Four Ways to Engage Former Board Members
Your board members give a lot to your organization: time, money, and energy. In many ways serving on your board is a reward in itself. Serving board members receive valuable relationships, status, and authority. Board members are wonderful assets, and can be counted on for volunteer service, leadership, and advice.
But what about former board members? Does their value to the organization stop when they retire from the board? It shouldn’t! Here are some ways to engage retired board members and keep them as a valuable part of your organization.
Advisory Boards
Keep your most wise and trusted former board members close by asking them to serve on an advisory board. You may have more than one advisory board, but each should be small — composed of just a handful of people on whom you can count for the best advice. Serving on an advisory board is an extreme privilege, and you should be careful who you invite to this role. But it’s a wonderful way to keep your most valuable members involved while still releasing them from the responsibilities of active board membership.
Committees
Committees are a great way to re-engage people who have a passion for your mission. Usually led by serving board members, committees may be tasked with generating reports, accomplishing a particular task, or performing or overseeing an ongoing function of the organization. Committees usually report to the board, and are composed of active members of the organization. What better pool of active members than your former board members! Reach out to them first when forming committees, or when looking for new members to serve on existing committees.
Inside Information
Make sure that former board members get a copy of annual meeting minutes, and other documents or information that’s important to the direction of the organization. Consider including former board members the distribution list for an annual memo that includes insider-only information that you’d normally share only with the board. They may not be in a position to take action on it, but they’ll appreciate being “in the know”.
Listen to Them
Former board members carry a wealth of wisdom and advice for your organization. Give them a direct line of communication to the CEO, president, and other influential leaders. Even if they’re already serving in an advisory capacity, one-on-one contact may open up ideas and feedback that you wouldn’t have gotten in a group setting.
Above all: don’t let your former board members feel neglected!
Bonus: Get More Board Members
How can you get more members of your club or association involved at the level that we expect of board members? Simple! Term limits. Put a limit on the amount of time that a member can serve on the board before they must seek re-election. One to two years is a good amount of time for most organizations, but it can vary depending on how active your board is. Opening up board positions gives all eligible members of your organization an opportunity to serve and become more involved on the board, and over time it will expand your pool of former board members, from whom you can expect greater involvement.
Do not let your board go silently into the night. Keep each person engaged and they will continue to give and get value with your organization for years to come.
