What Your Organization Needs from Your Board

The first of this six article series talked about getting super clear about what nonprofit leaders need from and on their Board of Directors. The more specific you can get about what you are looking for, the more likely you are to find it. Needs change over time, so this is a conversation that you will want to revisit on a regular basis. 

Before you start recruiting new board members, another very important piece of pre-work is to understand what you need your volunteers to do once they are on your board. As you are going out talking to prospective board members, you need to be able to articulate what you will be asking them to do. It is not fair to a prospect to recruit them into an unclear role. None of us would likely take a paid job without understanding what is expected from us, yet we do it to governance volunteers all the time!

In this article we will dive into creating Board Expectations that are right for YOUR unique organization. 

ByLaws, Duties, Roles, and Responsibilities

Creating Board Expectations is about determining what your agency needs its governance volunteers to do, in order to advance the important work of your agency. 

Board Expectations are different from ByLaws, Board Duties, and Board Responsibilities. All of which are important, but they serve different purposes. 

  • Your ByLaws outline legally how your board needs to function. After you clarify your Board Expectations, you will want to go back and make sure that your ByLaws are consistent with your expectations. 
  • Board Duties are the commitment of the Board to the organization. These are consistent standards for all nonprofit organizations. 
  • And your Board Responsibilities are a high-level description of what the Board does for the organization. These are also pretty consistent among nonprofits, and not specifically tailored to your agency. 

Your Board Expectations are about how you want your board members to act as individuals and as a group on behalf of your unique organization. 

Value of Creating Board Expectations 

Many agencies use the duties, roles, and responsibilities as their board expectations. That’s a good start, but let’s look quick at the value of establishing expectations that are specific to your organization:

  • People know what is expected of them. Prospects and board members will not know what your organization needs if you don’t know!
  • Once established, this can be a tool used for recruiting new board members. 
  • No one is born knowing how to serve on a board. If you have a smaller nonprofit, you are likely recruiting board members who have never served on any board. They need help understanding their role. Even if they have served before, the needs of your organization might be much different than the needs of another. Being clear up front about the expectations can lead to better success with bringing on people who will be committed to the work and stay.  
  • Just like with staff, it’s easier to evaluate and hold people accountable when they know what is expected of them. This tool can be used for an annual evaluation to track the effectiveness and quality of your board. 
  • When the board is involved in developing the expectations (and I think that they should be) they will have a strong commitment to them; as well as a greater understanding of their role and the needs of the organizations.

Next let’s get specific with creating expectations that are right for your unique board. 

Board Expectations

Now we are going to explore seven general categories of expectations to consider. This is not a magic number, and these categories are not set in stone. It’s fine if your agency ends up with more or fewer or different ones. The categories are mostly to get you thinking intentionally about your agency needs. It’s up to you and your board to determine what is right for your organization; as well as how detailed and specific you want them. 

These categories are in no particular order:

  • Attendance / Time Commitment
  • Partner with Executive Director
  • Conduit to the Community
  • Fiduciary Governance
  • Intellectual Contributions 
  • Mission & Outcomes Focused
  • Fundraising & Storytelling

We’ll dive into each of these individually, to give you an idea of things to think about. 

Attendance / Time Commitment

Prospects need to know – up front – if the needs of your organization align with what they can commit to. Time commitments are often the first thing people ask about when they are considering serving on a board. 

Some of the things to consider in this category:

  • Board Meetings – days, times, frequency, and expected attendance.
  • Terms – How long? How many can they serve? Do full terms start in a certain month?
    • Terms are probably outlined in your ByLaws. It’s good to include here too, since volunteers will likely look at this document more than they ever look at your ByLaws. Just make sure the two listings are consistent! 
  • Additional time expectations outside of Board meetings: committees requirements, annual meetings/planning events, programming, community events, etc.
  • Some boards will include the number of hours the volunteer is expected to commit to the organization each month. 
Partnership with Executive Director 

The board and the Executive Director work together to drive the impact of the organization. Board members who do not show up with a partnering mindset actually hurt the organization. Some things you may want to consider spelling out in this section are: 

  • Passionately execute tasks that are assigned and complete them by the deadline.
  • Give your best effort to improve the organization.
  • Lead or work on strategies that will advance the work of the organization.
  • Be available to consult with the Executive Director as needed.
Conduit to the Community

One of the most valuable components of being led by a team of board members is that this structure allows the organization to multiply the number of people in the community. I often hear nonprofit leaders say that they are the “best kept secret in town.” And that makes sense. With the hundreds of things on a nonprofit leader’s plate, getting out and connecting with the community on a consistent basis can be difficult, if not impossible. 

