By Audrey Levitin
Every non profit organization in the U.S. has a Board of Directors. Great organizations turn that obligation into one of their greatest assets.
The executive directors we work with often ask us: “Why isn’t my Board doing more?” To put it more bluntly than the EDs usually do, why isn’t a great board the norm rather than the exception?
I know this may come as a surprise but – despite protestations – there exists a built-in ambivalence among EDs and CEOs to build a strong and effective board. When inviting someone onto a board, an ED is essentially choosing his or her boss – the person they are accountable to. It’s natural to appoint people that satisfy a personal comfort level, those that “want to help,” but are not necessarily able or willing to give support, or take their accountability role as seriously as they might.
There is a price to be paid for keeping expectations low. While there are short term benefits to lessening the work that comes with board engagement, you, the senior nonprofit executive, won’t be able to build a great organization alone. Without an engaged board you will not only lack resources but the accountability structure to propel a mission forward.
According to BoardSource, “The most successful fundraising organizations have a powerful fundraising partnership between the board, the executive, and the fundraising staff.”
The sweet spot in confronting the oversight power of the board, and the accompanying work in energizing a board, is building a relationship based on mutual commitment to the vision of an organization and the people served. The goal is to stay focused on creating something brilliant together. Toward that end, here are several goals:
- Create a culture of philanthropy.
The Board of Directors has primary responsibility for meeting fundraising goals. In partnership with the Chair, ask each board member to commit to personal and measurable development goals.
The benefit is multiplying the numbers of people with outreach who can speak effectively about the important work of the organization, people who will develop the capacity and confidence needed to ask for support. - Develop a strong governance structure to create shared accountability and collaboration.
It is the Board’s responsibility to ensure adequate resources needed to meet budget projections. Create a powerful partnership with the finance committee, to help the board understand how development goals are unfolding. This practice of mutual accountability is important during periods including end of year fundraising and major events. In this way the Board can help get ahead of short-falls or build on surpluses and successes. - Build a partnership with the Board by sharing responsibility as ambassadors for the organization.
Create a communications toolkit as a practical step to ensure your board and staff are speaking in one voice. A toolkit should include a mission statement, accomplishments, and draft emails and content for social media posts. - Hold an annual training for your board in fundraising and communications.
An annual training is a good investment in keeping the accountability in board fundraising and encourages personal commitments. (We often facilitate this work at CauseWired).
Board members can also provide immense support in some of the most challenging of areas: keeping up with technological advancements, helping address difficult human resource issues and developing investment strategies.
As we so often tell our clients, by following these best practices, you are not in the untenable position of reporting out to an unengaged or uninformed board of directors – but rather working with true partners who can help you to achieve great things for the people you serve.
Audrey Levitin
Senior Counsel
audrey@causewired.com