funder list to see if they have any connections
• Leverage their networks for introductions
• Invite new guests and potential funders to important events.

Listen to this great advice from Jeannette Archer-Simons:
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“A key way to keep the board from asking you to chase every grant is to report what grants are being worked on that connect to the strategic plan and identifying opportunities for the board to look at the grant funder board list to determine if they are connected to any of the decision-makers.”

By redirecting the board’s enthusiasm in this way, you allow them to still be an active participant in your fundraising strategy by leveraging their unique position and skills.

Your board members joined your organization for a reason. They want to see you succeed, so make sure to show them how they can help you do that!

Get To Know Your Board Members

Finally, one of the best ways to drive board engagement is to get to know them!

Of course, you probably know a lot about these powerhouse leaders’ pedigrees, including where they work, what financial support they bring, and their functional expertise.

But that’s only on paper! When you take the time to actually get to know your board members, you can learn more about their interests and the different ways they want to help your organization grow.

They can provide strategic guidance, insightful advice, and so much more when you are looking to advance your nonprofit forward.

And when you meet with them, don’t forget to ask them about:

• Personal connections to your mission.
• Professional connections that can strengthen your nonprofit.
• Expansive networks that you can tap into financially.

Elizabeth Morgan Burrows, founder of Burrows Consulting, agrees:
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“Make sure to get to know each and every board member. If you are the leader of an organization, I promise it will be worth your time to have lunch or coffee with each of your board members.”

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Your board members are more than just a checkbook, and when you leverage them to their fullest potential, you will yield dividends. Plus, this open communication can help drive board engagement and instill two-way trust that will only benefit you in the long run.

An engaged board is a happy board. However, it’s essential to set boundaries to avoid mission drift and get off track with your funding priorities due to well-meaning suggestions.

Remember that you can help cultivate healthy engagement with your board through:

• Collaborating on your funding strategy
• Redirecting enthusiasm to relationship building
• Getting to know the individual members of your board

Instrumentl is a great tool to help you communicate with your board clearly and transparently. Sign up for your free 14-day trial today.