That’s where the board can help!

  • They can serve as the eyes, ears, and voice of the organization in the community. 
  • They can represent the organization as ambassadors and active advocates within the community/service area.
  • Some organizations require that a board member find their successor to replace them in the event that they need to step down before their term expires.
  • Your board could be responsible for sourcing opportunities to promote and advocate for the organization.
  • Maybe you want to require that they attend a certain number of community events specifically to promote the agency. You can get really specific about the events, or you can have a committee work on determining the ones where the organization needs representation.  

If your organization is still young, getting the word out might be one of the most important things you can do. People cannot care about your cause if they don’t know about it. The more people you have storytelling, advocating, and listening, the greater the spread of information will be. 

Fiduciary Governance

This is addressed in Board Duties; as well as Board Member Roles & Responsibilities. So it may seem excessive to put fiduciary governance in the expectations as well. But this is a pretty important component of leading an organization, and it is often not well understood. 

Some expectations to establish in this category may include: 

  • Be aware of all financial statements. Not everyone needs to fully understand the ins and outs of the agency finances, but everyone should be able to read them well enough to understand if there are issues to be concerned about. 
  • The Board, the Finance Committee, or at minimum a Finance Chair should take true ownership of understanding the organization’s financials and assets.
  • Review, or have a representative review, the financials a minimum of quarterly (monthly is better!)
  • Advise on annual budget development, approval, and responsible management. 
  • Assist with planning and projecting for the organization’s future financial success. 
Intellectual Contributions

Intellectual contributions are harder to set expectations for, because they are difficult to quantify. That doesn’t make them any less important. Sometimes people do not feel like they have enough knowledge or expertise to contribute. Letting prospects know up-front that they are expected to contribute their ideas can help foster engagement from the start. 

Some things to consider including here are:

  • Pre-read board packets and materials so you can actively participate in discussions. 
  • Arrive at meetings prepared to participate, eager to engage in conversations, and fully present.
  • Provide your fresh ideas and perspectives. 
  • Participate in all meetings and board activities with a positive, solution-oriented mindset. 
  • Have an enjoyable, life changing experience serving on the leadership team (making our world a better place should be fun!)

If someone is just coming and doing a “sit & get,” it’s likely not benefitting the organization. The volunteer is probably not getting much out of it either. And, it may be setting a bad example for other volunteers. This category is intended to help them get the most out of their experience, while supporting the work of the organization. 

Mission & Outcomes Focused

This one is also covered in the Board Roles & Responsibilities. Since the whole reason nonprofits exist is to fulfill their mission, it’s important enough to include here as well. 

Reasonable expectations in this category include:

  • Know and understand the mission, vision, values, structure, policies, programs, and needs of the organization.
  • Take ownership in ensuring the organization is fulfilling its promise of impact.
  • Represent the organization in a manner consistent with our values.

You may want to spell out that apathetic service or procrastination actually hinders the organization’s ability to effectively operate and serve. This category may be more relevant if you are working on fixing problems on your existing board. 

Fundraising & Storytelling

The last category to consider is around telling your story and raising money. Those newer to board work may be reluctant or apprehensive about raising money. Yet it’s unacceptable to have fundraising as an expectation or a need, and NOT tell them upfront. At the same time, you have an amazing opportunity to help volunteers who are new to this work, ease into it with support. 

If your agency fundraises, every governance volunteer should be involved in some way. However, not everyone has to be asking for money. In fact, if someone is terrified to ask for a donation, they probably are not a very good person to have make an ask. There are 4 aspects of fundraising, and I believe everyone can find a way to be involved:

  • Identify prospects
  • Nurture relationships
  • Ask (or help orchestrate an ask)
  • Thank donors!

Some expectations to consider spelling out include: 

  • Give a personally meaningful financial donation to help advance the mission of the organization. If you want or need to, you can specifically spell out the expected amount to be donated. Ex: Dues are $XXXX per year. 
  • Use your network, connections, and circle of influence to move the organization forward, including raising funds. Ex: Secure X# of gifts per year or $XXXX raised per year.
  • Have them speak at their networking or civic groups, or host the Executive Director to these groups.
  • Host a House Party to educate friends, neighbors, and colleagues on the important work of the agency.
  • Invite new people to engage with the organization. Ex: Bring one new person into the organization each month. 

 

As I’ve mentioned, it’s perfectly fine to include some of the items from the Board Duties, Roles and Responsibilities in your expectations, if you want to lift those things up. Remember that once you think through and create really solid board expectations, you will need to go back and review your ByLaws to ensure that they are consistent with your expectations. 

This document can help guide your discussions.

