Your board wants to help. They just don’t know how.
Most board members joined your board because they believe in your mission. Too often, we weren’t clear about fundraising. We implied it. Suggested it. And ultimately expected it. But nobody taught them how. So they sit through meetings feeling vaguely guilty about the fundraising part of their role, hoping no one asks them to “make calls.”
Meanwhile, the staff is wondering why the board isn’t more “engaged.” And the board is wondering what they’re supposed to be doing. The gap isn’t often mentioned. It just sits there.
Marc’s board retreats fix that gap — in a half day or a full day — by giving your board practical tools they can actually use, in a style that feels energizing to them rather than guilt-inducing.
What a board retreat with Marc typically covers
Board basics: What your role actually is
Most board members have never been told what’s expected of them clearly, specifically, and without jargon. This section covers the two major jobs of a nonprofit board, four common mistakes board members make, simple tools for the board chair and executive director to communicate more effectively, and practical ways to make board meetings more productive.
In a full-day retreat, Marc can work with your board to customize an agenda for your next board meeting before anyone leaves the room.
Vision and storytelling: How to talk about your mission
Your board members believe in your work. Most of them struggle to explain why in a way that makes other people care. This section helps your board identify your organization’s most compelling attribute and gives every board member a way to articulate the mission naturally — not a memorized elevator pitch, but language that sounds like them.
In a full-day retreat, Marc will help your board create a communications strategy they can start using immediately.
Fundraising: Making the ask feel natural
This is the section most boards are nervous about. Marc’s approach doesn’t turn board members into pushy salespeople. It helps them find a way to connect donors with a mission they already believe in.
Your board will learn where nonprofit charitable gifts actually come from (it’s not where most board members expect), a common-sense approach to asking that fits how they’re actually wired, and how to handle objections without getting defensive.
In a full-day retreat, Marc will work with your board to identify the five to seven most common objections your organization faces and develop specific responses for each one.
Strategy and goals: Leaving with a plan, not just inspiration
Board retreats that end with good feelings but no action items don’t change anything. In coordination with you, Marc will help your board members leave with group commitments that are actionable. And produce results you can track.
In a full-day retreat, Marc can help your board map out real goals and create a simple roadmap for each one.
Training that produces real results
Half-day or full-day — your choice
A half-day retreat covers all four sections and gives your board the clarity and confidence they need to engage. A full-day retreat goes deeper — with customized agendas, communications strategies, objection responses, and real goal-setting built into the session.
Half-day retreat: $8,500 plus a flat travel fee. Full-day retreat: $11,500 plus a flat travel fee.
For speaker fees, engagement formats, and more details on working with Marc, visit our Nonprofit Speaking Fees page.
Ready to give your board the tools they’ve been missing?
The first conversation is free. We’ll talk about your board, your goals, and what kind of retreat would serve them best.
No pitch. No pressure.