The Art of Board Communication

After a mini-Spring Break with my kids, I’m back on track with my project comparing leading staff teams to leading a Board of Directors. I see a lot of similarities, but many nonprofit leaders find board leadership to be intimidating and confusing. Hopefully this series can help to alleviate some of those uncomfortable feelings. Afterall, board volunteers are really just people who want to have a positive impact on their communities. Not much different from nonprofit staff, really. Check out earlier articles on culture, supervision, accountability, and appreciation. 

A big part of leading a Board of Directors is about building relationships around a common purpose. That being the mission of your organization. Building healthy relationships comes down to communication, similar to relationships with staff. The tricky part is striking a balance between enough communication and not overwhelming your volunteers. 

I like to categorize board communication down into these three buckets: 

  • Logistics
  • Relationship building
  • Agency understanding

The rest of this article will explore each category and systems for improving communication and relationship building in your agency. 

Logistics

  • What time is the board meeting? 
  • Where are we meeting? 
  • What are we talking about? 
  • Do I need to be prepared to speak? 
  • Do we really need to meet?

If you have board members asking questions like these in the lead up to a board meeting, you likely have room to improve your logistical communication. People like to know what to expect, and it’s a good practice to give them the resources needed to come to each  meeting prepared. 

Here are the best practice standards I recommend implementing when it comes to board meeting communication, specifically. However, these can also be used for committee meetings, events, and other board requirements. 

  • 3-4 weeks prior to the board meeting: Board President and Executive Director discuss meeting content. You may also include your Board Secretary or Administrative Assistant as well – whoever is responsible for communicating meeting details out to the board. 

Many agencies convene their boards during the third week of the month. This is common because by that time financial statements are prepared and can be presented. When that’s the case, the first day of the month can be a good trigger to start preparing for your board meeting. 

This planning meeting involves: 

    • Putting together the board meeting agenda (I’m planning a future article on my recommendations for effective board meeting agendas – watch for it!)
    • Determining materials for the board packet and who will collect them
    • Deciding who will present on what topics at the meeting
    • Assigning communication roles – what conversations need to happen to ensure everyone is fully prepared to speak at the meeting?

In addition, the beginning of the month is a good time to make sure that meeting reminders go out, or calendar invites have all the current attendees included. 

  • 2-3 weeks prior to the meeting: All presenters have been prepared. The board chair or the exec connects with everyone who will have a presenting role in the meeting. They are coached on the amount of time they will be allotted and the key points to cover. If there is a discussion to follow, clarify who will facilitate the conversation vs who will be engaged in it. 

In addition to preparing all presenters, print materials and resources should be gathered during this time frame. 

  • 1-2 weeks prior to the meeting: Prepare and distribute board packets. By this time you should have confirmed all presenters and gathered all materials for the board packet. A minimum of one week (10 days is better) before the meeting the full board packet is distributed. 

Board of Directors meet

  • Within 1 week after: Board meeting minutes are distributed. Assignments and action steps are highlighted. 

I often see agencies where the only communication that happens with the board is at the board meeting. By implementing the process above you provide at least three additional touch points with your volunteers – save the date reminder, board packet, and meeting follow-up. If that’s where you are at, this is a good first step towards improving communication. 

Another thing that I’ve seen is execs who expect their board to handle all of this on their own. While that is definitely the best case scenario, they might need help getting there. With guidance from the Executive Director on these best practices, it’s fully reasonable to get to the point where your Board President or Secretary is leading the charge on these conversations and the communication plan around board meetings. 

Relationship Building

Like I stated above, leading a board comes down to building healthy relationships with your volunteers. Think about how you do this with staff members. Whether it’s intentional or not, your relationship building process probably includes one-on-one conversations, informally stopping by to chat, team building activities built into meetings, learning about them on a personal level, and more. 

It can be a little more difficult to do some of these things with board members, who are not in your office space everyday. But there are likely ideas you can glean from the relationship building you do with staff. Here are a few that come to my mind:

  • Include get-to-know-you activities as the opener to your meetings. Ask questions like: what was your first car, who is someone who had a significant impact on you growing up, favorite family vacation, or what they are doing for the weekend. 
  • Distribute an All About Me document. This can be used to gather information about your volunteers’ families, career, accomplishments, likes and dislikes, and more. A fun idea from this is to have everyone’s favorite snack at board meetings. 
  • Go to them. Pick one board member a month (or week), and go visit their office. Bring them their favorite (office appropriate) drink. See them on their turf to get to know more about their work. 
  • Schedule a formal one-to-one with each board member every year. This is when you can ask them about their experience on the board, get feedback on how you are doing as a leader, and understand how they want to be involved in advancing your cause. 

Agency Understanding

Building relationships with volunteers, and making sure they know when and where they need to be are both important. Maybe most important when it comes to communication with your volunteers is making sure they have an understanding of your organization. They cannot advocate for the agency, if they do not understand it. 

When educating the board on your agency, it’s important to keep the conversation high level. Drilling down too much may lead them to think they are responsible for operations. Rather, you want to help them to think big picture. 

Here are some conversations to have either individually, during orientation, or through your board meetings. These will help prepare your volunteers with knowledge and ideas about how to govern the organization. 

  • Critical social issue – What is the problem the organization is working to solve? Or, how are you trying to make the world a better place? Educating on the problem is key to evoking passion from volunteers. You can do this by telling them about the issue. Or, you can assign readings or resources to look into. Then have a generative discussion about the challenge during a board meeting. 
  • Your agency’s solution – Many of the problems facing our communities are huge and multifaceted. Volunteers need to understand the organization’s philosophy and approach to tackling the issue. This can be communicated through conversations and orientation. A powerful activity may be to present a graphic on all the different agencies addressing the problem in your community, and how your approach fits into the broader strategies. 
  • Program outcomes – Your programming may be a really big part of your organization’s solution to the problem. Consider having board members participate in experiential learning as part of their orientation. Have them engage in your programs or go out to other agencies to see what they are doing. This is where volunteers can sometimes slip into operations mode. Be sure to coach them on thinking big picture about outcomes and measurements. Not on how the curriculum is built and the scheduling of classes. 
  • Financial strategies – Similarly to programming, volunteers sometimes dig down in the weeds when it comes to finances. Helping them to focus on financial strategies can elevate their thinking. Pose questions about the breakdown of revenue streams and distribution of expenses. What trends are they seeing? How do they compare to the nonprofit industry? What about the for profit sector? 

