Nonprofit boards have an incredible amount of responsibility, overseeing governance, fundraising, and finances. This means that finding and selecting the right board members is one of the most critical decisions your organization makes.
Yet too often, nonprofit board members are chosen in a state of crisis rather than intention. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With a few strategic shifts, you can recruit a powerful and effective board of directors. Let’s look at how.
Nonprofit Board Recruitment Can Be Tough. Here’s Why.
When it comes to recruiting a highly effective and productive board of directors, nonprofits can face an uphill battle. Think about this:
- Nonprofit boards have a high level of governance responsibilities—with the expectation to provide oversight for mission, finances, and fundraising, among other areas.
- Nonprofit board members must contribute significant time and personal resources to the organization. They must also be willing to assume the legal and ethical duties of the leadership role.
- Nonprofit board members are expected to serve as volunteers.
- Nonprofit board members are also expected to make an annual financial gift.
Essentially, nonprofits are asking leaders to PAY to work for them!
What could possibly go wrong with a leadership model like this? (If you’re curious, check out the latest stats on what does go wrong in our roundup of top nonprofit board challenges.)
Rather than being intentional and strategic about board recruitment, too often nonprofits settle for “filling empty board seats,” which creates a leadership culture of inexperience and unaccountability.
Can you imagine a for-profit business frantically appointing volunteers with minimal experience and training to its leadership board? Would a for-profit CEO relinquish the reins of power to untrained and inexperienced volunteers and expect them to oversee executive-level employees, marketing, and finances? Absolutely not.
And nonprofits don’t need to settle for this approach either.
4 Steps to Find and Choose Nonprofit Board Members
All nonprofits want board members who are engaged, ready to learn, understand their roles, and are willing to fundraise.
But choosing the RIGHT board member for your organization—both as it is right now and where you want your organization to go in the future—is not a cookie-cutter process.
At Funding for Good, we’ve worked with hundreds of nonprofits to transform their boards into engines of success and impact. (You can learn all about our board and leadership services here.) Here is the four-step process we use to help clients identify and recruit the best-suited board members for their organizations.
Step #1: Ask what capacity your nonprofit NEEDS from board members.
Nonprofit board members should be adding capacity to your organization. The key is making sure this capacity is what you actually need, versus what some off-the-shelf checklist suggests you need.
Organizations come in all shapes and sizes, and so do capacity needs.
“Capacity” can mean a lot of different things to different nonprofits. For example, there’s fundraising capacity, subject matter expertise, functional expertise (such as finance or legal backgrounds), or even providing unique insights into your programming or the environment in which you are operating.
To narrow in on what your nonprofit truly needs in board member capacity, ask your current leadership team:
- What does our organization intend to achieve in the next five years?
- What new or expanded capacity will we need to achieve these goals?
- What changes will we need to make in how we operate, fundraise, or deliver programming?
- Which of these capacity needs are most suited for board members to fill or provide support on?
Keep in mind that your most pressing needs for your board may not actually be financial (though of course that is always helpful).
For example, a nonprofit that serves veterans might have established a five-year strategic plan that includes the development of a community home for veterans. Perhaps the goal is to provide transitional housing, physical and mental health services, and job readiness skills. In assessing capacity, the organization realizes it could use insider insights into community needs, effective program models, and integration with existing veteran services.
Or, in another example, a nonprofit might be focused on establishing more robust financial systems and operating policies to ensure long-term success and sustainability. In this case, a board member with expertise in this area could be a huge value-add.
If you’re struggling with specific answers to the four capacity questions, it may be a sign that your organization could benefit from a strategic plan. To learn more, check out our in-depth article on nonprofit strategic planning.
Step #2: Ask who has the skills and expertise to RESOLVE your nonprofit’s needs.
Once you’ve identified your nonprofit’s primary capacity needs, it’s time to identify individuals who have the desired skill set and connections.
The nonprofit focused on veterans might ask: “Who in our community can help us successfully plan, develop, and complete our proposed home for veterans?”
The nonprofit focused on building successful and sustainable finances and operations might lean toward board prospects who have demonstrated their ability to grow a thriving business.
When identifying prospective board members, think about leadership and skills, not just economic resources or “connections.”
Just because someone can write a big check to your nonprofit doesn’t mean they will be a great board member. Similarly, just because someone cannot make a large financial gift doesn’t mean they can’t make an incredibly valuable contribution to your organization by serving on your board.
If your organization has a long list of capacity needs, try not to get lost trying to find one person who can solve them all. Instead, start by focusing on the top three. Ask: “Who in our community can help us resolve one or more of our most pressing organizational needs?”
Step #3: Ask who is wanting, willing, and ABLE to serve as a board member for your nonprofit.
After your team has identified the best board prospects, the real work begins.
It is time to start an intentional recruitment process to determine who is wanting, willing, and able to serve on your board.
A board representative should reach out to prospects to “explore potential engagement opportunities.” Note that it might be helpful to refrain from informing board prospects that you are considering them as a board member during the initial invitation.
As you begin to cultivate potential new board leaders, consider a variety of conversation starters to determine their “want.” Such as:
- Why are they passionate about your nonprofit’s mission?
- Are they already supporting the organization as either a volunteer, donor, or community partner?
- If they have never engaged with the organization, what is inspiring them to consider it now?
