Leading While Learning: Serving on a Nonprofit Board
Whether you’re headed toward the C-Suite or already there, your inbox will always contain invitations to serve on the boards of nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits employ 10% of America’s workforce and over 50% of all US households support nonprofits financially, as do most major corporations, many local businesses, and government from your locality to Washington. Serving as a board member for one of the 1.6 million US nonprofits brings satisfaction and recognition – but can prompt you to wonder, “How can I offer wisdom when so many issues are unfamiliar?”
A new board member listens with pride to reports detailing children helped, meals served to seniors, animals rescued, scholarships awarded, concerts given. The board of a hospital, university, or international charity will present you with more complex metrics and issues, but many discussions still seem familiar: controlling expenses, growing revenue, retaining talent, keeping up with technology.
But offering wisdom gets tricky when important strategic questions are unlike those facing most businesses. A business asks, “How can we maximize profitability?” But a nonprofit asks, “How do we maximize impact?” A business start-up asks, “How can we scale and exit?” But a nonprofit asks, “How can we endure?” Instead of asking “How do we minimize government involvement?” you might ask, “How do we earn government support?”
To develop an in-depth view of your organization’s needs, consider three things when you’re offered a stint which will likely last years, cost you money, and demand valuable time.
Ask how you will be educated. Look for a formalized system for your onboarding, including training in governance and the inner workings of the organization. Ask how you’ll learn about both breakthroughs and setbacks in projects affecting those you serve. Ask how you get a look at the group in action, real face time with projects and programs. Also look for a “board buddy” system which pairs you with a seasoned member with whom you can honestly discuss areas of your ignorance or concern.
Ask how the strategic planning function is handled. How do the board and staff work together, given that the board is ultimately responsible, but the staff has most of the programmatic expertise? Some organizations encourage newbies in planning while others limit the processes to veteran board members. Either strategy can be successful, just be sure you have access to the discussions of macro issues and trends facing your organization.
Finally, ask about the relationship with relevant external players, e.g., government policymakers, community leaders, and the media. Your group may not have a lobbyist or a public relations agency, but the function of communicating your mission and effectiveness is important to establish your credibility – and earn the attention of those with big megaphones and deep pockets.
Like any business, your nonprofit will experience surprises, setbacks, and opportunities. But if you are a well-prepared board member, you’ll be rewarded with a much deeper understanding of your community plus the satisfaction of making it a better place to work and live.
Disclaimer
Here at Lead Read Today, we endeavor to take an objective (rational, scientific) approach to analyzing leaders and leadership. All opinion pieces will be reviewed for appropriateness, and the opinions shared are solely of the author and not representative of The Ohio State University or any of its affiliates.