It’s good to include these discussions in orientation and throughout board meetings and one-to-one conversations. Another great tool for educating volunteers and building healthy relationships is through a board retreat. This event can be difficult to pull together, but it has so very many benefits, especially around relationship building. 

This might seem like a lot. But I’m here to tell you, building strong and healthy relationships with board volunteers is probably the most important thing an Executive Director or a Board Chair can do to impact the future of the organization. This is how you deepen connection to your cause, invest individuals in the future of your organization, and ensure long term sustainability for your agency. 

If you need help developing a communication plan for your governance volunteers, let’s visit! Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call today. Let’s work on developing healthy relationships with your Board of Superheroes! 

Kim Stewart

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of nonprofit leaders.
kim@athena-coco.com 

 

Board Member Accountability

I’m continuing my little blog project comparing leading a Board of Directors with leading a staff team. I meet so many great nonprofit leaders, who excel at developing and leading their team of employees. Yet they struggle with supporting their board in an effective way. So far I have covered the topics of Creating a Board Culture and “Supervising” Your Board. 

For this article let’s dive into holding your board members accountable. Or more accurately, creating the structure so that your board members can hold one another accountable. 

Board Expectations

Having clear expectations is foundational to holding anyone accountable. When it comes to staff, you establish the expectations through job descriptions, employee handbooks, performance standards and annual goals. Clearly communicating these expectations to your staff team will help set them up for success. 

As I shared in the article on “Supervising” Your Board, and went into more detail in here; creating board expectations establishes the foundation of a structure and culture of accountability. Your board has ByLaws, these define how the board functions and what they are legally obligated to. They also have Duties and Responsibilities, which are the generally accepted nonprofit board standards. The board expectations are more specific to the needs of your unique organization. 

In a perfect situation, board expectations will be developed jointly by the volunteers and the staff. I generally recommend looking at what the agency needs from its governance volunteers in the areas of: 

      • Attendance/Service Commitment
      • Executive Director/Staff Support
      • Community Connections
      • Fiduciary Governance
      • Intellectual Contributions
      • Mission & Outcomes
      • Fundraising & Storytelling

Once you determine the expectations needed to advance the work of the agency, the whole board should have the opportunity to review, debate and finally – to approve them. This piece of the process is powerful as it gives everyone the opporutnity to contribute, and ultimately, to commit to what the agency needs from them. Expectations are different from ByLaws in that they are not legally binding (more on that later) and they are easy to update as the needs of the organization change. 

Once you have clearly established expectations, use them! These should be included in your board recruiting process and/or packet. Being crystal clear up front about what you need from your board members ensures that you don’t end up with volunteers who don’t understand the organization’s needs or what is expected of them. This may eliminate some very attractive prospective board members. However, it’s better to do this in the beginning than to travel down a long frustrating road of unclear expectations and an inability to drive the governance work of the organization. 

Board expectations can be turned into a report card. This is especially useful if your board is working to transition to more accountability and productivity. Tracking attendance, board hours, committee involvement, friend-raising activities, and more will give a quick snapshot of who on the board is meeting expectations, and who is missing the mark. Some boards will even include the report card in the board packet at every meeting, providing for peer accountability. 

Since board expectations are not ByLaws, it is not a set of legal requirements. That said, if someone is not fufilling one or more of the expectations, it doesn’t mean you HAVE to do anything about it. Rather, it can be used to drive discussions around each person’s involvement. If a volunteer is really great at storytelling, inviting new people into the organization, and representing the agency in the community, but they struggle to attend board meetings due to timing; it doesn’t mean they need to be booted off. Tracking and knowing this information allows for the ability to have conversations about specific behaviors. 

I have one last point on board expectations. The Board Governance or Board Development Committee is a great place for this work to land. That committee can create the expectations, process it through the board, and manage the accountability report card. By proactively tracking and reviewing board engagement, this group can quickly address any issues. It also provides a structure for an annual board evaluation. 

Annual Goals + Board Meetings

Creating board expectations is not the only tool for holding board members accountable. Boards that do annual planning or strategic planning will usually come away with action plans and goals. Putting the goals into a tracking document, with assigned accountabilities can be used to monitor progress. Include this document in your board meeting packet and on your agenda. Using the action plan tracking document in combination with regular board meetings is an effective way to monitor progress towards your goals and to hold people accountable. 

To Do List + Board Meetings 

One last process that can be used to create a culture of accountability on your board is a simple “to do” system. This is also executed through the board meeting structure. When a volunteer commits to something, it is added to the “next steps” portion of the meeting agenda. Those “to do” items are reviewed at the end of the meeting and then included on the next meeting’s agenda and the group checks-in on their progress. This does two things:

    1. It creates peer pressure for volunteers to follow-through on their commitments, and
    2. If there are challenges to completing the task, it gives the whole board the opportunity to help problem-solve on how to move forward. 

Holding board members accountable can be a tricky thing. Afterall, they are volunteers; what are you going to do, fire them? Assuming positive intent, most people join boards to help advance the cause and make the world a better place. When they do not perform well as a board member, it’s often because they didn’t understand what was expected of them, or they aren’t being held accountable. 

By leading your board to create a culture of accountability and structures to support that culture, the great thing is – they hold themselves accountable. Unless your organization is very new, the role of having the “accountability conversations” should fall with the volunteers. Sometimes the Board Governance Committee will address issues, and other times the Board Chair needs to step in and drive the conversation. The Execuitve Director should not be put in the difficult position of “discipining” their board members (AKA – their bosses). 

Developing a Board Governance Committee or creating Board Expectations are great strategies for getting the most out of your Board of Directors. If you would like to visit about how to build up your Board of Superheros, email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call today. Let’s connect!

