The big federal grant writing season is over, and there is some time before the smaller winter season starts. Much of my time this month is actually taken with spending a grant award from a proposal I wrote for the Silver City based Wellness Coalition in 2009: The now extinct Compassion Capital Fund Program, which provides capacity building to nonprofit organizations through sub-awards, training and one-on-one technical assistance.
I am providing the one-on-one TA piece to four different nonprofits, and in particular their boards and executive directors this month. I am helping with amending by-laws, training new board members, putting together an application for 501(c)(3) status, coaching staff through a complex grant proposal, training the ED on board roles and responsibilities, tailoring sample policies, reviewing marketing materials, advising on an innovative fundraising campaign, and, with every one of these organizations, providing advice on board attendance, retention and recruitment.
On the latter subject, here’s the type of laments I keep hearing, over and over: How do we make them show up? Our board president has not been to four meetings in a row; our board has not had a quorum in several meetings; our board members are so old I don’t know if they are alive (someone really said this!); our board members won’t participate in any fundraising activities; the XYZ committee has not done a thing in a year; our board members have no clue about their legal duties; there are too many potential conflicts of interest bogging down out board; an organization similar to ours in California has 28 board members, and we can’t even get our five to attend meetings.
The last comment illustrates the particular struggle nonprofits in rural, low-income areas face, as described previously here. We lack the large pool of highly educated urban lawyers, educators, doctors and other professionals that typically serve on boards. The few that we do have are in high demand, and often feel compelled to serve on three or more boards.
I have come to the conclusion that most of our governance gaps are caused at the moment we recruit new board members.
As I am counseling clients on these issues, some patterns and strategies emerge. Some of these are at the idea stage, and have not been tested at a large scale, while some have been successfully tried in organizations I work with. All of them are based on the premise that an effective and engaged board originates with recruiting the right people, and that we need to go past the traditional recruitment strategies. And on the premise that if in a rural area, expertise is rare, go for enthusiasm.
1. Don’t talk your friends and family into joining your board.
They’ll join to do you a favor, not because they believe in the mission.
2. Recruit people who are users of your services.
They believe in your mission, and they can testify about the need for the services.
3. Recruit young people.
They bring enthusiasm, and the ability to learn, as well as innovative ideas. They’ll be motivated also by adding a civic engagement to their resume.
4. Recruit retirees as a potential source of expertise.
Just don’t make them your only type of board member.
5. Don’t downplay the board’s roles and responsibilities in the recruitment talk.
Be honest about what you expect. Educate about legal duties before someone joins. Talk the wavering candidate out of it.
6. Don’t beg.
Market serving on your board as an opportunity and a privilege.
7. Don’t accept candidates who serve on more than one other board.
A director can’t do justice to more than one or two organizations, both in terms of time and loyalty. Be careful about recruiting people who show any signs of over-commitment.
8. Train the new members.
Make new board member training mandatory, even if they say they have governance experience. In the training include your by-laws, the organization’s mission, history, financial status, and policies. Then have someone from outside the organization give them the “Basic Roles and Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards” training.
Clearly, in our community, the standard “1 banker, 1 public official and a few close friends” -type board of directors is not working. I’d be curious to hear from other rural nonprofit professionals about innovative board recruitment.
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