The Importance of Your Nonprofit Board

You’ve heard it many times – choose your board members wisely and carefully consider the role of your board.  There are countless books and articles on this topic, including an article in this month’s Fundraising Success magazine, “Success in Fundraising Starts With the Board of Directors by Ruthellen S. Rubin.

I can tell you from personal experience that it’s much easier to say than do.  I can also tell you from experience, however, that a board is something that is easy to under value until you need it most.  If you can get your board in order before crisis hits, you will be well positioned to whether the storm.

Let me just share a few of my own thoughts to consider in building your board.

Giving is vital – I share Rubin’s perspective that it’s not enough to give time.  In my opinion, each individual trustee should make an annual financial contribute to the organization.  Beyond the obvious financial benefit to your organization, consider the fact that your board members should also be out securing donations for the organizations among their vast networks.  Think about how it looks if the prospective donor turns to your board member and asks “how much do you contribute?” If the answer is “nothing,” you can expect nothing much from the prospect.

I’d also venture to say that trustees should be among the organization’s highest givers.  Once again, there’s more beyond the obvious benefit.  Presumably, you share Atlas’s support for free markets, rule of law, limited government, and property rights.  Why do property rights matter?  Because people who have a vested interest in a resource are most likely to take care of that resource.

This thinking also applies to boards and nonprofits.  People who make a substantial investment in the organization are likely to truly care about its short and long-term health and success.   Atlas has had trustees who give very little.   It’s funny how those givers can sometimes be the ones who take up the most time.

However, not all substantial donors are perfect prospective trustees.  Some people make generous contributions to several organizations.  You might want to also examine the prospective board member’s other affiliations.  Can you count on that person to put your organization first?  Will they work at cross purposes if a potential conflict comes up between organizations?  Would you have to wonder whose interests he or she will advance?

Don’t forget the wonderful power of secondary boards.  You may have a fantastically generous donor who gives to many causes.  Perhaps he would be a better prospect for a Board of Advisers, or some other auxiliary board that operates to provide advice, rather than governance.

When first  setting up a nonprofit , the board may seem like the last thing on your mind.  Trust me, put it at the fore.  You’ll be glad in the long run.  During my twenty-five years of work with nonprofits,  I’ve seen a wide range of interesting board activities, all of which have given me an interest in this topic.   In one organization, the board fired the founding president.  In another, the board imposed drastic, ill-conceived plans upon the organization.

Those of you who are attending Atlas’s ThinkTank MBA program this summer will have the benefit of hearing FEE president, Larry Reed, speak more on this topic.  You can also read Ruthellen S. Rubin’s article  here.