A high-functioning Board of Directors is critical for a nonprofit’s success. Nonprofits depend on their Boards for a variety of critical functions, such as:
Appointing and reviewing the Executive Director
Providing strategic direction and setting goals
Raising money and introducing new donors
Providing critical volunteer functions, such as financial oversight and reporting
Advocating for the mission
Alleviating barriers and creating access through relationships with partner groups and external stakeholders
These roles and responsibilities vary greatly across the industry, depending on a number of factors, including maturity of the organization, internal capabilities of the nonprofit, historic strengths and interests of individual Board Directors, etc.
However, the effectiveness of any Board will change over time. What might have worked in the past may no longer work. The internal capabilities of the nonprofit evolve, focus shifts, needs change and scale, and Board Directors change over. This means that over time, a Board may not be supporting the nonprofit as well with what it needs to deliver the mission.
Here are few steps take your Board of Directors to the next level:
1. Build a common understanding of what the nonprofit needs from the Board
Focus Strategy Advisors developed a tool to help nonprofits and their Boards come to a common understanding of Needs Priority and how well the Board is delivering on those expectations. The survey is free to download. To save time analyzing the results and get insights quickly, download the Nonprofit Board Rapid Activity Assessment Analyzer & Report (coming soon). We recommend broad participation in this exercise between Board Directors and Executive Management teams.
Use this tool to facilitate discussions and decision making around:
Misaligned priorities: Resolve responsibility grey areas where there is disagreement between and among Board Directors and the Nonprofit management team.
Improvement areas: Prioritize activities that are high-value to the nonprofit, but not core competencies of the Board.
Performance perceptions: Set targets for key areas, such as fundraising dollars, number of new volunteers introduced, number of referrals from external organizations, etc.
2. Cascade expectations for group to individual directors
Each Board Director should own part of the whole: Once the Board knows what it need to deliver to the nonprofit, it can start dividing responsibilities among themselves.
Some Boards have difficulty setting expectations, citing the volunteer nature of the position as justification for ambiguous targets. While it absolutely important to be grateful for anyone willing to contribute their time and energy to support a nonprofit’s mission, being part of a Board of Directors inherently implies a deeper level of commitment. The nonprofit is counting on the Board for critical functions, and the Board needs to make sure it delivers.
Not everyone has to do everything: A diverse Board will have a variety of skillsets and backgrounds. Individuals will be best able to contribute in unique ways:
Some Board Directors may play critical volunteer roles, such as acting as the CFO or CIO
Others may facilitate relationships with outside organizations or play a critical role in attracting volunteers
Most Directors will serve on Board committees at one point, though this may vary year-to-year
All Directors should play a role in fundraising: While Focus Strategy Advisors advocates for 100% Board Director giving participation, some Board Directors may have greater give-get targets
Pro tip: Cumulative targets should be greater than what the Board is committing to overall If your Board has a historical average of 80% attainment of fundraising or volunteer targets, then set the sum of individual targets to 125% of what the Board actually needs achieve.
The important part is being clear about individual and group expectations. If everyone hits their targets, the Board will be delivering the support the nonprofit needs to fulfill the mission they are tasked with
3. Develop a plan to attract missing capabilities
After this exercise, it may become apparent that there are critical skillsets competencies missing from the Board. The total fundraising capacity might not be sufficient or the Director who used to do financial reporting is no longer involved with the nonprofit.
The Board should take the lead on recruiting for these competencies as part of a Board Development program. The missing capabilities will help determine the best place to find them, but consider personal networks, nearby businesses, organizations with aligned interests, referral partners, etc.
This step is also important for the pro-active replacement of key capabilities, as part of succession planning.
4. Implement supportive systems to help individuals and the Board deliver
Once expectations are established, the Board and each Director should be held accountable for delivering. This begins with on-boarding, training, and mentoring to make sure each Director has what they need to succeed.
The Board may plan events to help drive attainment of certain metrics, such as fundraising or new volunteers. The organization may play a role in supporting these events, as well.
Next comes performance management. Boards should regularly review group performance against targets, and individuals should be provided with monthly or bi-monthly updates into fundraising (or other key metrics). This visibility and allows supportive / corrective action to be taken sooner, rather than later.
This type of intentional performance management also enables honest conversations if individual Directors are unable to meet expectations. Additional mentoring, enablement, or other support can be offered, or the person can roll off the Board after their term, if necessary.
The key here is to establish robust performance management processes to make sure the organization has what it needs to deliver the mission
While a nonprofit’s Board of Directors can be responsible for a wide range of supportive activities, it is critical to be aligned about what those responsibilities are, develop or find the necessary skillsets to deliver them, and manage the performance of individuals and the group. This kind of high-performance Board will support the dedicated team within the nonprofit, and allow them to stay focused on delivering the mission.
To learn more about how to develop a high-performance Board of Directors for your nonprofit, contact us: Info@FocusStrategyAdvisors.com
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