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of nonprofits and small businesses.
kim@athena-coco.com

Showing Your Volunteers Love

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been dedicating my newsletter real estate to comparing the skills used in supervising staff with those used for leading a board. I believe there are a lot of similarities and things we can learn from staff leadership and apply to supporting your Board of Directors. To get up to speed and read the first two articles go here and here. 

Continuing in this vein, and acknowledging that it’s Valentine’s Day, I’d like to share some ideas for showing your volunteers how much you love them. Many companies and organizations focus a lot of energy on staff appreciation – which is great! Let’s look at some of those ideas and consider how we can apply them to our Governance Volunteers. 

Some of these ideas can be celebrated during the “month of love”, others you might want to put into an ongoing Appreciation Plan. Knowing that your Board members likely do not want you spending money on them, these ideas are all free or very low cost. A little bit of time and thoughtfulness goes a long way when it comes to showing appreciation. 

Recognition

There are many ways to recognize staff and volunteers. You get the biggest bang for your “buck” when the recognition is specific and genuine. Nothing beats telling someone directly, exactly what they did that is appreciated, and how it helps. 

In nonprofits we often acknowledge that our donors help us to serve our clients. And we are also pretty good about recognizing our staff and program volunteers for their direct service delivery. However, we seldom call out our governance volunteers for their impact on our cause. Consider recognizing the contributions of your board volunteers. This could be in the form of a social media post, bulletin board in your facility, a newsletter article, etc. 

Celebration

I think there’s this crazy idea out there that Boards of Directors are all business. Like they don’t want to celebrate the accomplishments of the organization. Take time out of board work to celebrate milestones, wins, and achievements. Don’t just pause and say “yay us”. Make it a big deal. Bring in balloons, noisemakers, and party favors. And most importantly, connect the dots between the work they do governing the agency, and the outcome you are celebrating. 

Food

I know for a fact that staff who work for nonprofits love food! People come together around food. It gives them something to connect around. If you do not regularly feed your board members at a meeting, consider adding this component once in a while, or on a regular basis. Depending on your timing, this will look different from board to board. Be sure to let everyone know if you are doing something out of the ordinary. If you are providing a meal, or even a dessert for an evening meeting, volunteers might want to plan ahead for that.

Sincere Thank You

Nothing beats a sincere thank you. This could be in the form of an email, written letter or a phone call. It’s tried and true, and it’s always appreciated. If you want to shake things up, consider doing a video message, or creating a JibJab type card to make your volunteers laugh. 

Shake Things Up 

Pick a month and shake things up for your regular board meeting. Maybe take it off site. Bring in a guest speaker. Spend extra time on team building. Switch up the order. 

Don’t do this every month, because then it’s not special. Think of things that will increase engagement, allow for your volunteers to grow personally or professionally, or provide opportunities for greater connections. If you’re thinking about trying something new with your regular meetings, this might be a good way to try it out. 

Social Opportunities 

Your volunteers likely serve your organization to help solve a critical social issue in your community. But there’s nothing that says they can’t build new relationships along the way. Bringing volunteers together to connect in a non-board setting can strengthen their ability to work together. 

People are busy and you’ll never get everyone together. That doesn’t mean that it’s not worth the effort to build deeper relationships with those who are able to make the time. 

Acknowledge Personal Accomplishments/Milestones

Just like your staff, board members have lives outside of your organization. They get married and promoted and have babies and climb mountains and retire. Creating a culture where these things are celebrated is a great way to deepen relationships and spread love. Loop back to the Recognition and Celebration bullets for thoughts on how to acknowledge these things. 

SWAG/Name Tags

Most volunteers do not want an organization spending money on them. So if you do want to give a physical token of your appreciation, it’s a good idea to give it a dual purpose. Give them a shirt to wear that creates awareness for your cause. Provide a name tag so they can be recognized as serving your organization. Acknowledge them in a way that deepens their connection, but also benefits the cause. 

Nominate them for Awards

This requires you to know your volunteers and your community pretty well. Are there folks who should be nominated for citizen of the year? 40 Under 40? For their philanthropic efforts? Or should their company know about the great work they do for your organization? If they own their own business, are there ways to help support their business in a “Best of” campaign? 

Be Silly

Again, serving on a board doesn’t always have to be all business. Adding in a little silliness or light-heartedness can make the difficult work of leading an organization more enjoyable. It also helps to bring out the personalities of your volunteers. 

Consider starting meetings with a kookie question for everyone to answer. When signing important documents, bring pens shaped like french fries. Use clips from movies to set the tone for a discussion. Think “You can’t handle the truth!” from A Few Good Men or “Show Me the Money” from Jerry Maguire. (The use of examples from two different Tom Cruise movies was completely unintentional.) 

While silliness can create a relationship-building culture, be sure to maintain a safe space. Playfulness shouldn’t shift into pranks or sarcasm. The goal is lighthearted fun that breaks down barriers. 

You may be loving these ideas, but the reality is that you don’t feel like you have the time, energy or creativity to pull any of this off. I bet there is someone in your organization who would love this project. Delegate to a staff or volunteer whose love language is Acts of Service. This would be right in their wheelhouse and will likely energize them. You could even have an Appreciation Committee made up of volunteers, staff, or both. Give them clear direction and parameters and set them off to spread love and joy! 

Anytime you want to visit about how to build up your Board of Superheros, email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call today. Let’s connect!

Kim Stewart

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of nonprofits and small businesses.
kim@athena-coco.com

“Supervising” Your Governance Volunteers

These days I visit with a lot of nonprofit leaders. I often hear from Execs who find that leading their Board is extremely frustrating. And they are the same leaders who excel at leading and developing their staff teams. So, starting with last week’s article I have decided to share some of the thoughts I’ve had lately on the similarities between leading a staff team and leading a Board of Directors. 

One of the things that I believe makes it difficult for organizational leaders, is the unique relationship between the Executive Director and the Board of Directors in a nonprofit organization. Technically, a Board of Directors supervises and leads a nonprofit organization. With organizations that are completely volunteer led, this is pretty clear. The governance volunteers are responsible for all the things.

