Truly great nonprofit organizations have great boards.  Jim Collins in his monograph "Good to Great and the Social Sectors" describes a series of concepts for how nonprofit organizations can move from being to good to being great.  There is much for boards and executive directors to learn from Collins and his monograph.  He describes nonprofit governance structures as having more components and more inherent ambiguity than their business counterparts.  And he stresses the need to "get the right people on the bus" at all levels of the organization from the board to staff to volunteers.  

From the perspective of The Oertel Group, there is more that boards of director need to do to provide the governance and leadership needed for the organizations they oversee to become truly great.  Consistent with Collins' approach, the board working with key staff members need to be clear on the mission and core focus of the organization, understand the needs of the constituents/clients they serve, and develop a long term vision to address those needs and how they will measure their progress in these areas. 

At The Oertel Group, we see specific factors to be necessary for the board of a nonprofit organization to be great and without a great board, it is difficult if not impossible for a nonprofit organization to achieve greatness using Collins' criteria or any other measure of greatness. 

First and foremost, board members need to be clear on their role and how and why that role is differentiated from that of the Executive Director.  While some elements of the board role will be consistent across nonprofit corporations (i.e. legal and fiduciary), the exact dimensions of the role will vary based on mission, length of existence, geography, and revenue streams. 

With clear roles established, boards need to have a makeup that facilitates their execution of those roles.  Collins uses the phrasing "getting the right people on the bus."  For the board, it includes recruiting people passionate about the mission with skills needed for their role, with a profile that adequately represents their constituency and community, with time available to fulfill their role and a commitment to challenge themselves and the organization to greatness.  Most nonprofit organizations need the board to be involved in fundraising and accessing resources and if this is the case, this would need to be part of establishing the desired profile for the board. 

Flowing from role clarity and recruitment a great board will also determine the most effective way to structure their work (e.g. committees, officers, meeting frequency) and how the board members will evaluate their performance and that of the organization.  

The Oertel Group assists boards and nonprofit organizations to become great through our strategic planning and board development services including facilitation to clarify roles, strategy development for board recruitment, and assistance in structuring the board for success. 

If you are interested in learning more about our board development services, please contact us at 323-257-1125 or via email.