Archive for the ‘Board Development’ Category

There’s so much confusion about the appropriate job of a nonprofit board member.

Lots of boards ask me to help them understand what their work really is.  I often refer to a list that BoardSource created a few years ago that has become a reference in our sector.

Here’s the list.  I’ll be discussing these responsibilities in my upcoming blog posts. There’s lots to talk about here! What do they really mean? How do you implement them?

Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards  From BoardSource

1. Determine the organization’s mission and purpose. It is the board’s responsibility to create and review a statement of mission and purpose that articulates the organization’s goals, means, and primary constituents served.
2. Select the chief executive. Boards must reach consensus on the chief executive’s responsibilities and undertake a careful search to find the most qualified individual for the position.
3. Provide proper financial oversight. The board must assist in developing the annual budget and ensuring that proper financial controls are in place.
4. Ensure adequate resources. One of the board’s foremost responsibilities is to provide adequate resources for the organization to fulfill its mission.
5. Ensure legal and ethical integrity and maintain accountability. The board is ultimately responsible for ensuring adherence to legal standards and ethical norms.
6. Ensure effective organizational planning. Boards must actively participate in an overall planning process and assist in implementing and monitoring the plan’s goals.
7. Recruit and orient new board members and assess board performance. All boards have a responsibility to articulate prerequisites for candidates, orient new members, and periodically and comprehensively evaluate its own performance.
8. Enhance the organization’s public standing. The board should clearly articulate the organization’s mission, accomplishments, and goals to the public and garner support from the community.
9. Determine, monitor, and strengthen the organization’s programs and services. The board’s responsibility is to determine which programs are consistent with the organization’s mission and to monitor their effectiveness.
10. Support the chief executive and assess his or her performance. The board should ensure that the chief executive has the moral and professional support he or she needs to further the goals of the organization.

Wow is this idea a hit with board members!

Here’s the deal – what I find is that board members don’t, repeat, don’t know what to say about their cause. This may come as a surprise to smart staff members, BUT it’s TRUE!

(If you don’t believe me, then ask one of your board members what they say to people about your organization.)

I’ll bet that maybe only two or three of your board members have any sense of how they want to share the story of their favorite organization to their friends and the rest of the world.

The problem is this:

Board members think they need to be able to recite the mission statement. Or the 3 main marketing points. Or the five reasons somebody might be interested in their cause. They make it too complicated. And they make it WAAAAY to formal.

And they forget all that stuff. They can’t remember what to say when they have a chance.

And when you ask them to tell the “story,” what do they do? They stiffen up, that’s what they do.

They become all about themselves, and what they are trying to say – and not about the person they are talking to. And their energy plummets. It dries right up into a little hard ball.

Are they engaging and enthusiastic? NO – they are nervous and dry.

SO HERE’S WHAT I SAY TO BOARD MEMBERS: IT’S OK TO BLATHER -

as long as you are totally enthusiastic, engaging, passionate and speaking authentically from your heart.

If board members can just remember that their energy and passion for the cause are what will engage people, then they just might be on fire sharing their story wherever they go!

They just might be a bit incoherent because they are so excited and enthusiastic.

Sure, I prefer a board member with a smooth, well-rehearsed pitch that is exactly right. But until I have them trained well enough, in the meantime I am happy if they are sharing their excited, passionate story over and over with anyone who will listen. Even if they blather.

Because the person who hears them will understand their authenticity and their commitment.

Like the lady on “When Harry Met Sally” who overheads Meg Ryan mimicing sex at the dinner table, they’ll say “I’ll have what she’s having.”

We all know that energy is contagious. And what I want is my board members out there spreading the good news about our cause.

Happily and enthusiastially.

Even if they blather. : )

Ah, death by strategic planning!

Don’t get me started on how AWFUL and what a TIME WASTER strategic planning can be. At least the way we do it in the noprofit sector.

I am organizing a “hard-hitting, hands-on planning session” with an organization that has been wandering aimlessly for a few years. They wonder why they can’t raise money? Here’s the answer – their vision is not juicy enough to get excited about.

Here’s our agenda for our planning session: (I’ve changed the names to protect the innocent!)

• Reconfirm Good Cause’s vision and mission.
• Reach consensus on what Good Cause wants to do in order to implement its vision and mission in the coming year and in the next 5 years. (broad framework here for the longer time period.)
• Identify strategic directions and set some firm goals around each direction.
• Answer the question: “how will we know if we have been successful?”
• Determine the critical success factors that will make or break the new goals.
• Agree on the board’s role in creating success for Good Cause and what each person is committed to doing.
• Set next steps so that the staff can flesh out a complete operational plan for the coming year.

