The Power of a Well-Built Nonprofit Governing Board

NEEDED ON YOUR BOARD:
"MOVERS AND SHAKERS"

If you are one of those at the helm of a new or young nonprofit organization, philanthropy and the need to generate major gifts very quickly will become important issues and concerns.
    Investment by constituents or stakeholders in the vision and mission of the organization is critical to any nonprofit's survival and success.
   It is not enough, however, for your fund-raising needs to be an issue and a concern. Just as in well-established and more mature nonprofits, they must become a real, sustained action priority for the entire organization, from top to bottom -- the top being the governing board.

"Ownership" of Organizational Advancement
   When there is a movement to build or reinvigorate an organization's overall advancement program or to improve its fund raising, it always should start at the level of the board, because that body already has responsibility for governance --- fiduciary and legal issues and general oversight of the operations and well-being of the organization.
    The success of the advancement functions is key to the board's being able to meet its responsibility to provide the budget resources needed for carrying out the organization's mission. What board members must realize, therefore, is that focus on the general advancement, advocacy, constituency-building and fund-raising solutions has to start with them, too.
    As the "owners" (stewards) and leaders of the organization, board members should be expected to own the advancement process and to set an example as front-line advocates who enthusiastically participate in all aspects of constituency development, relationship management and philanthropy.
    Your board needs to be made up of people who understand this reality on every level. If it is not, it might be time to reorient or even rebuild your board. Any nonprofit board must follow this basic, three-part fund-raising axiom: (1) give yourself (according to your means, of course); (2) find others who will give and ask; or, (3) find someone else to take your place as a board member. It's that simple!

A Partnership Between Board and Staff
   The board must assume a pivotal role in the organization's advancement initiatives, always in a partnership with the senior staff, while not usurping the staff's management role and authority in the advancement functions. Board members should be given every opportunity to be equally involved in constituency building and cultivation, relationship management, public relations and communications activities, and, most especially, in the fund-raising process.
    The mistake many nonprofits make when establishing a board or recruiting new members is to focus almost exclusively on the service mission and programs of the organization, to the neglect of the board's role in other strategic realms, such as visioning and institutional advancement. In the final analysis, mission and programs mean nothing if the strategic plan and essential resources underlying their implementation are either inadequate or nonexistent.

Passion, Commitment & Advocacy
    Most organizations strive for boards characterized by diversity. Who would quarrel with the value of a board that is marked by diversity in terms of occupation, experience, skills, age, gender or even socioeconomic status?
    At the same time, many nonprofit leaders overly concern themselves with recruiting board members who bring technical talent or a commitment only to the organization's service mission, programs and activities.
    There is no disputing the worth and advantage of technical talent, and it is imperative that all board members share a firm commitment to vision and mission.
    However, what organizations really ought to focus on are people who are the genuine "movers and shakers" in the community --- those who are strategic thinkers, opinion-shapers, advocates and business leaders, those who can bring multiple skill sets to the table, those who understand philanthropy and get involved in volunteer roles. If they also happen to be generous individuals with a history of personal philanthropy and a connection to others like themselves, all the better for the organization.
    In the larger sense, all board members must approach their role with an obvious passion for and commitment to the cause, a desire to communicate that passion and commitment to the larger audience outside, and a dedication to advocacy on behalf of the organization.
   The time-tested approach of building governing boards with a mix of prominent, respected, talented, visionary and philanthropic people in the community, as well as the mission activists and consumers or clients, should still be followed.
    The "movers and shakers" certainly will dedicate themselves to the vision and mission --- to governing --- but are not likely to lose sight of the organizational advancement program and how it must operate for success.

Setting an Example, Setting the Pace
   When "the rubber meets the road" in the organization's advancement program and philanthropy initiatives, it is the board that must set the example and the pace --- for giving as well as seeking.
   The axiom articulated earlier bears repeating here. The board must own the advancement process. The efforts to generate and secure philanthropic support for the organization and its mission must originate from the working partnership between the board and the executive staff. Before board members can ask for gifts from external constituencies, they must give credible reality to their own commitments and investments.
   It is perfectly reasonable to expect that all board members will make sacrificial, annual gifts to support the organization's operating needs, as well as special, major campaigns and appeals. Having done so enthusiastically and according to their personal means, they are in a legitimate position to help raise plentiful gifts, both large and small, from others.
   While time, talent and treasure are needed from every board member, the organization with a genuinely strong culture of advancement and philanthropy will never be compromised by receiving only one or two of these three from its top leaders.

Assembling a Well-Built Board
   The process of building a new board or perpetuating an existing one should begin and work in a way similar to the volunteer-recruitment process in an organization's major fund-raising initiatives.
   Just as in capital and endowment campaigns, where board members first make their own gifts, then solicit gifts from others and, in turn, recruit them to serve as volunteer solicitors, board members also must contribute to and help manage the board-building process by seeking others to serve with and after them in the governing role.
   Whether yours is a new nonprofit, building a board for the first time, or an established, mature organization rebuilding or restructuring your board, here are two critical, effective strategies for creating, populating and organizing a board filled with genuine "movers and shakers:"

Develop board member job descriptions that include clear statements about the role the board must assume and the responsibilities it must fulfill in governing, organizational oversight and the advancement process, as well as other strategic areas of concern. All board members should understand that they will be expected to help recruit and orient new members, to make a personal financial investment and ask others to do the same, and that individual involvement in constituency building and cultivation, advocacy, public relations and corporate communications is part of their job, too. These should be clear and nearly non-negotiable issues with them. If they do not want to be involved in some way in mission advocacy, fund raising and the advancement process as a whole, they perhaps should not be asked to join or continue in the board role.

