Ask many people who work or serve on a nonprofit board, and often you will hear a consistent theme. Often, board members don’t understand how to serve on a nonprofit board adequately. Unfortunately, many groups don’t have the resources to hire trainers to help people with good intentions to become influential leaders.

Board members should always view themselves as community reps and a bridge to the nonprofit they serve. In reality, performing well on a nonprofit board is an art and a privilege. It comes with responsibilities, including legal and regulatory obligations. Board members are considered to have a special status and position when they help lead nonprofits. So, they should be aware of what not to do to ensure they are performing appropriately.

Serving Is Not a Hobby

Serving on a nonprofit board can benefit board members because people meet like-minded peers. For instance, you may encounter individuals who will help you in your career or business as you develop new relationships with them. However, it’s always important to remember the main reason you’re serving on a board. Although there are soft benefits that could come with the role, your primary focus is to provide your time, talent, and money. Serving on a nonprofit board is a serious responsibility. As you know, it requires commitment and attention to ensure you bring your “A game” to the cause.

It’s Not Just About the Mission

Every nonprofit should focus on the mission, but it’s not only about the cause. Board members need to be fluent and conversant on the organization’s mission, vision, statistics, facts, stories, and strategic plan. The mission is just one element of the whole picture. Board members should know it at a high level, primarily when they are engaged with others outside the organization. When board members meet with donors and prospects, the executive director or a fundraiser typically accompanies them. Team members can explain, give details and provide more color to the words and conversations of a board member. Still, each board leader should work to be fluent enough in the organization and its work to participate in a substantive discussion.

Don’t Leave Nonprofit Policy to Chance

Board members are responsible for ensuring the development, implementation, and adherence to organizational policies. We live in a world of transparency, and it’s simple in the digital age for something that can be well-intentioned to get out of hand––and not in a good way. In other words, people can quickly judge and pile on when they see something that has become a viral issue. The best defense for any situation is a great offense. Board members are responsible for ensuring that management and appropriate organizational advisors in law and financial management prepare documentation that is reviewed and updated annually. The policy documents essential for any nonprofit business include donor privacy, email retention, whistleblower, conflict of interest, document destruction, discrimination, and sexual harassment policies.

There is No Free Board Governance Ride 

The reality is that carrying out an organization’s mission and the work it does in its programs takes money. That means money is a necessity for any nonprofit. Hiring the most talented individuals is also necessary to ensure that a team can adequately plan and execute the required work. Board members have a legal and fiduciary responsibility to the organization they serve. They must ensure that a nonprofit has the resources it needs to complete its mission, and one of the most significant needs a nonprofit has is money. Therefore, board members should understand that there should be 100% board commitment to annual giving based on the financial capacity of each board member. Those who have higher means can give more, and one of the best rules for board fundraising is “give or get,” which means you give it from your pocket or raise it from others. Board members need to be aware that donors (particularly institutional funders) ask about board donations. If you can’t demonstrate board commitment to the cause, why should anyone else want to give?

Micro-Management Does Not Work

Key aspects of work by board members are overseeing the overall strategy and planning, ensuring resources, approving organizational budgets, aligning to the mission of the organization’s programs and services, and executive director performance. The board should not be micro-managing an organization, second-guessing the executive director or management team, or getting involved with routine staffing issues. Let’s look at it another way; when businesses have company boards, members understand that they have a role in oversight and governance. They do not work in the day-to-day affairs of the corporation. Nonprofits are businesses, and board members should understand that unless they are dealing with a crisis, their role is for governance and oversight and not to get into the management details and operations of the organization––that’s the role of management.

Orientation and Board Assessments Are Not Sidebars

One of the essential activities that any board should do is to reflect a mirror on itself. It begins by having new board members undergo an orientation, either individually as they join or as part of annual board orientation, so that they can understand good governance. Let’s face it; most people are not experts on nonprofit roles and responsibilities of the board. If you want your charity to grow and develop into a sustainable organization, it begins with leadership at the top. You have to orient board members on their responsibilities with the board and their assigned committees. And, more broadly, it’s essential to have an annual board meeting that assesses the board’s performance. Organizations should budget a consultant or facilitator to work with them once a year to evaluate board performance, often done during a board retreat and with tools that include surveys, workshops, and other assessment, training, and evaluation tools.

Nonprofit board members all have different reasons for serving a given group. Of course, there should always be a passion and interest in the mission and work done by the charity. It should never be assumed that board members will know or understand their work. Nonprofit leaders have a responsibility to ensure that they have a properly working organization. If the chairperson of the board is not speaking about proper board governance, then executive directors should not be timid and must bring up the topic.

 

Author of “Not Your Father’s Charity: Grip & Rip Leadership for Social Impact” (Free Digital Download)

© 2018 Wayne Elsey and Not Your Father’s Charity. All Rights Reserved.