I had to tell the staff – you can TRUST me that it will not be a WASTE of time. I told her that I will not facilitate a meeting that I wouldn’t attend myself. : )

This board has GOT to pull itself together around a plan or the organization probably doesn’t have much of a future.

Do you know what the critical success factor is in this meeting? The facilitator. He or she is the person who will challenge, direct, pull together, referee, and ultimately ensure actual results. I take this role very very seriously! It’s an honor and a burden at the same time.

I’ll let you know how it comes out!

I think we approach our board members ALL WRONG.

We nonprofit folks have this idea that our board members should be devoted to the cause 24/7. And when they place other priorities in front of our to-do list, we are disappointed in the least.

I hear a lot of complaining about board members. “My board members won’t raise money,” the executive director sadly whispers to me. “They won’t even open doors,” another friend confided.

I thought to myself, well do these board members think they are supposed to raise money or not? I could have bet a case of beer that the staff’s notion of what board members were supposed to do was not at all the same as the board members’ idea of what to do.

My nonprofit friends think, “Of course board members are supposed to raise money!”

But the board members are probably thinking secretly to themselves, “I’ll do anything BUT ask for money.”

Is there a conflict here?

And here’s the rub. There is bound to be disappointment on one side or the other unless there is a frank conversation about what you need your board members to do.

If you want your board members to help in fundraising  –

And if you do need them to “raise money,” then you have to give them a format for this work. You have to tell them exactly how to do it and make it easy for them. They need a lot of encouragement and hand holding, and that’s fine! They aren’t the “hardened professionals” that we are.

So DO be realistic about your expectations and treat your board members like you’d want to be treated. They are volunteers. Wonderful, well meaning community volunteers. But they are untrained.  They are not fundraising professionals. Treat them like the real people they are.

It’s a great idea to evaluate every meeting or committee meeting that you hold.  But you want something painless and simple, that will actually encourage people to participate.

One organization I belong to has breakfast speakers once a month, and members pay to come for breakfast and the speaker.

This organization sends an email to all attendees immediately after the meeting, asking them to fill out an evaluation survey on SurveyMonkey. They get good, not great, response on the survey.

Another board that I serve on solicit evaluations immediately after the meeting. In our board packets, there is a convenient evaluation form to fill out.  Here’s what’s on the form:

Share your thoughts about the board meeting:

Meeting room?

Stick to the agenda?

Liked the agenda?

Did we miss anything important”

People were prepared?

Reports clear and helpful?

Cordial, team-like discussion?

Appropriate use of our time? (meeting began and eneded on time?)

Any other comments?

Anything we could improve?

In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge our organization faces this year?

What were your big take-away’s from the meeting?

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I am the chair of a board governance committee charged with creating a strategic plan this year.  (lucky me!).

And I am determined to create a compelling, engaging, even exciting planning/visioning process that everyone will actually enjoy!

Here’s the process that I’ve sketched out this year:

September:
1. Board Self Assessment Survey
2. Set strategic planning timetable and process

October:
1. Form Task Force
2. Identify our organization’s stakeholders
3. Determine if and how we want to get feedback and input from the stakeholders
4. Create a plan/process for receiving their feedback

November board meeting:
1. Discussion of board self assessment survey data and determine any action items that need to be taken
2. Vision discussion with full board – what is our vision for our organization.  How much money would it take to achieve our vision?  (this is a “high impact – big picture” discussion that can draw additional people and resources to a big vision, as opposed to starting with “what can we accomplish within our resource constraints?”)

December

January and Feb: Focus groups of key players/stakeholders discussing what is our vision and how much money would it take

March:  WHERE ARE WE?
1. Complete environmental scan at a board meeting.
2. Provide input from the stakeholder focus groups that were conducted in Jan and Feb.
3. Conduct SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis.

April -  May – June: WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO?
1. Based on all info and data gathered to date, create several scenarios of LL’s future.
2. Assess each scenario re its pros and cons
3. Determine the right path for LL’s future and set goals.

July – August – September  HOW DO WE GET THERE?
1. Staff and committees create plans for accomplishing the goals.  Plans will include objectives, tactics/strategies and who’s responsible

What do you think?  Want to comment?

Alice Korngold, contributing writer for Fast Company Magazine is blogging about building nonprofit boards, one of my favorite topics.   I loved her post titled More Bad News for Nonprofit $$: More About Building Better Boards to FIx This,

She takes a much-needed business person’s approach to nonprofit boards. Here’s my favorite: she says that the best people she has worked with, or recruited to a board were “key revenue problem-solvers.”

