Lifestyle & Behavioral Information – Some New Ways To Seek High Performance Nonprofit Directors

By: Eugene Fram            Free  Digital Image

Viewer Favorite—Updated & Revised

Over the last several years, I have conducted nonprofit board recruitment projects. The boards with which I worked had rather similar challenges.
• They had concerns recruiting sufficient numbers of board members to fill their needs.
• Current board members, largely composed of younger people, in the 30-40-age range, had significant problems balancing work and family obligations and attending board and committee meetings.
• Attendance was sporadic. Although the boards were small, directors really did not know each other, and another director sent a subordinate to attend board meetings. In one case, a well-regarded director never attended meeting and only occasionally met with the ED to offer advice. One director, with decades of experience on a board, admitted she did not know other directors. In both instances EDs and board chairs had significant power. One ED complained she was doing the work of operating the organization and operating the board, and She had too much potential liability.
• Although these organizations, with budgets in the $8-$10 million range were operating successfully, the EDs involved realized that they were in line for long-term problems if board recruiting didn’t change. (more…)