Reviving Your Board
Boards, for better or worse, are (currently) a given in the nonprofit sector. Is the nonprofit board model problematic in many ways? Yes—which is a whole other topic that we’ll revisit. And, I say that as a proud board member of two fantastic, NYC-based dance nonprofits.
Today, however, the focus is on how to leverage and engage your board, which is something that many nonprofits are grappling with. In a post-pandemic era specifically, I’ve noticed a need for nonprofits to full-on revive their boards. So, first and foremost, know that you are not alone if this is where you feel your organization is at.
Humanize Your Board
It can be common for us, as nonprofit workers, to default to thinking of boards as entities or institutions in their own right. I’ve found it helpful to catch myself when that happens and remember that boards are a collective of human beings. It’s easy to blame, criticize, make assumptions, or have one-size expectations of an entity. It’s more complicated when you acknowledge that each human being on a board brings their own good and bad to the table, which collectively impacts the organization. By virtue of being on a board these human beings, at the very least, have chosen to align themselves and their name to your mission and contribute some level of time, effort, expertise, resources (often including $$$), and energy to your organization. I know, I know—some board members contribute a lot, and others seem to contribute nothing. This is true; this happens. But my call to action for you is: so, what are you doing about that? More on that below.
Humanizing your board in this moment feels especially timely. As one example, we all just navigated a life-changing global pandemic. The past four years have been hard. Your board members are not exempt from this experience. Have they lost people they love? Has their health suffered? Have they moved? Has their job been altered in some way? Has their financial situation changed? Have their priorities shifted? Some may be able to navigate their personal experiences and situations with ease moving forward. Others may no longer be able to show up in the way they did when they first joined your board. Both are valid. And it’s also valid for you and your organization to determine how to revive your board in this moment in a way that best serves your needs.
Right-Size Your Expectations
In order to better leverage and successfully engage a board, we need right-size our expectations. Nonprofit colleagues regularly share all the ways their boards are not meeting expectations with me. In unpacking this, my first question is always: does your board know that they aren’t meeting expectations? Or, does your board even know what is expected of them? There can be assumptions made that boards should “just know” what is expected of them or when they are falling short. But, again, through a humanizing lens, these assumptions aren’t fair or productive. Would you like to be let go from a job because you didn’t meet an expectation that was actually never communicated to you but assumed of you? I don’t think so.
Starting from square one, your board needs to know exactly what is expected of them as a board member in general and going into each fiscal year. This can be accomplished through a board onboarding guide of some kind or an actual board member position description, in addition to dedicated conversations on the topic. Ideally, this all happens prior to/as they join the board. If your organization doesn’t have this in place, you can still launch this effort (which should be done in collaboration with at least a few members of your current board), and share it with the full board to align expectations, and then begin this practice for all incoming board members.
It's also essential to outline expectations of board members at the outset of each fiscal year. These expectations are more nuanced than general board expectations and are based on the organization’s current needs. For instance, I’m working with a client right now who has focused its board on an executive search. A different client is squarely focusing their board on in-person cultivation events, while another has their board focused on a strategic planning process.
By clearly communicating baseline expectations and fiscal year expectations, your board has the opportunity to move with you, instead of fall behind. This also creates the benchmarks to monitor the performance and progress of the board at-large and that of individual members. It can be helpful to do actual performance reviews or check-ins with board members annually to discuss their contributions (based on the expectations) and identify areas of success and opportunity so that they can enter the year ahead with clarity. These annual performance check-ins also create space for the organization or the board member to determine if a partnership no longer makes sense—which is, sometimes, the healthiest course of action for everyone involved.Check-In on Process
Relationship-Manage Your Board
Even with clear expectations set, if you want to successfully revive and re-engage your board, you need to relationship-manage them. This means you need to let go of the urge to think of “the board” as one entity and work with each individual board member. This is Development 101 and, yes, it means that you need to build, cultivate, and steward relationships with each board member.
With a relationship-centered approach, you will better understand where your board member’s strengths are and what they can and can’t contribute in order to meet the expectations set. As an example, say the organization has their board focused on in-person cultivation events this fiscal year. A one-size-fits-all approach for each board member to host an in-person event and invite 10 new guests to the events held throughout the year is not going to serve you well. Is this technically a clear expectation? Yes. But does it account for the nuance of your relationship and understanding of each board member? No. As a result, you and your board will fall short. Just like you wouldn’t send a request for $10,000 out to every person on your email list, as that wouldn’t be appropriate or successful, you shouldn’t take this blanket approach with your board.
