Preparing to Have a Board, Part 2

Picking up from Friday, we were enumerating the steps that one would ideally use to set up a new board of directors for a nascent nonprofit in a way that would lead to solid governance and steer clear of any elements of dyscfunctionality. Just to summarize where we were at the end of the last post:

Step 1 was understanding the problems and successes of other similar charities that already exist.

Step 2 was taking at least a year to find and recruit the board members in advance of starting the charity up.

Step 3 was writing the board job descriptioon, plus individual job descriptions for each of the board members.

4. My next step would be to lay out a plan for the recruitment and installation of my new board members. This plan would have nine elements:
1. Generate a list of good prospects according to a list of needs for skills, money and governance experience. This is the result of the board's brainstorming a list from their personal and business acquaintances, and represents the extent of the organization's ability to tap into community leadership. This list will hopefully grow longer over the years.

2. Personally recruit the best of those prospects first, making sure they understand the job description, have had nonprofit governance experience, and know the organization. Board members take on specific personal recruitment assignments from among the best prospects. Those who accept the invitation to consider board membership are given an orientation and a tour, plus attend 1 or 2 board meetings in order to inform themselves about the organization and this should factor into their decision ultimately whether or not to join the board.

3. Install them with public ceremony in front of their peers and family; let everyone know how valuable these people are to the organization and how much is expected from them. The press should be involved. The event could be an annual meeting, with dinner, or maybe done as part of an awards ceremony or public charity auction event.

4. Train them in what they are to do – both collectively as a board, and individually in terms of where they will be serving as volunteers to the organization's fundraising or program efforts. This means both group training and individual coaching and mentoring for the new board members. Incumbent board members should be assigned to do this mentoring and the executive director will assist with coaching.

5. Evaluate them annually on their performance according to a process that the board devises together, commits to paper and enforces with its action. New board members should be apprised not only of the job descriptions (collective and individual) but of the performance standards as well. An evaluation process should be set up whereby annually each board member's performance is evaluated and the performance of the board as a whole is judged.

6. Give them more training when individuals shift their personal volunteer contributions from one area of the work to another. Board members need fairly constant training, either in various aspects of fundraising, or in the areas of governance, finance, program development. A steady stream of training opportunities should be devised for the board's ongoing training.

7. Set term limits for board members so they can see "the light at the end of the tunnel" and don't come to feel as if there's never going to be an end to this commitment.

8. De-brief them before they leave the Board – finding out what they have learned about our methods and practices, about our community image, about our support in the community and what we can do to continually enhance that support.

9. Have a formal "Letting go" ceremony to thank them and praise them in front of their family and peers for their excellent service to the organization. A formal way to say thanks for a job well done is afforded by such a ceremony. It's also a way to bring closure on each board member's term.

That's how I would set out the plan for board recruitment. Not a three-stage process (ask them, put them on, never let them go) but a 9-step process that does a good job of stewardship of the time, talents and experience of each board member as well as of the board as a whole.

See you tomorrow. Happy New Year! And best wishes to all the readers of this blog for a Happy and Prosperous New Year.