However, when an organization is the size and/or complexity that requires paid staff to operate, things get more complicated. For the sake of this article, I’ll be talking about organizations with at least a few staff, including an Executive Director. In these organizations, the Board of Directors no longer knows everything that is going on within the agency. Therefore, the relationship between the Executive Director and the Board President (or an Executive Committee) becomes the keystone that holds the organization together. 

In a nonprofit, the Board’s role is to look UP and OUT into the community to guide the organization forward. The Executive Director’s job is to look DOWN and IN to the operations of the agency to ensure that quality programs and services are delivered, constituents are taken care of, and the agency is carrying out the vision set forth by the Board. 

You see, the Board of Directors cannot do their job effectively if they do not get information from the Executive Director. Likewise, the Executive Director is not able to appropriately lead the operations without a strong understanding of the vision and strategies of the Board. They rely on each other to drive the work – and have the impact – that the nonprofit exists to provide. 

Organizations that have figured out the nuances of this unique relationship
are the ones that find the most success. 

Individuals join Boards for a variety of reasons. It may be because they have a deep passion for a cause. Or maybe they came out of a difficult situation, and want to help others with similar struggles. Some people see it as their responsibility to help make our world a better place. Whatever the reason, it’s safe to say that no one is born knowing how to be a great Board member, or what an organization needs. 

This is why, even though the Board essentially supervises the Exec, the Exec needs to take some responsibility for leading the board. Execs can benefit from drawing on their staff supervisory skills when it comes to leading their Board. Let me tell you what I mean. 

  • Clear Job Descriptions

    • You wouldn’t hire a staff person without telling them what you need them to do, right? First, it would be difficult to find anyone who would take a job under those conditions. Second, once you had them onboard, how would they know what to do?
    • The same idea applies to your governance volunteers. What does your nonprofit need from the Board? Fundraising? Strategy? Relationships? Workhorses? Getting clear about what is needed from the volunteers will make it easier to go looking for them, and probably easier to recruit the right ones.
    • Sometimes leaders are afraid that if they are blunt and open about their need for something, like fundraising volunteers, that it will scare people away. I say that it doesn’t do the organization much good to bring someone on who is not going to do the work the agency needs. And we certainly don’t want to trick people into joining a board.
    • Don’t soft sell what you really need. Put it right out there. It will eliminate the people who do not want to do that work and attract the ones who do.

  • Clear Expectations

    • When onboarding new staff, you likely tell them both the functions of their job; as well as what is expected of them now that they work for your company. This probably includes things like meeting requirements, policies, procedures, “the way we do things around here” and so on.
    • The Board needs to know what is expected of them too. Especially with smaller nonprofits, the volunteers you recruit will not likely come with any prior Board experience. And even if they do have a history of serving on Boards, every organization is different, and what they need and expect from their Board will be different.
    • In working with organizations and their Boards, I recommend they clarify the expectations they have of their individual Board members in the following categories:
      1. Attendance/Service Commitment 
      2. Executive Director Support
      3. Community Connection
      4. Fiduciary Governance
      5. Intellectual Contributions 
      6. Mission and Outcome Focus
      7. Fundraising and Storytelling
    • Paint a picture of how you want your Board members to act/contribute/engage in each of these areas. Then talk about them. Make sure all Board members know what is expected of them. Use it when you are recruiting and onboarding new folks. 

  • Teach Them

    • Especially if you hire a lot of young staff, you likely know the importance of teaching them how to be good employees; as well as how to do their job. Smart supervisors understand that in order to shape a good employee, you need to be patient, start where they are and support their growth.
    • We’ve already stated that no one naturally knows how to be a great board member. And while the Exec is supervised by that Board, there is a whole lot of “leading up” needed to grow them into effective governance volunteers. This is a little different than the kind of teaching that you do with your staff team, but it’s just as important. Maybe they need to understand how to run quality meetings, how to speak about your organization in public, or how to negotiate the politics of your community or industry.
    • I get very excited about this aspect of leading volunteers! These are valuable skills for enhancing the work of your Board – no question. But they provide so much more! These skills help your volunteers to grow personally and professionally, extending the impact of your organization in unique ways. It also gives them the tools needed to do other great work in your community.
    • Generally speaking, the volunteers who serve on Boards of really big organizations in your community probably put some time in serving smaller organizations. They had to learn how to act, present themselves and share their ideas and insights. It’s not a bad thing to become known as a great place to cut your governance-volunteer-teeth. By doing so, you attract the kind of people who strive to serve on larger boards. Those folks bring energy, connections, and drive.

  • Hold Them Accountable

    • Just like with your staff, sometimes your volunteers will need to be held accountable. This can feel awkward, because – again – they are your supervisors. There is a lot to consider when it comes to this concept, and I’m going to dive deeper in an upcoming article. For now I’ll just say that the easiest way to hold people accountable is by having clear job descriptions and expectations as noted in the first two bullets. Those tools, communicated clearly and regularly, are the foundation of any good accountability system. 

  • Communication

    • I’m also planning to do a separate article on this topic. So I’ll just say that leading people is about relationships. And you can’t have a relationship with people without healthy communication. If you’re only communicating with your volunteers at Board Meetings, you’re missing a key component to leading your Board. Can you imagine only speaking with staff at official meetings? Watch for more on this one. 

The Execs role in leading a Board varies from agency to agency. Some may drive the leadership of the Board, while others may have a supporting role. Either way, staff need to provide some leadership and guidance in order to get valuable contributions from the volunteers. 

The good news is that this does not all fall on the shoulders of the Executive Director. Shaping the Board should be a joint effort between the Exec and the Board Chair. Younger organizations with the founder engaged, may need to do a lot of work to transfer leadership to the Board. More developed organizations may even have a Board Governance Committee, whose entire job is to focus on the health, structure, and culture of the Board.

Leaders who would like to learn more about their role in supervising the Board can email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call today. Let’s connect!