Instead, you need to target and personalize your asks to each board member to meet your goal. This might look like inviting three specific board members to host the in-person cultivation events at their homes, given that they are local and have expressed interest. Meanwhile, the two newest board members may be asked to identify five contacts each to introduce to the organization through these events, leveraging the momentum of their “newness.” A board member with restaurant connections may be asked to source in-kind wine or food for the events to help keep expenses down. A board member with a long tenure may be asked to develop and deliver remarks at each event. A non-local board member may be asked to support in an entirely different way—perhaps focused on gathering their local contacts for the annual Gala that they come into town for. With this targeted approach, each board member has tangible marching orders. They are more likely to be successful (which is both motivating and fulfilling), and your overall goal is more likely to be met with everyone contributing in ways that they can.
Determine Member Exit Plans
Sometimes, it’s simply time for a board member (or two) to part ways with an organization, which can help revive the board at-large. Not only is this ok, but it is healthy. boards with clear board terms and a rotating influx of new members, ideas, voices, and networks have a lot to gain. Stipulations around terms, resignation, and removal from the board should be outlined in your board bylaws.
I’ve encountered this “we notice it, but we’re ignoring it” phenomenon, as it relates to underperforming board members on countless occasions. This is when there is a board member who is clearly not meeting baseline, communicated expectations of the board—something regularly acknowledged by the staff and other board members—and yet no one has done anything about it or plans to. It’s like a partner in a relationship waiting for the other one to break up with them first. When you think about it, this is bananas! There are actionable things you can do in these instances that will make your life, your board’s life, and that board member’s life a lot easier.
A first step should always be a conversation with the board member to ensure they are made aware of the expectations they are not meeting. This simple dialogue could uncover a lot and lead to an organic resolution right away. For instance, maybe the board member understands and explains why they are no longer able to meet those expectations and chooses to resign. Problem solved. Alternatively, maybe they re-confirm their commitment, explain what’s been affecting them (job? newborn? loss in the family?) and come up with plans to get them back on track together. Great! You can now work with them to outline a timeline for these plans and another check-in down the line.
Sometimes, however, the damage is just too longstanding to be ignored and removal is warranted. In these instances, you and your board chair or other board officer should follow the removal procedures as outlined in your board bylaws. This is why they exist. No matter the route, I beg of you, don’t just sit back and do nothing.
Determine Member Entry Plans
On the flip side, it may be time for you to welcome new members to your board to help infuse fresh energy and work towards reviving the board at-large. In theory, this should be something that is happening on a semi-regular basis (annually, for instance). It’s hard to do this, though, if you don’t have a process in place or a system to identify and track progress and relationship-building with potential board candidates. Stipulations around the election of new directors and any minimum and maximum board member count should also be outlined in your board bylaws.
If your board has or can create a board nominating or recruitment committee, this work can be shared with that group. It's important to focus on quality over quantity in board recruitment. You don’t need to add new members for the sake of adding new members. Each new member you welcome should be adding something needed—expertise, connections, perspective, etc. It can be helpful to identify what type of board member you seek and why, so that you and anyone else you enlist in your search (the full board, staff, funders, major donors, etc.) can identify the right fit.
From there, you know what to do: build the relationship, make the invitation, clearly outline your board expectations, and follow any nominating procedure in your bylaws to formally welcome your new member. And then, continue to cultivate the relationship and activate your new member’s strengths and contributions.
Create Capacity for Board Relations
In case you haven’t caught on yet, having an active and engaged board of directors doesn’t just happen. You—and your board chair—need to put in the work to get what you need from your board. Oftentimes the Executive Director and/or Development Director have board relations attached to their (very expansive) job descriptions, though it’s always wonderful to see more than one or two staff involved in board relations. Not only does this create greater board-staff transparency and communication, but it also allows the work that is required to properly manage and nurture a board to be shared. Some organizations even necessitate a staff member dedicated to board relations.
If you or your board chair haven’t seriously considered the fact that staff capacity is needed in order to revive, maintain, and steward your board, I invite you to do so. This in and of itself could be the barrier that is holding you back from revamping your board in the way you’d like. You will be surprised at how much more productive, efficient, and engaged your board will be once proper support is put in place.