Implementing Expectations

Establishing board expectations is a great idea, but it can be difficult to go from having none to implementing them. Depending on your situation there are different ways to go about rolling this project out. 

If your organization is fairly young and has not yet gotten to the point of having an engaged board, you might just decide for yourself what your expectations are. As you grow the board, the expectations will be established as “the way we do things.” Even with this plan, it’s a good idea to review and update them regularly as needs evolve. 

With a more established board it makes sense to engage them in a generative discussion around what expectations they should be held accountable to. This is a really great project to focus a board on. If done well, it can create incredible buy-in and move the board forward in how they think about their role and what the organization really needs from them.

While a great board activity, this can also be tricky. For example, if the agency really needs to get to the point where everyone on the board is contributing at a certain level, say $100/month, and you have people on the board who do not have this capacity, it can lead to a difficult conversation. Using an outside, neutral party can sometimes help to keep this conversation elevated and focused on the organizational needs. After expectations are established, you can always put together a transition plan for individuals who may have circumstances that fall outside the new requirements. 

Whether you are the Executive Director or the Board Chair, I suggest that you have an idea of what expectations you would like to see adopted, prior to going into the conversation with the full board. Consider creating a document outlining the expectations, and send out the categories prior to the meeting. At the meeting share the document and hold a discussion. Here’s a sample to get you started. 

Depending on the size of the board, details may need to be hammered out in a smaller group or committee based on the input from the full board. This is one of those situations where the process is as valuable as the outcome! Thoughtful conversations about expectations and accountability is great for fostering ownership within the Board of Directors. 

Final Thoughts: Be Intentional in Board Recruitment

Finally, I wanted to circle back to all the really great reasons for developing Board Expectations. 

  • It helps to ensure that everyone is clear about what is expected of them.
  • Once established, they can be used for recruiting new board members, holding people accountable, evaluating the board, and addressing performance issues. 
  • Board Expectations are not as rigid as your ByLaws. As you establish them, you have flexibility. 
  • When the Board is involved in developing the Expectations, they will be more invested in meeting the needs of the organizations.

While this might all seem overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be! You don’t need to tackle every factor at once. Start small—focus on one or two key expectations that matter most to your board. The main idea is to be intentional about who you invite to lead your organization, and clear about what you are asking them to do. 

By being intentional about board recruitment, you set your organization up for stronger leadership, better collaboration, and greater impact. Strong Board Expectations don’t just make things run more smoothly—they help build a culture of leadership, shared ownership, and mission-driven impact

 

Every nonprofit is different and has unique needs and challenges. Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call if you would like to discuss ways to advance your Board of Directors and the work of your agency.

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

Board Expectations

A few weeks ago I wrote about the challenge of finding volunteers to serve on boards of directors. In that article I mentioned that an important component in finding and recruiting board members is clarifying the expectation your organization has for them. After all, it’s hard to commit to something when you don’t know what it entails. Clarifying your agency’s board expectations is a foundational piece of developing a strong board. 

An organization can set any expectations that are relevant and important to them. They can be as simple or as complex as needed. Personally, I like to outline board expectations into these seven categories:

  • Attendance
  • Executive Director Support
  • Community Conduit
  • Fiduciary Governance
  • Intellectual Contributions 
  • Mission and Outcome Focus
  • Fundraising and Storytelling

Organizations that take the time to clarify each component for their board will have a great tool for recruiting, managing and accountability. Because of the unique nature of nonprofits – where the Executive Director often directs the work of the board, which is also their boss – this tool can be crucial to ensuring that the board can hold itself accountable. Let’s explore each of these categories and what can be included. 

Attendance

In the simplest of terms, attendance means showing up to board meetings. You may want to set a percentage of meetings they are expected to attend. It is a good practice to have set board meetings, held on the same day each month and at the same times. 

Frequency of board meetings should be set based on the needs of the organization and the work of the board. That being said, I generally recommend monthly or every other month. When a group meets less frequently it can be difficult to maintain engagement and connection. However, sometimes geographic constraints or the work of the organization may require fewer meetings. In those cases it might make sense to have longer meetings. 

In addition to attendance at board meetings, an organization may want to set expectations around attending committee meetings, special events, trainings, programming and more. Some agencies require a minimum number of hours from their volunteers each month. 

This category is also where you can define your board terms. Spell out when terms begin and end, how long they are, the ability to serve consecutive terms, and maximum length a board member can serve.

Partner with Executive Director

Running a nonprofit is a big job! Supporting the Executive Director is one of the most helpful things a board can do. When given projects or tasks it should be an expectation that the board member executes them completely and on time. Often if a board member doesn’t follow through, that work falls on the Exec. That puts the Exec in a very awkward position of having to hold one of their bosses accountable or just doing it themselves. 

