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Board lost its edge? Follow
these guidelines to bring new oxygen to the team.
By Robert L. Fuzy
There are times at any nonprofit organization when progress has slowed,
stagnation is practically palpable and the institutional vision is
blurred or stifled. One can generally trace this lethargy to
lackluster leadership from the governing board. The tough
question then becomes, “How do we resuscitate the
board?”
The specific make-up of the board regarding gender, race, financial
means and more, may need to be considered. But our task here
is more related to building an “engaged” board than
to looking at its demographics.
While it may be clear that a change is needed, how to bring it about is
usually less clear. Be aware that organizational change is
highly disruptive. It needs to be engineered by the CEO or
President or Executive Director and the governing board chair. They
must present themselves and their recommendations as a team, so that
they may preserve institutional integrity and build trust.
Many seasoned development officers can cite horror stories stemming
from the “lone ranger” approach to board
leadership. This tack stifles involvement, breeds instability
and quickly undermines integrity and unity. A team approach
involving multiple board members will energize each of
them.
Let’s look at a process that may assist you in resuscitating
your board:
1. Set clear criteria. While wealth can be a
critically important component of the traits you are looking for in
trustees, it should not be considered “the” reason
to immediately extend an invitation to join a board. Most
outstanding institutions put together a process or plan that makes
decisions about trustees far more objective and evident.
Does the following sound familiar as justification for nominating
someone? “He/she has a lot of money and knows a lot of
people.” Too often people nominate someone for a
board using this perception as the primary reason. Not long
ago, an organization for which I was consulting added a new board
member in this way. In actuality, a new member brought on in
such a way is likely far from making a significant gift because he/she
was not approached properly and has little passion or knowledge yet
about the organization. Therefore, he or she will frustrate
the board leadership by not immediately “stepping
up” financially.
2. Expect your board members to replace themselves as they
rotate off your board. Ask them to refer three individuals
who have the same qualifications they do. This should be
pointed out when they are asked to serve on the board. In
this way, board members help to provide a pool of candidates for
consideration.
3. Do not wait to recruit board members only when you need
them. This process should be ongoing and dynamic. Additionally,
consider placing board candidates on subcommittees so
that you may assess their attendance, involvement, team relations and
train them for future membership when members are needed.
4. With your candidate pool, initiate a six- to twelve-month
evaluation process. During this “get to know
you” period, the board chair and one or two other board
members should visit with the candidates. Visits could be
one-on-one, in groups or a combination of the two approaches. The board
members have two goals: introducing the institution to the
individual and learning more about the individual.
During these visits, you will want to:
- Review the current board and mission of your institution
- Discuss the relevant history and current status of the organization
- Discuss the unique aspects ofthe institution that set it apart from other like institutions
- Provide the vision and long-range plans for the organization
- Describe the duties that are expected of trustees and reviewing the activities of the committees
- Finally, testify why the visitors are personally committed to serving the organization.
Before the visit, however, the board will want to learn the following
about candidates:
- With which organizations do they currently volunteer?
- What charitable organizations inspire their financial support and why?
- What do they currently know about your particular organization?
- Who are some of their personal and professional contacts?
- Nearing the end of the process, find out whether serving your institution would be something
they would seriously consider, if asked.
5. If your organization has a “give or get x amount
of money” policy, change it to “give and
get” and get rid of the specific amount. Board
members should give commensurate to their ability but also work to get
others to give at their “peer” level. Additionally,
board members should be expected to make the institution
one of their charitable giving priorities.
Your nonprofit may be a large enough to have multiple boards that are
grooming opportunities for the main governing board. These are ideal
places to engage and evaluate future prospective members, similar to
using subcommittees.
It’s time to take constructive action when your board members
are not attending meetings, not working on a committee or showing other
signs of disinterest. This situation did not occur overnight
nor will its reversal. But with the right leaders driving
change and using the right processes, you can begin to build that
engaged team of professionals and volunteers your organization deserves.
Bob
Fuzy is a Senior Campaign Director with Custom
Development Solutions, Inc. (CDS). CDS
has become one of North America's best and most sought after
fundraising consulting firms specializing in the strategic planning and
tactical execution of capital campaigns for non-profits throughout the
United States and Canada. More information on CDS
can be found on the web at www.cdsfunds.com.
If you have a fundraising question for Bob, please call 800-761-3833.
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