Expectations for Nonprofit Board Members

Recently I had the privilege of being present at a nonprofit board meeting when the members of the board were discussing the question of what they generally expected for their fellows on the board. They gave some good reasons, but I want to share mine here, because I think it’s a fair question and the answer is critical to the success of the nonprofit.

First and foremost, I would expect nonprofit board members to use their skills and experience that they bring from their professional involvements. Too often, one encounters board members who seem to “check their guns at the door.” That is, they don’t use the skils and their experience productively in solving the nonprofit’s problems, as they would in solving similar problems for their business or employer. So, first we would expect that they will not check their brains at the door to the nonprofit boardroom.

The second expectation for board members is that they will attend meetings and not beg off here and there for family or business concerns. Today, anybody with a PDA or electronic calendar finds saving a date a simple problem. And if the board meeting dates are given in advance, as they certainly should be, then there’s no excuse for board members not to know when the meeting is and to keep that day and time completely clear of conflicting appointments. It’s a matter of both pride and priority: pride because one is keeping one’s word to the nonprofit that was given in accepting the position of a member of the governance board; priority in that one has also agreed to set aside a certain percentage of one’s time and effort to support the nonprofit’s mission achievement through governance. So if you commit, why aren’t you at the meeting?!

Third, they’re going to be able to degelop a vision for the nonprofit organization and express that vision in goals and objectives for mission attainment.

Fourth, they will be expected to negotiate and compromise, being able to come to effective governance decisions with their fellow board members that enhance the ability of the nonprofit to accomplish its mission.

Fifth, board members can reasonably be expected to have the self-discipline to stay away from micro-management and stay with the strategic issues appropriate to a governance board. Boards don’t exist to give their members the self-satisfaction of messing around making day-to-day financial or program decisions. Their focus must be considerably above that, concentrating on the strategic steps by which the organization will attain its goal of providing a series of social goods for the community. If board members don’t do this, who else can be expected to do that job?

Sixth, board members should be able to publicly advocate for the nonprofit organization and its cause. If they don’t believe in the cause, why would they accept a position of respect and responsibility for the organization? The community looks to the nonprofit leaders to advocate for the cause, and when this advocacy is not forthcoming, the image of the nonprofit is tarnished.

Finally, nonprofit board members can be expected to give significant annual gifts to the nonprofit, suspending other giving for a time and concentrating their giving capability on the nonprofit for which they are leaders. Since they are at the top of the leadership pyramid of the nonprofit, it can reasonably be argued that if they don’t lead in giving, who else in the community would be expected to provide such leadership?