Nonprofits need to evaluate their business model frequently for missed revenue opportunities and sources of increased earned income. A board member with the right skill set can be invaluable in these cases.

She cites as an example a new board member who was the global pricing strategist for a major consulting firm.  The new board member “pulled a nonprofit out of the red by helping them revise their pricing strategy, thereby shifting the organization into financial health.”

She cites another example of the right kind of board member – an individual who is active in politics and has governmental contacts.  This person can help protect or help gain legislative appropriations or governmental grants.

Or she recommends seeking new board members who have business connections who can “leverage corporate partnerships.”

Clearly recruiting the right new board members is key, key, key to an organization’s future. As Ms. Korngold comments, it’s so important to enlist board members who have relevant experience and who can understand your organization’s challenges and opportunities. It’s up to us to determine what experience and expertise we need on our board, and then go after people who fit that model.

What does it take to enlist outstanding board members who can be “revenue problem solvers?” (don’t you just love that description!)

I believe in planning far, far ahead and targeting potential board members years ahead of time.  You just have to take the time to carefully, deliberately decide who you need on the board. If you take the time to get to know them and let them get to know you, then you’ll be able to enlist the right leadership that your board needs and deserves.

It’s wonderful to see a board chair assume rightful leadership and challenge her board members to action.  Here’s a brilliant example of excellent leadership from a nonprofit board chair.

I’m on the board of our local AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) chapter here in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. (If you don’t know about AFP, you need to join!

Our wonderful board chair, Eli Jordfald, took on a personal priority this year – to reinvent our annual “National Philanthropy Day” celebration in November.

If this “reinvention” was going to happen, Eli needed every single one of us board members to commit to a part in making this successful.  With only a part-time staff person, we rely on our board volunteers to make it happen.  So if we didn’t pull through, then we wouldn’t even have an event.

Eli send out an email last week with the subject line: “Call to Action.”  Take a look at this professional and very specific note to her board members.

She was not necessarily “asking for help.” Instead it was “rallying the troops.”

How long has it been since you issued a Call to Action to your board,  your staff or your volunteers? These words alone get immediate attention.

Good morning,

Our NPD committees have been working diligently to re-invent NPD for the
Triangle.  I’m proud of their efforts and the incredible creativity they
have brought to the event planning.

The ultimate success of NPD will depend on the community’s response and we, as board members, must lead by example.

*This week, I am asking each of you to consider how you
personally (and your organization) can participate. Please consider
these 3 opportunities to help your donors, volunteers, your cause, and
AFP shine:

* Commit to a table of 10 at the non-profit, special rate of $400 to
honor an outstanding volunteer
* Nominate one, two or more donors and volunteers in any of the
categories Bert’s committee recently announced.  It’s so easy and
you can do it on-line.  Lineberger is nominating in two categories
this year
* Help secure a sponsor at the $500 or $1000 levels.  Jeff has
turn-key packets for you to personalize for your prospect

I would like to ask each of you to either reply to all or send me an
e-mail indicating to what extent you are able to commit to one, two or
all three of the above*.  It will boost our “ask” to others to step up.
It will also help us get an early snap shot of what our board
participation will be.

I appreciate all that you do to make our chapter excellent and look
forward to hearing back from you by the end of the week.

Warm regards, Eli

Here are the things that she did right in this note:

1. She made it clear that “we, as board members, must lead by example.”  I can’t think of another way to say this more plainly!  She reminded us of our responsibility as board members.

2. Her tone (attitude toward us) was correct: she was not lecturing us; she was not wagging her finger like a schoolmarm.

3. Her request was professional and business-like – she was not pleading or begging or manipulating. She simply requested plainly and succinctly, treating us as the capable professionals we all are.

4. Her words were inspirational. She rallied us to our higher purpose and reminded us of what we all wanted to accomplish.

5. She is putting her money where her mouth is and leading by example. She let us know that her organization is buying a table.

6. She gave us clear actions we needed to take and a choice of actions.

7. She asked us to respond to her personally, not to someone else. That way you know that she herself is keeping tabs on who is doing what.

8. She gave us a deadline to respond to her. That way there was a clear time frame for us to take action.

This is the right way to motivate and activate your own board. Give it a try and you’ll get some great results.

Tell you what – I’ll let you know how this Call to Action did as we go forward. I, for one, leapt to action. I have already made two sponsorship solicitations and will do more!