Kim Stewart

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of nonprofits and small businesses.
kim@athena-coco.com

Culture – It’s Not Just About Your Staff Team

In my years with the YMCA I thought a lot about how to lead my staff team, how to build a healthy culture, communication strategies, accountability, problem solving, and more. I also thought a lot about how to lead and engage my Board of Directors. But I didn’t think much about the crossover between these two functions of leading a nonprofit organization.

In fact, I thought these two areas of my job were very, very different. Now that I have some distance and my thoughts have evolved, I see that there are more similarities than there are differences. I’m going to spend the next few articles looking at the similarities and what we can learn from them. 

I’ve written more than a little about building healthy cultures, leading a team, communication, and more, more, more. Go check those out, if you’re so inclined. 

One of the most important roles of a leader is to create a healthy culture for their team. In the nonprofit sector, we usually think that this means our staff team. Right? A healthy staff culture is crucial to delivering quality services, caring for our constituents, and ensuring our staff are nurtured. Logic would tell us that the same is true for our volunteer teams, and even our governance volunteers. 

Think for a moment about your Board of Directors. How would you describe the culture of your Board team? Are they uber professional? Super laid back? Well connected to one another? Eager to help? Something else? Take a moment to jot down all the words that come to mind when you are thinking about the characteristics of your board. 

Once you can describe the current culture of your board, I’d like for you to think about how that compares to the culture of your staff team and/or the agency as a whole. Are they similar or different? Are the similarities intentional or by happenstance? There is nothing that says they have to be the same or different. 

After you do a little work to define the culture of your board and how it compares to the rest of your organization, a good next step is to decide if what you have is what you want. This project is an excellent way to engage volunteers in defining and creating the board culture that is best for your nonprofit! Your Board Governance or Board Development Committees can dig into everything from the board meeting agenda or room set-up to onboarding and engagement of the volunteers. 

The skills and strategies that create a healthy culture for your staff are pretty much the same for creating a healthy board culture. 

  • Aligning values:

    • If your organization has not gone through the process of clarifying and understanding your values, that’s a great first step! If you have gone through this process, the next step is to consider how they relate to your board. The values for the organization do not have to be exactly the same as the values for your board. They can be the same, similar, or even different. It’s based on the needs of the organization. 
    • For example, an organization that serves children may have a very lighthearted culture among its staff. Perhaps the kids need a positive atmosphere. At the same time the organization may be helping children escape really horrible situations. In that case the board likely has some very serious topics to discuss. The culture of the organization may be light and fun, while the culture of the board could be serious and more stoic.

  • Decide the culture is important

    • The main ingredient in any healthy culture is to be thoughtful about the experience of those involved. By simply being intentional about the type of culture you want – you’re taking a huge step towards creating a great experience for your Board team. 
    • A healthy culture requires that the organization and its leaders decide that the culture is a priority. You cannot create a positive culture without first deciding that it matters. When it comes to culture, the biggest problem I see is that leaders ignore the importance of being intentional about this piece of their organization.

  • It starts at the top

    • When it comes to the staff culture, the Executive Director or CEO sets the tone. They define the values and decide that the culture is important. However, with the Board of Directors, it’s not just about the Exec, it’s a combination of the Exec and the Board President. Between the two of them they drive the culture. The Exec connects it to the operations of the organization, and the Board President is the one who sets the tone for the governance volunteers. 

  • Listening and Caring

    • Creating a culture involves listening to what is going on with the members of the board. And not just listening, but also genuinely caring about how the volunteers are feeling and what their experience is like. This is how you keep your finger on the pulse of what is going on. 

  • Communications 

    • Circling back to #1, once you have established your values, you should talk about them. All. The. Time. Talk about what they mean to the board as a team. Use them when making decisions. Include them in opening thoughts, plan them into board meeting agendas, and use the language as you work to create the culture you want and need. 

As mentioned earlier, a Board Development or Board Governance Committee is an excellent group to tackle this project. Their role is to ensure healthy board dynamics. If you do not currently have a committee focused on the growth, direction and health of your Board of Directors, consider starting one and making this their first initiative. You could even start it out as a task force, with growth into a full committee coming next. 

Would you like help evaluating the culture of your Board of Directors? Or, do you want to start a Board Development Committee of your own? Let’s visit! Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call today. Let’s connect!

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of nonprofits and small businesses.
kim@athena-coco.com

Board of Directors Evaluation

More and more lately I’ve been asked to conduct board evaluations. This has been a good way to develop a relationship with an organization, and to help them when they know something “just isn’t right.” Oftentimes a nonprofit leader can tell that things are not going the way they want them to, but they just can’t put their finger on the actual problem (or problems). That’s where I come into the picture!

When I start visiting with an agency, I usually begin by asking them a few questions. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get them thinking and moving in the right direction. More often, those questions lead to even more questions, which leads to me coming in to provide a full evaluation. 

The components of a full evaluation can look different from agency to agency, depending on the size, longevity, whether or not they have paid staff, and more. There are several things I look at when evaluating the health and effectiveness of a board. Some include: 

  • The Executive/Board Chair relationship
  • Executive Director’s thoughts on board leadership
  • Board President’s understanding of board leadership
  • Management tools that have been established 
  • Communication systems
  • Official or implied board expectations
  • The board’s effectiveness in carrying out their responsibilities
  • Whether or not the board is fulfilling their duties

Let’s look at each of these aspects of nonprofit leadership.

Executive Director/Board Chair Relationship

Some organizations have the Executive Director report to an Executive Committee, the Human Resources Committee, or even the whole board. Any of those options are fine. The important thing is that there is a healthy, open and honest relationship between the Executive Director and the person or group they report to. 

This relationship is unique to the nonprofit sector and can be tricky. In many organizations the Executive Director drives the work and leadership of the Board of Directors. The tricky part comes up because the board is actually the supervisor of the exec. So the board supervises the individual who informs and guides their work. Even in agencies where the board is largely self-governing, the exec and the board rely on one another to drive their pieces of the organization.

This relationship is key to the success of the nonprofit. It requires mutual respect and an understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities. Clear, open and consistent communication is the foundation to ensuring relationship success. 

