by Anne Marie Burgoyne, Managing Director of Social Innovation

Board chairs often ask me what I think are the best practices of high performing boards. The list below is not exhaustive, but includes some practices that I find help to make boards work stronger and more effective.

Board member job descriptions and agreements

When people know what is expected of them they are much more likely to deliver value — or to acknowledge that a role is not the right one for them, and to not step up at all (which can be a good thing). Board member job descriptions could include expectations around meeting attendance and preparation, committee participation, financial giving, community outreach, event volunteering, and support of non-profit team members in fund development activity. Expectations could be the same for every person, or quite different for people of different skills or means. And expectations could include functions that are very much in the “governance” arena and require clear levels of engagement and focus, and others that are much more in the “volunteer” arena and are more at the discretion and pleasure of the staff, though valuable in their own right. But the key here is honest conversation, clear communications and transparent expectation setting so that everyone can see the path to successful participation that moves the organization forward.

Clear financial giving expectations

I have highlighted this particular are of board responsibility, because I have seen many boards struggle with questions of the right financials expectations to have of board members individually and as a group. I think that this is both because most nonprofits are cash-poor and because financial contributions are easier to compare than provision of other donations of wisdom and work. For some non-profits, having a standard give/get for every board member can work. For others, each member gives according to his or her means, and there is comfort and trust that those numbers help to meet the organization’s overall goals. But when folks start to squabble about money, or worse, stew alone, then real dysfunction can enter a board, which then effects other aspects of the group’s ability to work together. Again, honest and clear communication among board members, and between board members and the board chair, can both maximize funds raised, as well as maintain harmony around this complex topic. If some board members are not able to give substantial sums of money, they may bring key domain expertise that could prove to be even more catalytic than a financial gift.

Orientation

Bringing new members onto a board can be greatly facilitated with some simple orientation techniques. Board buddies (a veteran board member to sit next to at your first meeting, or a board member who calls you before and after the meeting to check in), board member manuals (that include materials like mission and vision statements, budgets, org charts, annual reports, marketing materials), and orientation calls (with a class of new members that might review an orientation manual and answer new member questions) are all terrific tools to help new board members to feel acclimated and welcome.

Equip your board members to be valued ambassadors

Board members want to be strong advocates and storytellers, but often don’t have the tools to do this well. Try something — ask each of your board members to write down the one-minute elevator pitch that they use to describe your non-profit. It is very likely that these statements will be wildly different from one another, as well as from the message that you would like them to share. Create a one-minute elevator pitch for your board members — as well as a 3- and 5-minute pitches. Provide them with a fact sheet with your organization’s top 10 successes. Arm them with stories of success that illustrate why your organization is effective and unique. Equip them to be great advocates for your organization.

Tools for fund development

On a related note, help your board members, and other volunteers, to be great fundraisers. Create a simple one-pager on your organization that board members can leave behind at meetings and email to friends, a great annual report, basic letter formats to be used to follow up after fundraisers or during annual fund season, and a website that provides helpful and navigable information. I often hear non-profit leaders complain that their boards are not being successful fundraisers, though further conversation often reveals that they have not been given the tools to be effective.

Board self-assessment

In the same way that non-profit leaders deserve an annual review, non-profit boards do too. Enabling board members to provide feedback on how the board is working (frequency and length of meetings, agenda and facilitation of meetings), who is on the board (skill deficits, suggested profiles of new members) and whether board member expectations are clear (preparation required, financial expectation) can provide healthy and actionable feedback to a board and its chair. Different people are comfortable providing feedback in different ways — online surveys, targeted discussion during a board meeting, notecards submitted at the end of a board meeting — are all vehicles for gathering this sort of feedback.

External counsel

Boards have a responsibility to mitigate organizational risk, but they are also tempted to be frugal and to seek out pro bono support as often as possible. Legal and accounting support are two areas which deserve an investment. The rules are too specific and the penalties too high to skimp in these areas.

Strong agendas and meeting facilitation

A well-managed meeting can be a real joy — conversation flows, everyone at the table learns new things, good questions are asked, agendas move forward. A poorly facilitated meeting is a big waste of everyone’s time — some people talk too much and others not at all, items at the bottom of the agenda never come to light, people leave frustrated. Building a strong agenda, with prioritized content and realistic time frames on items, can provide discipline and a real plan for a meeting. Strong facilitation (and a culture of allowing it) allows room for agendas to be moved along, quiet people to be drawn out, and the more loquacious to be managed. Use of a consent agenda can allow content to be reviewed outside the room and one-way report outs to be kept to a minimum, so that time in the room is saved for discussion and ideas sharing.

Conclusion

Wow — you might be thinking — this is quite a long list. But, your board can get much stronger using only one of these tools. So, pick something that feels easy to do, or feels like it has a great chance of success with your team, and dig in there. Good board health, like any sort of healthy behavior, can find momentum over time and can be reached by simply taking one step at a time.

Additional Resources

In addition, here are some resources that I think can be helpful when exploring board questions and best practices.

WEBSITES

· Adler & Colvin — FAQs, Publication lists and other useful links

· Blue Avocado — Quirky, but practical advice on non-profit management, as well as board sitting

· Boardsource — A rich treasure trove of interesting reports and tools for the board sitter

· Bridgespan — All sorts of publications and tools on a wide array of non-profit management topics

· CompassPoint — A non-profit management resource that includes a great tool called Nonprofit Board Basics Online

· National Council of Nonprofits — All sorts of resources on non-profit boards and governance

· Nonprofit Finance Fund — Lots of great resources with a finance and accounting bent

PLUS…

· An article I really like — The Dynamic Nonprofit Board by Jansen and Kilpatrick

· A book I think is terrific — Governance as Leadership by Chait, Ryan and Taylor