Can you share an experience when a board chair issued a Call to Action?  Let’s hear your own stories!

A question I am frequently asked is, “Once I get my board fired-up, then how on earth do I keep my board members motivated and enthusiastic? Whenever the board members gather together, we get excited and energized about our work. But my board members frequently get distracted with other priorities.  What to do?”

The first thing you must do is take responsibility for keeping your board energized.   If you are the nonprofit CEO, do everything you can to keep them going.  AND if you are the chair of the board, also, do everything YOU can to fan the flames of your board members’ energy.

When you assume responsibility, then you can’t expect that someone else will assume this role. Do you know the saying, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me?“  Well, here’s the perfect place to implement that idea.

If your board is gonna stay excited, motivated and energized, it won’t happen without YOU taking the lead.

You can’t expect your busy board members to keep focused and energized on their own. If you leave it up to them, you just may be disappointed. This is “Volunteer Management 101” – and the number one job of managing volunteers is motivating them.

Here is a real life best practice example from a board I am currently serving on. This is from the CEO of  Lillian’s List, a political action group on whose board I serve.  Our CEO, Carol Teal, is just about the best nonprofit CEO I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

Here is a recent “cheerleading” email Carol sent us board members. Needless to say, it pumped us up and made us feel really good about the results we are creating in the world. We are all engaged in a big project to systematically and personally thank our donors.

Carol wrote:

‘Thank you to all the Board members for taking the time to help us say thank you.  The connections that we all have with each other is what sets this organization apart from any other I have been involved with in the past 20 years.

“Thank you to Karen and Ernestine for joining the Trailblazer Major Donor Club and thank you to Kim for providing the excellent support to all of us so we can say thank you.  And thanks to Claire for keeping us all engaged with the Fund Development part of our mission.  Onward!

“I’m leaving now to meet with another potential Trailblazer. I love asking and I thank all of you for being part of thanking.”

Carol complimented various board members for their efforts and successes.  By praising them in front of other board members (which is something all board members love), she sets the bar higher for all the other board members. She holds these folks up as examples for the rest of us.

And do note that she ended by letting us know how excited she was about raising money. She is out there making solicitations all the time. We can’t let her down!  It makes us feel like we are all in this together.

It’s a wonderful feeling! And you can bet that this board is sure FIRED-UP!

So many nonprofit board members are enthusiastic and well-meaning but too often they back out of their commitments.  Bet you have run into this problem!

And I have been on the other side too, as a board member. In the heat of an exciting discussion, I suddenly found myself making personal commitments. Then later, in my office, I thought better of those ideas and was not so very enthusiastic about them.

In nonprofit organizations, it’s hard working with volunteers, who actually don’t HAVE to do anything anyway.  You simply can’t MAKE volunteers work.  That’s why I always say that we are in the motivation business.

You have to be able to motivate and charge up your board members and volunteers if you want them to be productive.  It’s a rare nonprofit volunteer who can keep herself fully pumped up with excitement and enthusaism all the time!

Here’s my secret weapon in motivating my volunteer committees. And it’s an old standby of teamwork and leadership theory:  PEER PRESSURE.

Here’s the most important thing to know about board members: they never, repeat, never want to look bad in front of their peers.

In fact, if for some reason you should inadvertently embarrass a board member in front of the group (or if another board member does so) – it’s likely they will never forgive you.

I remember a board meeting I was attending last summer. The chair of the development committee publicly called a certain committee to task for not coming through on their fundraising event, when all the other board members had done so.

Ooooh boy. Those were fightin’ words.  We had a behind the scenes uproar later because those board members were embarassed and angry.  We are still picking up the pieces of this one!

So if peer pressure is the best way to motivate your nonprofit board members, how do you employ this?

Lots of ways:

1.  In the meeting packets for every board meeting, include a list of board members and the actions they have taken on behalf of the organization since the last meeting.

2. In your meetings, go around the table with everybody reporting in on their accomplishments. I can guarantee you that there will be a flurry of work right there at the last minute so that everyone will have something to report.  They don’t want to look bad in front of their peers!

3. Publicly praise the board members who are pulling through. Send emails out to everyone lauding accomplishments. And in meetings, hold up the high-performing board members as examples and honor them.

4. Send emails out with lists of board members and their “to-do” commitments so that everyone can see who has committed to do what.

5.  And when you have a board member who is lagging on his or her promises, just call them up and ask them if there is any way you can help them.  You’ll then have a friend as well as a board member!

What are your favorite ways to motivate your own board members?