Executive Director’s Thoughts on Board Leadership

Whether the exec likes it or not, some portion of their job involves board leadership. Every organization is different and therefore, what each nonprofit needs from their board is different. Since the Executive Director works in the agency every day, she or he is best informed about what the organization needs from its volunteers. The board looks to the exec to shape their work. 

Additionally, no one is born knowing how to be a good board member. Even when someone comes to a board with experience serving on other Boards of Directors, it doesn’t mean they know how best to serve this organization. 

When evaluating this aspect of an agency, I consider whether the exec wants to be completely hands off, or if they are trying to micromanage the volunteers. Either can lead to challenges. Going back to the previous point, we look at the communication that has happened between the board and the exec. Have they addressed what roles each will fill? If not, how does anyone know what they should be focusing their energy on? 

Board President’s Understanding of Board Leadership

What does the board president believe their role is? Are they there to just lead meetings? Should they be driving a set of strategies? Can they address volunteers who are not contributing? Not to sound like a broken record on these first three bullets, but it all comes down to the relationship and communication between the exec and the board. 

Management Tools

In case it hasn’t been clear so far – effective nonprofit leadership boils down to relationships. However, putting tools and processes in place can help ensure that the work that goes into building great relationships is well managed. Pieces that I recommend boards establish include: 

      • Clear board expectations
      • A process for deepening connections
      • System for tracking prospects
      • Clear and thoughtful communication systems
      • A thoughtful and thorough on-boarding process
      • Professional and effective board meetings 

Without some of these basic processes in place agencies often end up spinning their wheels. They have great conversations with no system for following up. They create great connections, but lose track of the individuals. Or they attract really great board or donor prospects, and end up scaring them away by appearing unorganized and unprofessional. 

Communication Systems

I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough. A communication system does not need to be elaborate. However, it does need to be thoughtful and intentional. Without a plan, emails can spiral out of control. Pretty soon, no one wants to be associated with the organization because they cannot handle the number of communications they receive. 

Well functioning organizations come to an agreement as a board/staff team about how often they communicate and in what manner. They establish an understanding about etiquette. When there is a real emergency, they can deviate from their plan, otherwise they trust their system and make adjustments as needed. 

Board Expectations

I touched on board expectations under the management tools section. Like communication, this component is so important that I wanted to call it out separately as well. 

No one likes to commit to something if they don’t know what they are getting themselves into, right? This is especially true with joining boards. When a new board member is recruited, there’s a good chance that this is their first experience serving on a Board. It’s an unknown for them. Using Board Expectations as a recruiting tool can answer a ton of questions for them and help them to make a good decision about getting involved. 

Your expectations can be used for evaluating the board’s performance as a whole and as individuals. You can also reference it when dealing with issues of engagement or to raise the bar for the board team. As an organization’s needs change, board expectations are easy to change and update. Expectations should tie directly to what an agency needs its volunteers to be doing in order to advance the cause.

Board Responsibilities

 Every board has three overarching responsibilities. The governance volunteers are responsible for the mission, vision, and strategies. They ensure the organization has the resources (usually people and money) to deliver the mission, vision, and strategies. And they are responsible for making certain that the organization is operating legally and in a fiscally appropriate manner. 

These three functions are consistent across all Boards of Directors. A board evaluation looks at the extent to which the board owns these responsibilities. Sometimes it is a matter of seeing if they even understand that they should be owning them. 

Board Duties

Lastly, I like to review the board’s relationship to the duties of a Board of Directors. Like board responsibilities, duties are the same from one organization to the next. Responsibilities differ from duties in that responsibilities are functions, things the board does. The duties of the board speak more to how the board conducts itself.

Board duties include: Duty of Care, Duty of Loyalty and Duty of Obedience. Again, when evaluating an organization, I gauge their understanding of these duties, and their commitment to them. 

Conducting a board evaluation involves interviews with organizational leaders, review of documents, and sometimes attending a board meeting. It concludes with a report to the organization outlining and prioritizing opportunities for improvement. When a nonprofit knows that their board needs work, but they don’t know where to begin, an evaluation is a great place to start! 

Do you know of a Board of Directors that could be stronger, more efficient, or more effective? I’d love to visit with them to see if I can get them moving in the right direction. Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, let’s chat!

Kim Stewart

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of nonprofits and small businesses.
kim@athena-coco.com

Onboard New Board Members

When you are a busy nonprofit leader, securing a new board member might seem like an item to check off your “to do” list. And it is, to an extent. However, if you stop there, you are jeopardizing all of the hard work that you have put into finding and recruiting qualified board members. 

I am frequently asked about how to retain board members. As if there is one thing that you could do to keep a good board member. The reality is that retaining board members takes the culmination of many things. Some of them are within our control, and some are not. A board member being transferred out of state is not something that we can control. Treating board members respectfully and valuing them is totally within our control. 

In this article we’ll look at what to do once someone agrees to join your board. A professional onboarding process can work wonders in helping a new governance volunteer to feel welcomed, comfortable and valued. All key components in retaining a volunteer long-term. 

When someone agrees to join your board, there are the logistical things to do:

  • Add them to your board roster
  • Order them a name tag (if that’s something you provide)
  • Ensure they have all meeting dates and other commitments
  • Complete any necessary paperwork
  • Etc. 

After you get those tasks handled, then it’s time to think about the experience you create for your new board member. Consider putting an onboarding plan together that includes: an announcement, personal support, and education. 

Announcements

Does the new board member just show up to the first meeting? Or do you send a notification out to the board and staff announcing the new member? Needless to say, an advance notice is preferable. Other ways of making a newbie feel welcome could include a sign as they enter your facility, put their name on a marquee, or an announcement in your newsletter, on your website, or in the local paper. 

Take into consideration the personality and the culture of your board/agency as you send out the announcement. Should it be strictly professional and highlight the new volunteer’s accomplishments? Do you want to make it playful with fun facts? Does it make sense to share personal attributes about the new addition to your board? The answer will be different for each agency and each board. It may even tie to your mission. For example, if you promote reading, maybe the announcement shares the new board member’s favorite children’s book. 

