Are you singing the “Bad Board Member Blues?” If the secret to a great board is to recruit the right people in the right way, what do you do if your board members are appointed and you don’t have control over the recruitment process?
The latest Better Business Bureau Wise Giving survey results released this week reveal that less than one in five (19%) of the American public “highly trusts” charities. Yet, this same survey indicated that an overwhelming majority of people report trust as essential before they donate. The low levels of trust exposed in this survey do not foretell strong future giving.
In addition to giving, what is it that we want our board members to do? Have we asked them to do it? If not, we should!
A 360-degree review can help uncover cultural issues about which board members may be totally unaware, the kinds of issues that run good staff—fundraisers as well as other professionals—out the door. A regular, 360-degree review process of nonprofit CEOs just might help end the revolving door crisis in fundraising.
Are your board members missing meetings? Not showing up at events? Are your board members M.I.A.? Fear not! You can keep them engaged with mission moments.
With the publication last week of BoardSource’s updated Ten Basic Responsibilities of Board Members, I’ve been thinking a lot about Crutchfield and Grant’s seminal Forces for Good book. The Ten Basic Responsibilities of Board Members list of the core, fundamental, legal responsibilities of a Board member has been gospel for all of us for many years. Most of us have relied on this list to orient our board members and to explain board members’ responsibilities for new members.
When BoardSource changed this list last week, BoardSource didn’t make the number of items on the list longer, but what it did do is determine that ADVOCACY is a core responsibility of Board Members. The responsibility to advocate for the mission is added to the first core responsibility (to determine an organization’s mission and purpose) and discussions of advocacy are added to several other responsibilities such as the responsibility to enhance an organization’s public standing.