Build Your Fundraising Team

This step sits after the fundraising strategy is adopted by the board and before execution begins.

At this point:

• The board has approved the fundraising strategy
• The founder is no longer the sole executor
• The board’s role now expands into oversight, accountability, and support of execution

This phase operationalizes what the board has already agreed to.

Recruiting the Outreach Execution Team

You've designed your fundraising system:

• the audience
• the journey
• the roles
• the materials
• the timeline and budget

This phase is about people.

A fundraising system without people is just documentation.
This phase turns the system into action.

Before you recruit anyone, one thing must be clear:

You are not recruiting “helpers.”
You are recruiting people to execute specific roles already defined in your strategy.

That’s why this phase comes after the strategy, not before.

Board Alignment Note:
The board is not responsible for managing volunteers day-to-day.

The board’s role here is to:

• Affirm the volunteer structure
• Support recruitment where appropriate
• Hold the system accountable to results

Before You Recruit Anyone (Read This First)

Your fundraising strategy already told you:

• what needs to be done daily
• what can be systemized
• what requires founder involvement
• what can be delegated

Recruitment now becomes simple.
You’re filling roles, not hoping people figure things out.

Board Alignment Note:
This clarity allows board members to confidently explain the system to potential volunteers without improvisation.

The Minimum Team We Recommend (Based on What Works)

For organizations without staff or with limited staff, the minimum effective structure we’ve seen work consistently is three volunteers:

1. Donor Outreach Volunteer (Individuals)
Primary focus: individual donor attraction and follow-up

What they do (1 hour per day, Monday–Friday):

• Post attraction content on Facebook and Instagram
• Share lead magnets and surveys
• Manage ads promoting attraction strategies
• Monitor lead flow into the email system
• Tag and segment prospects
• Manage follow-up sequences for non-givers

2. Corporate Outreach Volunteer (Businesses)
Primary focus: business prospecting and meeting setup

What they do (1 hour per day, Monday–Friday):

• Post on LinkedIn to attract business owners and executives
• Use the founder’s LinkedIn account (with permission) to:
  • connect with business leaders
  • send outreach messages
• Email business executives daily to book meetings
• Research and build lists of aligned businesses
• Promote business-focused lead magnets

3. Grant Outreach Volunteer (Grantors)

Primary focus: grant pipeline development

What they do (1 hour per day, Monday–Friday):

• Research-aligned foundations
• Build and update a grant prospect list
• Email program directors to request meetings
• Attend grant webinars and briefings
• Draft grant applications

Target output: one grant application per week

Two Execution Models You Can Use

(Fellowship vs Ongoing Volunteers)

Once you are clear on the roles you need, you now have two structurally sound ways to staff them.

Both work.
One is stronger for momentum and consistency.

Option 1 (Recommended): Volunteer Fundraising Fellowship

This is the preferred model for most founder-led or early-stage organizations.

A Volunteer Fundraising Fellowship is a time-bound, cohort-based execution structure where volunteers commit to a defined role for a fixed period (for example, 8 or 12 weeks).

They are not “helping when they can.”
They are executing as part of a system.

How the Fellowship Model Works

Volunteers apply into a cohort
Each fellow is assigned one clear role (individuals, businesses, or grants)
Expectations are fixed:

1 hour per day, Monday–Friday
Defined outputs tied to the fundraising system

Fellows receive:

Training
Role-specific materials
Ongoing support

The fellowship has:

A clear start date
A clear end date
Clear outcomes

Why This Model Works Better

It creates identity (“I’m a Fundraising Fellow”)
It increases commitment because it is time-bound
It reduces drop-off because expectations are shared and visible
It allows you to onboard, train, and manage people in batches
It creates a pipeline for future volunteers, staff, or board members

This model is especially effective when:

The organization has no paid fundraising staff
Daily execution matters
The founder needs consistency without micromanaging
The board wants a clear, professional execution structure to support

Board Alignment Note: The board affirms the fellowship structure and may support recruitment or visibility, but does not manage fellows directly.

 
Option 2: Ongoing Volunteer Roles (Secondary Option)

This model works best when the organization already has:

Strong systems
Some paid capacity
Or highly self-directed volunteers
In this structure:

Volunteers are recruited individually
There is no fixed cohort or end date
Volunteers may stay as long as capacity and interest align

How to Use This Model Well

Roles must still be clearly defined
Training and job portfolios must still exist
Expectations must still be explicit
Volunteers should be reviewed regularly for fit and consistency

This option is best used:

To support overflow work
To extend capacity between fellowship cohorts
Or when a fellowship structure is not yet feasible

How to Choose Between the Two

If you are deciding which model to start with, use this simple rule:

If consistency and momentum are critical → start with a Fellowship
If flexibility and ad-hoc support are sufficient → use Ongoing Volunteers

You can also do both.