Personal Support

Joining a new group of any kind can be daunting. It’s even more intimidating when everyone but you seems to know what’s going on. There are several ways to mitigate that uneasy feeling of walking into a room of strangers. Assigning a veteran board member as a mentor or a “board buddy” can help with the transition to a new group. 

This can be as informal or as formal as you and the board would like for it to be. The pair can meet prior to the new board member’s first meeting, so there’s a friendly face when they arrive. They can sit together during the meeting, to help with clarifying any questions that arise. And they can connect afterwards to explore how the experience was and continue to help answer questions. 

You can also assign a staff or volunteer to serve as the new volunteer’s personal host. Their job may be to introduce them around, and give context to the different players involved in the meeting.

Education

There is a lot to learn when joining a new board. Many describe it as drinking from a firehose. Finding the balance between giving them what they need to know in order to be effective, and not overwhelming them and scaring them away, is a tricky balance to find. Again, this will be different for every agency, and you will need to figure out what is right for yours. Here are a few ideas for methods of educating your new volunteers. 

  1. Orientation: If you bring in a new “class” of board members all at the same time, it may make sense to do a formal group orientation. It can range from a couple of hours to half a day. Involving staff and volunteers; as well as stories and activities, can reinforce learning and make it an impactful experience.
  2. Series of Conversations: When you bring new members in individually, it can be a little more difficult to keep it from being a total information-download. Think about breaking it up into different sessions, and again involve other staff and volunteers in the delivery. Spreading it out over a month or two can give the individual the opportunity to absorb all the new information.
  3. Self-guided Content: Another option is to create a series of emails, videos, or even podcasts that the new volunteer can consume over a period of time. This option is going to be less personal, and there’s the risk that the new person will not commit the time to review the materials. A board manual (print or online) that you give them to read would also fall in this category.

Some things you may want to include in your new board education are:

  • Why you exist – what is the critical social issue your agency addresses
  • How you help solve the problem for your community
  • What programs and services you deliver
  • The impact that your agency provides to the community
  • Key messaging
  • Review board expectations again
  • Duties and purpose of the board
  • How your board operates
  • Logistics – staff and board contact information, key dates, access to any portals or technology the board uses, and any other materials they will need

Finally, you might consider putting together a goodie bag for when they come to their first meeting. The goodies could include an agency t-shirt, their name tag, a notepad and pen, candy, and other swag. (This would be a great project for a board member who really loves to help with recognitions and appreciations.) 

How you bring a new person into your organization sets the tone for their experience. Want to retain your board members? Put intentional thought into all aspects of the experience you are providing for them. If you would like help putting together an on-boarding process that’s right for your agency, I would love to visit. Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, let’s connect!

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of nonprofits and small businesses.
kim@athena-coco.com 

 

Engaging Prospective Board Members

In this article I talked about where to find prospective board members. (Incidentally, the sources for finding board members are also a great place to look for good donors.) Then, in this one I talked about the importance of clarifying your board expectations. Afterall, you wouldn’t take a paid job without knowing what the company was expecting from you. Similarly, no one wants to get into a volunteer position and be caught off guard by what is expected of them.

Today’s article is going to look at those crucial next steps. Once you know what you expect from your board members, and you have some ideas about where to look for and recruit them – you need to be ready with a plan for what to do with them once you start attracting them. 

I have observed leaders who meet someone – who has a little bit of interest in their organization – and they ask them to join their board right away. Finding, recruiting, and keeping good board members is hard work. It’s understandable that leaders may want to try and capture those interested as quickly as possible. However, slowing this process down is a much better approach. Let’s explore why. 

Recruiting Your Boss

Often, especially in younger nonprofits, the Executive Director does a lot of the work of recruiting the board. It often becomes just one more of the millions of things that she or he needs to work on. The very top reason to slow down the board recruitment process is because, as the ED, you are essentially recruiting one of your bosses. It’s safe to say that you probably want to make sure that you bring on someone who you trust, who you know will make decisions with the best interest of the organization in mind, and who is volunteering for your organization for the right reasons. 

Relationships Drive the Work

The work of a nonprofit organization is highly relational. Successful organizations engage more and more people in the important work of making the world a better place. Strong and healthy boards help to share the story of the organization, connect to partners, recruit more people to engage, and ensure impact and sustainability. Discovering how a prospective board member might contribute in an effective way takes time. It requires multiple interactions to develop a relationship and understand how their involvement can be mutually beneficial. 

Good Decisions Take Time

Just like you want to make a good decision for your agency, you also want to be sure that the prospect makes a good decision for themselves. They need to make a connection to your cause; determine if they have the time, energy and capacity to serve; and decide if your board is a good fit for them. It can be very disruptive to bring on a new board member, have them stay only a few months, and then lose them. 

For these reasons and many more, I recommend that organizations put a recruitment process in place. Having a process doesn’t mean that you cannot deviate from it, it just means that you have a plan for how to develop a relationship with a potential board member. 

Every organization needs to determine how their process looks. Many factors will determine what is right for each agency. An organization’s size, maturity, current programming, current board health, needs, and challenges are just a few of the things to consider. 

When working with agencies I recommend a minimum of 3 to 4 interactions prior to inviting someone to serve on the board. In the generic example below I’ve outlined some basic elements to include.

Board Recruitment Process

  • You get a Lead. This can come from networking, through your programming, a name presented by a volunteer, etc. 
  • Qualify that the Lead seems like a good prospect. Start (or continue) the relationship-building process. Take them out for coffee or lunch. Begin to share the idea of them serving on your board. 
  • If appropriate, invite them to observe a program or operations. Help them get a feel for the work that you do. During the observations make sure that someone hosts them. You want to clearly explain the methodology of your work, what sets your agency apart, and the intentional things you are doing to make a difference. 
    • Agencies that serve highly vulnerable populations may have to find different ways of educating a prospect about their work. 
  • Again – when appropriate, have them visit and observe a board or committee meeting. This is a good way for them to get a feel for the culture and how they might fit into it. 
  • Follow-up with the prospect to answer any questions, review expectations in detail, and explore how they are feeling about the possibility of getting involved. 
  • If they are interested, present to the board for a vote.
  • Officially invite them to join – OR – thank them for going through the process. 
    • A future article will talk about what to do with them once you invite them to join and they say: “Yes!” 
    • If you need to turn them away, share honest feedback. If the door is open to future involvement, let them know. If they are not a match, be clear about that too. 