Secondly in this category, there should be the expectation that the board drives the strategies of the organization. The more that the governance volunteers can focus on this aspect of the organization, the more the Exec can focus on the operations. Looking outward and focusing on strategies to advance the work of the organization is an expectation of the board. 

Lastly, no one knows everything or can have their finger on the pulse of what is going on in the community all the time. Board members should be available to the Exec when they need advice, insight or special expertise. Volunteers must give their input with the best interest of the organization as their top priority.  

Conduit to the Community

Having a board of directors multiplies the number of eyes, ears and voices in the community on behalf of an agency. Board members should be out, seeing what is going on in the community related to the work of the organization, listening to what people are saying about it, and sharing about the outcomes and impact. In addition, they should be bringing information back to the board to discuss and help with decision making and strategizing. 

Some organizations utilize their volunteers to promote their work. This can involve expectations around attending networking groups or service clubs, or even hosting house parties to educate the public on the organization. Other agencies have their board submit names for “friend raising.” This involves bringing more people into their circle of organizational advocates, to nurture them into volunteers, donors, or even future board members. There are organizations that require a board member to secure their successor before their term expires. These are all options to consider when developing expectations.

Fiduciary Governance

This component is a little more tricky to quantify and measure. The board is responsible for the financial and legal integrity of the organization. Generally the Treasurer takes the responsibility of reviewing financial statements and interpreting them for the larger board. The expectation of the board is that they make decisions that are in the best financial and legal interest of the organization. It is expected that they led from a place of selflessness. 

Intellectual contributions

Every board meeting should include some sort of generative discussion. It is best if the discussion is around strategy and organizational advancement; however, sometimes the input of volunteers on operational topics is important. That being said, board members should be prepared for discussion and ready to contribute their thoughts, perspectives and ideas. 

Not everyone is comfortable sharing in large groups. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have valuable input. Some volunteers may submit their thoughts in writing after they have had time to process the discussion. When measuring board effectiveness it can be important to recognize and honor these differences in contribution styles. 

Mission and Outcomes Focused

Every governance volunteer should take the time to understand the critical social issue that the organization is working to address; as well as the unique way they are tackling it. They should be familiar with and support policies. And they should understand the organization’s needs. 

The staff (whether paid or volunteer) are responsible for the operations and program/service delivery. It is the board’s job to make sure that the programs/services are fulfilling the mission. They are the ones who need to be driving the measurement of program impact and connecting it to the purpose of the organization. 

Lastly in this section, the board is responsible for ensuring clarity around the values of the organization. Clarifying values helps with decision making, recruiting staff and volunteers, and communicating who you are and what you do. Board members are expected to be the ones setting the example of how the organizational values look in action. 

Fundraising and Storytelling

Board members should be expected to give a personally meaningful financial donation to the organization. This is important for so many reasons! Why should anyone else give to a nonprofit if the governance board doesn’t feel strongly enough about the cause to give? Why would a grantor award a funds to an organization that doesn’t have a passionate and committed board? It must start with the board. 

In addition to giving, board members should be expected to use their network, connections, and circle of influence to advance the organization. This includes asking them to contribute. I believe that this is one of the most valuable aspects of the nonprofit sector. They are compelled to tell people how they are making the world a better place and asking them to come alongside and help. 

This can be challenging for young nonprofits, or organizations that attract volunteers who have never served on a board. That’s where the phrase “personally meaningful” or “personally significant” can be helpful. An agency may set their initial expectation at $10/month, then ask those with greater means to consider an additional personally significant contribution. Special events can be a good place for volunteers to practice their storytelling skills and work on “friend raising” before they advance to fundraising. 

If the cause is important and the organization is making a difference, every board member needs to be giving. Period. 

You may notice that none of this is about daily operations. That’s because that is not the board’s role. However, with very young or very small nonprofits, there can be some cross over. As you develop your board expectations, I recommend you keep them focused on the governance side of the organization. This keeps it clean, and if/when the organization grows, the board will know what is expected of them in their role. 

Once you and your board have established their expectations, create a tool for tracking. Quantify as much as you can and put it in a spreadsheet. Put each board member’s name down the side and regularly evaluate how everyone is doing. At a minimum the board president/chair should look at it quarterly. You can also include it into your board packets. That way everyone knows where they stand and they can help hold each other accountable. One less awkward job for the Exec to do! 

Does your organization need help establishing expectations. These can be challenging conversations. It can help to have someone from outside facilitate the discussion. If so, 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