Many organizations:

Run a fellowship as the primary execution engine
Retain high-performing fellows as ongoing volunteers afterward

This creates continuity without rebuilding the system each time.

Motivation and Support (This Matters)

This structure works because volunteers receive:

• $50/month support for internet/data
• Training in fundraising, outreach, and research
• Real-world experience they can put on their resume
• Recommendations and testimonials
• Priority consideration for paid roles as the organization grows
• Exposure to board members and professionals

This is not cheap labor.
It’s a structured, skill-building engagement.

That said, your exact structure must reflect your strategy.
This is a model, not a rule.

Board Alignment Note:
Board members may:

Refer volunteers
Offer professional exposure
Provide recommendations
They do not manage execution.

Step 1: Create Your Volunteer Application Form

To recruit effectively, you need a clean intake system.

You already have access to a prebuilt Google Volunteer Application Form.
You must not edit the original form.

Instead, you will save a copy so:

responses come directly to your email
you can customize it for your organization
the original form remains intact

How to Save a Copy of the Google Form

Follow these steps exactly:

Open the Google Form link provided.
Make sure you are logged into the Google account you want to receive responses.
Click the three dots (⋮) in the top-right corner.
Select “Make a copy.”
Rename the form (example:
[Organization Name] – Fundraising Volunteer Application).
Choose the Google Drive folder where you want it saved.
Click OK.

This copy now belongs to you.

Important Setup Steps (Do Not Skip)

After copying the form:

Open your copied form.
Go to Settings:

Turn on “Collect email addresses”
Turn off “Limit to 1 response” (unless you want Google-only users)

Go to Responses:

Click the Google Sheets icon to link responses to a spreadsheet
Customize:

Add your organization name
Add the specific roles you are recruiting for
Add a short description of expectations (1 hour/day, remote, etc.)
That’s it.

This form is what you will link in every recruitment post.

Step 2: Create Your Volunteer Recruitment & Execution Materials

(Using AI and Pre-Built Google Docs)

This step ensures you do not improvise recruitment, onboarding, or management.

You are building a repeatable volunteer system, not running one-off conversations.

By the end of this step, you will have every material required to:

Recruit the right people
Screen and select them consistently
Onboard them quickly
Train them properly
Review performance without friction
Scale or repeat the process at any time
Nothing in this step is written from scratch.

You will use AI prompts and pre-built document structures to generate everything in sequence.

 
What This Step Covers
You will create all materials needed across the volunteer lifecycle, including:

Recruitment & Screening Materials
Volunteer recruitment ad copy
Social media recruitment posts (driving to application form)
Interview invitation email
Pre-interview rejection email
Interview facilitation guide
Interview scoring logic (if applicable)
Selection & Onboarding Materials
Acceptance email
Post-interview rejection email
Onboarding email
Onboarding script (role-specific)
Execution & Management Materials
Job portfolio (per role)
Training material (per role)
Volunteer agreement & confidentiality form
Weekly volunteer review form
Biweekly facilitation guide (for check-ins and accountability)
These materials work together as one system.

 
Important Rule Before You Begin
You will not try to create everything at once.

You will create materials one category at a time, in the order outlined below.

Each material builds on the one before it.

 
How This Step Is Structured
You will be directed to a Google Doc that contains:

Clear instructions
One AI prompt per material (or small group of materials)
Placeholders for your organization-specific information
Your job is not to design the process.
Your job is to run the process in order.

 
The Order You Must Follow
Phase 1: Recruitment Messaging
Start here. Do not skip.

Open the Google Doc titled:
Volunteer Recruitment Materials
Run the AI prompt to generate:

Core volunteer recruitment ad copy
Platform-specific social media posts
Clear call-to-action driving to your application form
Review only for clarity and accuracy.
Do not over-edit.
These materials are used across LinkedIn, volunteer platforms, email, and social media.

 
Phase 2: Interview & Screening Materials
Once recruitment messaging exists, move to screening.