As you consider who to bring into your organization, there is a lot to think about. Are they a good fit? Do they have skills that your agency needs? Can they help with connections, open doors, or raise money? These are all important questions you need to ask. I believe the most important thing to look for is passion. Do they care about the issue your agency is addressing and your strategies for solving it? If not, they may not bring their best self to the table and they may not contribute consistently. 

When you have a great first “date,” do the next logical step and ask them to get together again. Bringing someone on your board is not as significant as getting married. So after a few good “dates” it may make sense to start talking about taking the relationship to the next level; ie: getting them involved as a volunteer. Just as you should hire slowly and choose a life partner slowly – take your time bringing on new board members. 

If your organization needs help creating a recruitment process that is right for you, I would love to help! Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com to learn more. Let’s connect!

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of nonprofits and small businesses.
kim@athena-coco.com 

 

Mission Monday ~ Reigning Hope

Growing up with her brother Chuckie, Kesti Suggs knows first hand the challenges families with special needs children face. That experience has shaped her values system and given her a sensitivity and compassion to reach out to other families dealing with tough issues. Together with her husband Randy, they believe the Lord has given them this time and place to provide services to the special needs community.

That passion, calling, and understanding has been channeled into creating Reigning Hope Therapy Services. There are a wide variety of programs provided at the farm located south of Falcon. Therapeutic services include occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and mental health services. In addition to traditional treatments and tools, Reigning Hope’s Therapists use a variety of unique modalities unique to the farm. Physical Therapist Amanda Huckstep shared that the best thing about serving children at Reigning Hope is that the holistic, natural environment makes it fun. Using animals and the land makes it feel less clinical and sterile. She believes that they get better results because kids don’t realize they are doing work.

It’s important to note that Reigning Hope is not just about therapy. It’s so much more! With a commitment to supporting the whole family, programs include siblings groups, summer day camps, family mixers, family weekends (coined Chuckie’s Place Weekend), recreational therapy, and special events. With a goal of helping families feel supported, encouraged, connected, and providing opportunities to create lifelong memories, Kesti and Randy feel privileged to provide programs that enhance the lives of this unique community.

As if all of that isn’t enough, horsemanship, adaptive riding, and volunteerism are also available opportunities at the farm. These programs give participants the chance to connect individually with their horses, gain unique skills, and to form a special bond with these amazing animals. Learn more about all the services and programs offered through Reigning Hope by checking out their website.

Like most nonprofit organizations, Reigning Hope relies on the generosity of donors to ensure they are able to provide high quality, impactful programming. Insurance covers many of the therapeutic services offered, but the recreational programming is offered free or at a very low cost to families. If you would like to support a family, program, or camp, donate here or reach out to Kesti to discuss how your gift can have the most impact. Additionally, Reigning Hope is currently seeking passionate volunteers to serve on their Board of Directors. Find out what that entails by reaching out to Kesti. By getting involved you can play a role in enhancing the lives of children and families dealing with special needs.

The Real Value of Nonprofits 

Most people have a general idea that nonprofit organizations “do good things”. And they are correct! 501(c)3 designated nonprofit organizations exist to address a critical social need. They have identified a problem and created a unique way to solve it. The work they do helps to make our world a better place. But I think there’s more to it than that.

We are living in some crazy times right now. Between social, racial, and political unrest, an uncertain economy, and a major war going on, we are a nation divided. Stress, anxiety, social isolation, and depression are at an all time high. As adults, many find it difficult to make friends. And people struggle to have civilized conversations with those on “the other side” of their beliefs. All of this is why I believe that nonprofits are more important than ever. 

In addition to working on solving a specific problem, the real magic of nonprofit organizations is how they bring people together. First, they give people something to care about. Rallying people around a problem and engaging them in the solution brings them together. The more people who care about their community and their neighbors, the better. 

Second, when people come together and work side-by-side with others who care about the same thing, they form relationships. Different backgrounds, points-of-view, and beliefs come together to work towards a common goal. This means exposure to individuals that one might never experience. Which builds understanding and compassion for people who are different from us. 

Finally, helping others helps us. According to the Mayo Clinic, volunteering reduces stress and increases positive, relaxed feelings by releasing dopamine. By spending time in service to others, volunteers report feeling a sense of meaning and appreciation, both given and received, which can have a stress-reducing effect. In addition, it connects people to being part of a solution, which can reduce anxiety. And it improves feelings of connectedness, growing their social network and improving relationships. 

Nonprofit organizations are in a unique position to connect people to important issues in their community. Agencies that do not see their role in bringing people together are missing their opportunity to really save the world. Many nonprofit leaders struggle with asking people to volunteer or donate to their cause, feeling like they are creating a burden. I believe that we need to flip that script and view it as providing opportunities for everyone to make a difference in their community and their world. 

Imagine if everyone chose a cause that they cared about and gave even just a little bit of their time and/or money to help solve the issue. Think of the impact it would have on our world and our mental health! Currently, 25% of adults in the US volunteer in some way in their community. Most people do not donate or volunteer because they have not been asked. 

None of this is to imply that managing volunteers is easy for organizations. To effectively utilize volunteers the agency must develop meaningful and engaging opportunities. Similar to leading staff, these roles require leadership and connection to the cause. Engaging volunteers is not meant to just be “free labor”. It takes dedication, thoughtfulness and intentionality. And it’s definitely worth the effort, both for the organization and for our world!

This is why I believe nonprofits are more important than ever. The work they do bringing people together and giving them something to care about can help save our world. Does your organization need help developing your volunteer engagement? If so, I would love to help! Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com or set up a Discovery Call to learn more. Let’s connect!

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of nonprofits and small businesses.
kim@athena-coco.com