- Consider asking the candidate to share more about the skill sets they bring and how they would be willing to use their skills to support the organization’s mission.
If a board prospect establishes their “want,” it is time to assess their “willingness” to serve. Keep in mind that some candidates might be willing to help in lots of capacities, but becoming a board member might not be one of those!
Take some time with potential candidates to explore how they might be willing to serve the organization in new or expanded ways. For example, this could include:
- Participating in general volunteer programs, client support, administrative activities, etc.
- Conducting community outreach, such as hosting events, serving as an ambassador, networking on the organization’s behalf, etc.
- Supporting resource development, including fundraising or partnerships.
- Taking on a formal leadership role, such as serving on a committee, action team, task force, or the board of directors.
If a board prospect expresses willingness to serve at the board level, the conversation should then shift to availability and expectations to determine if the candidate is genuinely “able” to serve.
Step 4: Be intentional about board expectations and onboarding.
Once you have identified prospects who are well-matched to your organization’s needs and interested in serving on your board of directors, a detailed “onboarding” packet and process can streamline the rest of the recruitment process.
Critical conversation points should include:
- Job description for board members: The job description should outline the board’s legal and ethical responsibilities. (We have a board of directors job description template available for instant download.)
- Expectations for board member engagement: Key points should include attendance requirements for regularly scheduled board meetings and specific participation requirements in the areas of development, finances, and governance duties. (To make this easier, we’ve developed templates for board engagement planning and engagement tracking.)
- Organization overview and goals: Include a brief overview of the organization’s past, present, and future. If you have a strategic plan, this is the right time to share it.
If a community member has confirmed that they are wanting, willing, and able to step into a board leadership role, the ball is back in your board nominating committee’s court. The nominating committee should conduct due diligence and determine whether to invite the individual to join the board of directors.
Avoid These 4 Common Mistakes When Choosing Nonprofit Board Members
After working with hundreds of nonprofits on board development, leadership, fundraising, and strategic planning, we’ve seen what works and what doesn’t for board member recruitment and selection. Here are the four most common mistakes nonprofits make when it comes to building effective boards:
1) Rushing to fill empty board seats ASAP.
Unfortunately, for many nonprofits, filling board seats is an afterthought instead of the intentional process it should be.
As the end of a board term approaches, current members look around the room and panic when they realize how many people are rotating off the board. There is a newfound sense of urgency to FILL THE EMPTY seats. The determining factor on who gets nominated becomes, “Who do we know now that might be willing to serve?”
2) Conflating passion for the mission with skills and experience.
Board members forget that “nonprofits” are also technically businesses. That’s right. Public charities are businesses that qualify for tax-exempt status. Just like any other business, there are programs and services to deliver, budgets to meet, and oversight to complete.
When a board gets tunnel vision and only focuses on the mission, it is easy to neglect critical job duties related to development, finance, and governance.
Passion for the organization and the mission should undoubtedly be a criterion for incoming board members, but should not be the only skill or attribute a prospective board member brings to the organization.
3) Recruiting a board member’s checkbook rather than skillset.
Yes, it can be a huge benefit when a nonprofit board member is also a committed and well-resourced donor. Having a board member who writes a major check every year does have its perks. But it’s also a risky way to build out your board.
A nonprofit board does more than just fundraise: nonprofit boards are responsible for essential governance functions. If governance is treated as secondary to check-writing, it can undermine your organization’s long-term sustainability.
Plus, if you use board seats as a replacement for real donor engagement and cultivation, what happens when a major donor cycles off your board? Will they keep supporting your organization, or will their departure leave a sudden and hard-to-fill hole in your annual budget?
4) Automatically selecting VIPs for board seats.
It’s tempting to focus only on “VIPs” from your community to fill your board seats. Many nonprofits justify allowing VIPs to bypass traditional screening processes by claiming, “EVERYONE knows this person!”
It’s equally as common for boards to not hold VIPs to the same engagement expectations as the other board members. The VIP missed more than 40% of regular meetings? No problem—their name alone on the board roster brings interest and credibility to your nonprofit, right? Not so fast.
While a VIP may in fact be qualified, selecting them only for their VIP status is not how you select the best board members.
5) Prioritizing board member connections over engagement.
Have you ever heard this line when discussing board recruitment?
“Think of all the connections this person can bring to the organization as a board member!”
Nonprofit leaders and boards assume that because a community member has an extensive network of influence, they will use those connections to the benefit of the organization.
All too often, nonprofits find themselves with new, well-connected board members who are either unable or unwilling to leverage those relationships.
For local government employees, elected officials, and justice system representatives, it could be illegal for them to “request” support from many in their circle of influence because it could be perceived as “quid pro quo.” Professionals such as financial advisors, business owners, and many others might be bound by company policies or ethics that prohibit them from approaching clients or others in their work circle for contributions.
Or these well-connected nonprofit board members might simply be unwilling to make asks of their networks.
What’s Next: Get Your Nonprofit Board Engaged and On Track
Selecting ideal board members is just the first step in creating an effective nonprofit board. The next question becomes, “How do we ensure that all our board members are active, efficient, and productive?”
Here at Funding for Good, we’ve developed resources you can use on your own, like our Board Template Bundle, to get your board in top shape. If you’re looking for more customized support, we also offer board development services, including board trainings, board retreats, and more.