Ask current board members to make periodic lists of the 25 most respected, savvy, generous, philanthropic and community-involved people they know. This will help to identify for future consideration those people who are opinion-shapers, business leaders, advocates, and individuals most concerned about issues of the larger public/community good.

    The list approach serves as a means for preliminary identification of appropriate prospects for future board membership and other volunteer opportunities, as well as contributed, financial support of the organization in its campaigns. Divide up the prospects, and assign them within the board for contact, communication, cultivation and relationship development.
    Prepare a written strategy for how each prospect will be approached, introduced to the mission and cultivated for future involvement and support. Then have board members contact these prospects using and adhering to the overall strategy you have created --- much like in a major-gifts fund- raising program for capital or endowment needs.

Sustaining & Maintaining an Excellent Board
    So, you have recruited and seated a board populated by committed, inspired, talented, eager and energetic individuals who are ready to serve. Now what?
    Cooperate with the board's leaders in the effort to identify and recruit new members and lend the full support of the executive staff to the process of nomination and appointment.
    Develop and put special emphasis on creative, engaging and challenging programs of orientation for new board members and annual/continuing education for the full board. Provide the board with an opportunity for annual self-assessment and discussion of the implications of the exercise for the board's and the organization's visioning and strategic planning.
    Work to promote a partnership of the board's leaders and the senior executive staff in an effort to keep board members fully focused on their proper governance and oversight role, as well as their strategic planning and goal-setting responsibilities. This helps to avoid the potential for the board to micromanage issues and meddle in day-to-day operations and the tasks of the staff.
    Support the board in its critical role and involvements in the organizational advancement process and initiatives. Help each board member to understand the value of personal advocacy, the importance of giving and asking, and the need for seeking others who will see the vision, share the mission and also give and ask. Challenge the board to participate in strategic, goal-based advancement planning and its implementation.
    Assist the board in the development of appropriate policies and procedures, the establishment and staffing of needed operating committees, the proper enforcement of term limits and rotation of officers, and in the routine execution of its legal and fiduciary responsibilities.
    Finally, it never hurts to pursue every opportunity to publicly and enthusiastically thank your board for its service and to communicate to constituents, donors, volunteers, staff and the larger, external community how the contributions and accomplishments of your board help the organization to carry out its mission effectively.
   Thank the board every day for making the mission possible!

Initiating Change Among Board Members
    What do you do if your board is largely resistant to change or to assuming its proper role, particularly in advancement?
    You look for at least one member of the board (preferably a senior member) who clearly understands the problem. Try to persuade that individual to work from within for reorientation and refocusing of the other members and their perceptions.
   The initiative to make changes or redirect the board usually cannot come from a staff person other than the chief executive. Sometimes, however, even the CEO cannot or will not help to stimulate such change. Bringing in an outside resource, such as an experienced consultant or other skilled facilitator, to do an internal audit or a governing board assessment and to develop and broaden the board's understanding of its proper governing responsibilities, also can help.

Rules of the Advancement Road
    This is an era of limited resources, extreme financial constraints and severe competition for support, and these are being felt by nonprofits of all sizes and types. In this climate, there are at least two realities --- two rules of the road --- that governing boards must face, particularly in new or younger organizations, when building, strengthening or refocusing the advancement program:

The organization must learn to be willing and prepared to allocate at least twenty percent (20%) of its resources to advancement, most especially to constituency-building, constituent-cultivation, communications, and fund-raising strategies and initiatives.

The governing board members, the CEO and the senior advancement or development officer must spend at least one third of their planning and work time on the major advancement initiatives --- constituency building, constituency relations and cultivation, and fund-raising efforts --- most particularly in the early years. The reality, however, is that these are issues and priorities that never diminish in their importance as time goes on.

Time to Get Outside Help on Board Issues?
If your board members or CEO react to these realities with anything less than full understanding and agreement, you probably need outside help to set or reset the focus properly.
A good first step might be to purchase each of them a personal copy of such helpful books as:

The Board Member's Book, Making a Difference in Voluntary Organizations, by Brian O'Connell (The Foundation Center, � 1993, paperback 2003);
Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards, by Richard P. Chait, William P. Ryan and Barbara E. Taylor (John Wiley & Sons, � 2004);
Getting the Best from Your Board: An Executive's Guide to a Successful Partnership, by Sherrill K. Williams and Kathleen A. McGinnis (BoardSource, � 2006);
The Fundraising Habits of Supremely Successful Boards, by Jerold Panas (Emerson & Church Publishers, � 2006);
Fundraising Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards, by James M. Greenfield (BoardSource, � 2003, second edition 2009).

All of these reference books are available from such sources as The Foundation Center, BoardSource and Amazon.
A good second step is to seek organizational consensus and then act on the need for new directions in strategic planning and advancement initiatives. Getting the board leadership and full membership engaged in a dialogue with the CEO about the value of developing new strategies and refocusing goals is helpful and advisable.
The time might, in fact, be right to engage an experienced, outside consultant or other facilitator to work with the board and executive staff in developing a new vision of how the organization should approach, manage and carry out its essential mission.