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September 2006 eNews
So You Have Agreed to Serve on a Non-Profit Board…
A Ten-Item Checklist for a Meaningful First Year
Follow-up from Last Month
In my letter to you last month, I offered a list of ten questions that would be wise to ask before consenting to serve on the board of directors of a non-profit organization. (You can review the letter under the e-news tab on the website.) The responses I received were unusually quick and extensive. Many of you noted your appreciation for the questions with remarks such as this one from a psychologist in Minneapolis: “This is excellent. I have served on several boards with mixed experiences. I wish I’d had the foresight to ask these questions in advance.” A cleric wrote: “Good, good list – I will keep it for future reference.” Tongue-in-cheek, a friend in San Diego who serves as regional development director for a national charity offered the most satirical response by far. He wrote: “These are all stupid reasons [for joining a board]. You should join if the board is socially prestigious and exclusive, if it offers members attractive perks (like retreats at luxury resorts), if you can network to find clients for your business, if you can skip all the business meetings, and if it allows you to ‘place’ your friends in lucrative jobs within the organization.”
I loved receiving your responses, so please keep them coming. They help me to know what resonates with you.
A Ten-Item Checklist for a Meaningful First Year
To follow up on last month’s column, this month I wish to share with you a ten-item checklist of things to see and do during your first year on a board. The list has developed gradually from my experience of sitting in different seats around the board table – chair, member, executive director, and senior staff member. Reflecting on that experience, I believe a person’s service will be more effective for the organization as well as more meaningful personally if time is taken for the following:
- Meet the clients: When a person first joins a board, it is easy to get caught up immediately with the administration of the agency and forget the overarching purpose for all the meetings and reports and spreadsheets. However, as a mentor of mine strongly counseled me at the start of my work, ultimately “it’s not about the program, it’s about the people.” Finding a way to meet the clients in person will help keep your participation in proper perspective and give you insight for decision-making that simply cannot be gained any other way. Whether the “clients” are residents at a facility, other organizations in an area, wilderness area that is under protection or animals that are being sheltered, take time to visit.
- Get to know the executive director and your fellow board members: When you come on board, you are joining a group that has its own dynamics and history and identity. Taking time to have lunch with the E.D. and board chair, for instance, will help you gain a sense of belonging sooner rather than later, thus creating the opening for you not only to participate more actively but also for that participation to be more fully received.
- Meet the people on the “front line”: The unflattering stereotype of board members all too often held by direct service personnel – with justification – is that they are clueless about what actually occurs, i.e., what the day-to-day reality is. Find a way to learn about what “a day in the life” of those who carry out the mission on the ground level is really like. It will help you appreciate – and more wisely react to – their challenges and their frustrations.
- Meet other supporters: Collectively, the board is the steward of the organization. To do so wisely, it needs to have a sense of who supports the work and why. So don’t just write a check, go to the fundraising event; don’t just look at the foundation support list, volunteer to be one of the board members present at a site visit.
- Visit the place(s) where “it all happens”: Organizations sometimes will hold their board meetings at the site or sites where the mission is carried out. If this is not the practice with your organization, attend a tour (if one is offered to the public) or a familiarization visit for prospective donors.
- Serve on a committee: In most cases, the E.D. or board chair won’t be shy about asking for participation that goes beyond just attending the full board meetings, whether by service on a committee or in some other volunteer capacity. If the invitation does not come directly, however, volunteer anyway. It is at this depth of participation that one of the major intangible rewards for your service usually will be found: camaraderie and the satisfaction of having a substantive impact.
- Look for reviews of program performance – in both quantity and quality: Most organizations are very well practiced at providing service statistics such as numbers of animals rescued or enrollment in classes. This is good but it is not the whole story. Again as a steward, you will want to know also how the accreditation review went – or the licensing inspection or peer review. And if there is no method by which program quality is regularly reviewed and analyzed, you really want to know that too… and do something about it!
- Don’t ignore the financial reports (and don’t fixate on them either): Cynical executive directors opine that board members seem to fall into two categories: those who pay attention to nothing but the financials and those who ignore them totally. Don’t fall into either trap. The board has the ultimate fiduciary responsibility for an organization’s assets and liabilities. Thus it is imperative that you understand those monthly spreadsheets handed out by the treasurer or finance director. At the same time, they represent only one element of a “balanced scorecard” and need to be considered along with other measures of performance such as service statistics and the like.
- Ask questions: Some new board members, in deference to the veterans, will refrain from asking questions so as not to waste time. It is much more important, though, for you to understand a topic under discussion than to save a few minutes. Besides, the chances are better than even that, if you are confused, some of the veterans are too (and just too embarrassed to admit it!). Do everyone a favor and seek clarity. (Special note: If your board talks in acronyms, ask for a glossary.)
- Give as you can: If an organization is worth your time, it is also worth your charitable giving. Most organizations seek funding from a variety of sources such as foundations and family trusts and those sources will expect 100% participation by the board in terms of support.
Service on a board can be enormously rewarding to both the individual and the organization. Attending to these ten items during your first year will do much to ensure that your participation makes a real difference to you, your colleagues, and those you serve.
Peace,
David
If you know someone who is contemplating or going through organizational changes and who might benefit from this letter, please forward it.
od180 welcomes and appreciates your referrals. If you know non-profit leaders who might welcome assistance with any of the following, please provide a way of contacting them and we will be happy to respond.
Membership Enhancement & Retention
Marketing & Communication Plans
Special Purpose Fundraising Campaigns
Mission & Values Clarification
Strategic Planning Board Training
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