Dialogue

Sharon [chair of a 20-person volunteer board of a nonprofit social service organization]:

Good morning, Vernon. I appreciate your making time for our annual board check-in meeting. This is our chance to talk about your work on the board. We want to be sure you’re feeling that your contributions are personally satisfying and that they’re making the best use of your talents for the organization.

Vernon: Good morning, Sharon. I appreciate that the organization takes the time and makes the effort to pay attention to how board members are feeling about their participation. I’ve been on boards that never bother to ask.

Sharon: I agree, Vernon. We’re fortunate to be connected with an organization that pays attention to, and takes an interest in, how each of us can best contribute to its work. 

So, let’s get started. This is the beginning of your second year on the board. I want to be sure that we’re making the best use of your interests and talents. Except for your initial orientation, we haven’t yet talked about where you might take more of a leadership role, and I’m hoping we can identify some possibilities this morning.

Vernon: I’m eager to have this conversation. The work we do is really important to me, and I want to be able to feel that I’m making a difference.

Sharon: That’s great, Vernon. There are four broad areas where the board’s contributions are essential. I want to be sure that we’re asking you to participate in one of them in ways that are important to you. 

Tell me which of these is most attractive to you as an area of focus:

1. Assuring that the organization is handling its finances effectively and responsibly
2. Assuring that the organization is raising sufficient funds to conduct its business and meet its annual expenses
3. Assuring that the executive director is an effective leader
4. Assuring that the organization is operating within its mission and working toward accomplishing its vision

Vernon: Let’s talk a little more about what is involved in each of these areas and what might be expected of me.

Sharon: Right. Think of board work in terms of these categories of contribution:

• Area 1 is essentially audit and financial oversight. The board’s role is to make sure the organization is spending its money in accordance with its approved budget. We need to be sure that spending processes are followed and there is no suspicion of theft or fraud. This committee reviews the organization’s spending monthly.
• Area 2 is fundraising. We need to ensure that sufficient funds are available to meet the approved annual spending plan. The board is expected to help raise funds by making gifts to the organization and advising the executive director on securing other gifts and grants to cover expenses. The time commitment might involve introducing the executive director to potential funders and helping the organization develop grants.
• Area 3 is the evaluation of the executive director and, should it be necessary, putting a process in place to search for a new executive director. Our role is not to participate in the running of the organization but to ensure that it’s being well run from the top. Here you would be expected to participate in the executive director’s annual review and serve on a search committee, should the organization need to hire a new executive director.
• Area 4 is essentially oversight of the organization’s strategic plan. We watch for plan “drift” outside the mission and for areas of the mission that might be neglected. We’re consultants to the executive director to help her or him stay focused. There would be some reporting responsibilities to the board regarding the appropriateness of the organization’s activities.

Vernon: That’s a really helpful summary, Sharon. I’m on the audit committee at my company, but there are other areas I would prefer to explore here. With regard to fundraising, I will, of course, continue to make an annual gift and request grants from my company. But I think of these as routine responsibilities. They are important, but not the best use of my abilities. Likewise, I am pretty proficient at monitoring progress on plans, but I think of that as a routine activity rather than one that makes the best use of my skills.

 On the other hand, I do think of myself as a good judge of leadership, and I think I have skills at developing talent in that area. I have enthusiasm for organizational development. This would be a good match for me. That’s the role that I would most enthusiastically serve on the board.

Sharon: I’m very happy to know this about you, Vernon. The organization would benefit greatly from your participation on the board’s personnel committee. That is the committee that evaluates the executive director and conducts the search for a new executive director when the need arises. We’ll be putting our committees together after I finish the board check-in process. I’ll be sure to slate you for the personnel committee. 

Vernon: I’m very impressed with this process, Sharon. I’m on other boards, but none of them have a similar annual check in. Thanks!

Takeaways

1. Try to make board participation personally satisfying and meaningful for each board member.
2. Reach out to determine each board member’s interests. Don’t wait to be told or to learn this in casual conversation.
3. Actively and intentionally engage board members in the organization’s work.
4. Use this opportunity to teach board members about the essential roles of the board.