How Nonprofit Boards Can Make Good Decisions -- Part 8 of 12

So what's going on around the boardroom table?

Here's Paul: Paul's a lawyer. Corporate: mergers and acquisitions. He knows a business proposition when he sees it, has seen it all in terms of financial investments gone sour or turned for the good. He's hooked on Do-Good because he knows that if you don't pay at least some attention to the poor down-and-outers, you haven't fulfilled your obligation to society. And he wants to be seen as doing that. He's a bit rough around the edges with people when he isn't in a negotiating position. He claims that "being totally honest even if it's brutal" is the way to go. Inside, Paul is a born contrarian; whatever position someone else has, he labors to find the opposing viewpoint and offer it for everyone to see.

Here's Gloria: Gloria is an accountant. She's here because she is involved as a volunteer keeping an eye on the finances of the organization and giving frequent bits of advice to the financial officer and her staff. She came in 8 years ago when financial matters had deteriorated a bit and helped straighten things out and get Do-Good back on the right fiscal track. Inside, Gloria is suspicious of any new expense that is proposed; she lives with a constant perception of scarcity.

Here's Sam: Sam is a retired school superintendent who has been on this Board for 15 years, since its founding. He's a rock, a stalwart, volunteering for many kinds of jobs in the organization's life over the years. He has confidence in the management team presently in place because he helped put them there. He's a little more laid back, too, and very accepting of many kinds of people and their personalities. Inside, Sam has a geologist's sense of time and knows the nonprofit is likely to progress in little steps, but will take great strides over long periods of time.

Here's Melinda: She's in marketing, a principal in a firm she helped found, and very successful in the radio and TV marketing business. She has a very heavy schedule but takes time out of her busy day to attend at least 4 of the 8 Board meetings that occur each year. A little high strung, Melinda knows business, and knows nonprofits. She has been a board member on one or another of the community's nonprofits for 18 years, and says she loves it. Inside, she's glad for this outlet for her energies, because she often thinks she would like working in the nonprofit sector better than in business.

Here's Mary: She's the wife of a very wealthy businessman in the community. She and her husband are scions of wealth. She's a socialite, knows everybody worth knowing, and is marvelously defensive about protecting all her friends from being, as she says, "pestered" by all the charities in town. She will not fundraise with them; she refuses to open doors with her friends for the organization. But she wants to be on the Board as part of what she sees as fulfilling her "duty" to charity. Inside, she's wary of the fact that if she asks for money from her friends, they will all come looking to her to share her own wealth.

Here's Tom: He's a manufacturer's rep, and very successful at what he does. He's high-powered in his approach to everything, always punctual, always involved in a lot of things, always the "driver." He knows business inside and out. He also knows he's sick and tired of so many charities asking for more and more money, and wishes they would stop pestering him about giving and giving more. Inside, he feels guilty that he can't give more, but his cash flow is often fairly thin because of his investment in his business.

Get the picture? We'll see something of their interaction tomorrow.