I have served on several nonprofit boards of directors and have learned that building and sustaining high-functioning governing bodies is arduous, time-consuming work, but it’s usually worth the effort. If they are run well, they can bolster an organization’s revenues, provide access to influential figures, inspire confidence in stakeholders, help manage risks, improve leaders’ performance, and contribute to the crafting of a compelling case for support-and-strategy.
Sadly, many nonprofit boards miss out on these benefits and are more or less dysfunctional, as noted in an article published by the Urban Institute and based on my three decades of work in the field. People usually don’t like to draw attention to the fact that they were part of such a group.
Board members are the fiduciaries who steer an organization towards a sustainable future by adopting sound, ethical, and legal governance and financial management policies. They also make sure that a nonprofit has adequate resources to advance its mission.
As board members in these difficult times, we often ask ourselves, “What should we be doing? How do we transform the organization to create sustainability in the face of so many challenges?” First, it is unlikely that returning to “business as usual” is a real option. Second, the board is responsible for setting the future direction of an organization. Therefore, the board must transform itself if it wants to transform the organization, not the CEO. As the board rethinks the organization’s future, it will, in turn, redefine the board’s job in relation to that future.
Building Teams
What kind of transformation is needed? The board needs to function like a team whose members share common goals and values: all members understand their roles and how they contribute to the performance of the whole. As such, they nurture a climate of mutual trust and support, implement decisions with commitment, and resolve differences with respect and understanding.
The board, as a whole, must be fully accountable for its own performance. Each board needs to articulate a clear purpose for itself annually and develop measurable outcomes that demonstrate the added value that the board provides to the organization—at least commensurate with the resources it consumes.
Embracing Transformation
The chair of the board, with the executive committee, must lead the effort of transforming the board in the process of rethinking the organization’s future direction. Some rules for the road include the following:
- Resist accepting the status quo;
- Address the underlying systemic and structural problems by looking behind the status quo;
- Establish a habit of inquiry in all board and management discussions;
- Define the new reality, and create a big, simple idea that can subsequently generate a cascade of ideas to achieve results;
- Manifest positive leadership practices and attitudes by emphasizing what is going right and what is life-giving, uplifting, and inspiring in the organization;
- Communicate the vision always and everywhere;
- Use “best practices” in all decision-making from policy decisions to hiring staff and contractors; transparency is key;
- Don’t take shortcuts because it saves time or a little money; and
- Stimulate individual ownership of the vision throughout the organization;
- Do your job and don’t take the easy route or delegate your responsibilities to the CEO, do not be derelict in your duties.
After thoughtful and rigorous deliberation, each board should decide for itself what it should do, how it should do it, and how it will govern. Then it must assume responsibility for doing these things effectively.
Healthy boards of directors can magnify mission-driven organizations’ positive impact on social progress, but they are more of an exception than a norm. Given the multiple crises facing our world—from COVID-19 to the invasion of Ukraine—this must change to help achieve the solutions we need. It’s more important than ever that every governing body regularly assesses its performance, goes outside its comfort zone, embodies professional standards, and puts the success of the organization as a whole above everything else.
The volatility and uncertainty of the past couple of years have left many nonprofit boards and leaders feeling like they’re in a tailspin. My advice is to apply the same mindset to your organization that you would apply to your personal life. Just as this crisis has caused many of us to refocus on the things that matter most to us personally, you can use this time as an opportunity to bring that same focus to your organization.
There is no one right way to be a board. However, good governance is not an accident; it requires hard work, persistence, and resolve.
Ron Huddleston
President