Open the Google Doc titled:
Volunteer Screening & Interview Materials
Run the AI prompts one at a time to create:

Interview invitation email
Pre-interview rejection email
Interview facilitation guide
Interview evaluation or scoring logic
These materials ensure:

Consistent interviews
Reduced bias
Faster decisions
Less founder fatigue
You do not customize these per candidate.
You reuse them.

 
Phase 3: Selection & Onboarding Communication
After interviews, clarity matters.

Open the Google Doc titled:
Volunteer Selection & Onboarding Emails
Use AI to generate:

Acceptance email
Post-interview rejection email
Onboarding email
These emails signal professionalism and structure.

They also reduce confusion and back-and-forth.

 
Phase 4: Role Execution Materials
This is where volunteers stop being “help” and become operators.

Open the Google Doc titled:
Volunteer Role Execution Materials
Run the prompts per role to generate:

Job portfolio
Training material
Daily and weekly execution expectations
Each role gets its own set of documents.

You do not combine roles into one document.

 
Phase 5: Agreements & Accountability Tools
This locks in consistency.

Open the Google Doc titled:
Volunteer Governance & Accountability Materials
Use AI to create:

Volunteer agreement and confidentiality form
Weekly volunteer review form
Biweekly facilitation guide
These tools protect:

The organization
The volunteer
The system
They also make performance conversations objective, not emotional.

 
How to Use the Materials Once Created
Store all materials in one shared folder
Link them in onboarding and training emails
Refer volunteers back to documents before answering questions
Update materials as the system improves
The documents become the authority.
You are no longer the bottleneck.

 
Board Alignment Note
The board does not:

Write these materials
Manage volunteers
Facilitate reviews
The board:

Approves the structure
Supports recruitment where appropriate
Reviews outcomes, not operations
This maintains governance without interference.

 
What Success Looks Like for Step 2
This step is complete when:

Every volunteer-facing interaction is documented
Recruitment no longer depends on improvisation
Onboarding is fast and repeatable
Training questions decrease over time
Volunteers know exactly what “good execution” looks like
You can say:
“If we needed to recruit again next month, we could.”
At this point, you are no longer managing volunteers.

You are running a volunteer execution system.

That is the shift this step is designed to create.

Volunteer Fundraising Fellowship Forms

Important Setup Instructions (Please Read Carefully)

As part of building and running your Volunteer Fundraising Fellowship, you will use two required forms:

Volunteer Fellowship Agreement & Confidentiality Form
Volunteer Weekly Reporting Form
These forms are provided as templates.
You must not edit the original forms.

Instead, you will save a copy of each form and use your own version so that:

responses come directly to you
your volunteers’ information stays with your organization
the original system remains intact and reusable
 
How to Save a Copy of Each Google Form
Follow these steps exactly for each form:

Open the Google Form using the link provided below.
Make sure you are logged into the Google account where you want to receive responses.
Click the three dots (⋮) in the top-right corner of the form.
Select “Make a copy.”
Rename the form using this format:
[Your Organization Name] – Volunteer Fellowship Agreement
or
[Your Organization Name] – Volunteer Weekly Reporting Form
Choose the Google Drive folder where you want the form saved.
Click OK.
The copied form now belongs to you.

 
Important Setup Steps (Do Not Skip)
After saving a copy of each form:

For Both Forms
Open your copied form
Go to Settings

Turn on “Collect email addresses”
Turn off “Limit to 1 response” (unless you want to restrict repeat submissions)
For the Weekly Reporting Form
Go to Responses
Click the Google Sheets icon to link responses to a spreadsheet
This spreadsheet will become your volunteer activity and accountability tracker
You may now:

add your organization name
confirm role labels
adjust dates or reporting frequency
Do not remove or change the structure of the questions.

 
When to Use Each Form
Volunteer Fellowship Agreement & Confidentiality Form
Use this form:

before onboarding
before giving volunteers access to materials, systems, or contacts
Every volunteer must complete this form before they begin.

 
Volunteer Weekly Reporting Form
Use this form:

once per week, per volunteer
as the primary execution and accountability tool
as preparation for biweekly facilitation sessions
This form replaces:

daily check-ins
micromanagement
constant follow-up messages
The system works because reporting is structured and consistent.

 
 
Final Reminder
Do not:

edit the original forms
create new forms from scratch
improvise your own reporting structure
Consistency protects the system.
Clarity protects the people.
Structure protects the mission.

Once these forms are in place, you are ready to run the fellowship without chaos.