by Susan Detwiler | May 6, 2014 | collaboration, governance, leadership, nonprofit, Standards
We all know that getting the right board members around the table is crucial. That’s probably why there are thousands of articles and blog posts that talk about recruiting new board members.
Some focus on the attribute grid or board matrix, or skills grid. That’s the grid that helps you identify the skills and attributes you want on your board, relative to the skills and attributes you already have on your board, and where the gaps are. Standards for Excellenceâ„¢ has one for its members, as does KPMG and many others.
Then there are articles that tell you to throw the infamous grid out the window, like Blue Avocado, in their article ˜Ditch Your Board Composition Matrix‘. These make the very valid point that just having a lawyer on your board doesn’t mean a darn thing, if she’s a divorce lawyer and you need someone with real estate law knowledge. Or if he’s a tax accountant, and you need someone who can oversee the nonprofit accounting process.
True confession: In the past, I have been a proponent of attribute grids, while leaning more towards the Blue Avocado model “ what are we trying to accomplish? Who do we have, who do we know, who’s in our corner who can help us accomplish this? As a matter of fact, I still think that way. But there’s a glaring omission.
The thing is, skills don’t make a board, people do. And people have basic qualities that can make a board exceptional “ or dysfunctional. Board members who don’t respect the Executive or each other are toxic. Board members who don’t care about the cause won’t do anything to further it. Board members who live in the past “ ˜tried it once, didn’t work’ “ don’t consider how the world has changed.
So no matter what other skills a board member has, she must have these:
¢ A passion for the cause
¢ Respect for others
¢ Thoughtful ability to consider issues, and to articulate those thoughts
¢ A sense of responsibility for making things happen
¢ The vision to think beyond today
Passion for the cause is first and foremost. Why waste a seat on the board with someone who doesn’t care enough to really work for your success?
Respect is probably next. I’ve experienced too many boards where board members belittle the executive or a staff member in front of the board or their peers. And I’ve experienced other boards where discussions devolve into a shouting match between two members who don’t even try to listen to each other. Time is too short and your cause is too worthy, to waste a seat on a disrespectful board member, no matter how much money they might give.
Thoughtfulness “ the ability to really consider the issue at hand and weigh its ramifications for the organization “ is a rare gem. The best board members ask questions that cause you to think through your own responses as well. If a board member can’t stop to think about why he is in favor or against an initiative, then you’re allowing his personal past experiences to automatically have a vote, regardless of where those experiences have led.
Passion, respect and thoughtfulness are great, but responsibility is where the rubber meets the road. When it comes time to act, you need board members who take responsibility for ensuring that promises are fulfilled. Whether it’s connecting the executive with the governor, reviewing the audit, or making calls to supporters, promises don’t cut it. Board members must take responsibility. As sung by Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Don’t talk of love, show me!
Finally, board members must be able to envision the future and think beyond today. So many decisions affect both today and tomorrow; considering only today’s issue jeopardizes your future. Faced with an excess of income (it does happen!), do you put the funds aside for tomorrow or spend it today? Do you invest in building infrastructure or in professional development so tomorrow you can serve more clients? Faced with a significant deficit, do you cut back programs or invest in development staff? Envisioning the future ramifications of today’s decisions is imperative for your future.
Passion
Respect
Thoughtfulness
Responsibility
Forward thinking
This is the final checklist when weighing the value of a new board member. Without these five qualities, you can have the best real estate lawyer, the best CPA, the best HR administrator, each at odds with each other, unable to make a decision and unwilling to connect you to those who can help you change the community.
So go ahead, consider what you want to accomplish, and seek people who are able to make it happen. But before putting them on the board, use this checklist. Ask yourself, do you want to work with this person?
Have some thoughts to share on this subject? Get in touch with me at sdetwiler@detwiler.com.
by Susan Detwiler | Apr 22, 2014 | collaboration, governance, leadership, mission, nonprofit
A remarkable event occurred in the Fall of 2013, that demonstrates the power of a community coming together to embark on a new venture.
The community foundation in a rural Pennsylvania county decided it wanted to build capacity in its community. Acknowledging that there is wisdom beyond its own borders, they invited colleagues from far and near to a two-day conversation led by the organization, Creating the Future.
Before you read the blog post about that conversation, I invite you to envision what your community would be like if you, your organization, and your sister organizations, as well as each of your organizations’ supporters and suppliers, all had the same vision for your community. Now add in each of your organizations’ funders. Now add in the local and state government.
What could you accomplish together?
It takes reframing how you envision working together. Read what they did here in Building Community Capacity.
And join me next week at the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations/Creating the Future Conference: The Power of WE.
Have some thoughts to share on this subject? Get in touch with me at sdetwiler@detwiler.com.
by Susan Detwiler | Mar 6, 2014 | governance, leadership, mission, nonprofit, philanthropy
Dear Nonprofit Board President,
Your board members need to hear this.
In person… From you.
“Thank you for all the time and wisdom you’ve been contributing to our organization. We have a firm foundation now, with a great executive at the helm.
Our clients rely on us to change their lives. You’ve heard their stories; and I’ve heard how passionate you are about what we do.
Every time we’ve invested in making our dreams happen, we’ve had a great return on that investment. We invested time and energy into finding a path out of debt. We invested time and energy into finding our new executive.
And in the last year, we’ve made great plans for the future.
Now we have to make those plans a reality. When you joined the board, you made a commitment to invest in our future. It’s time to fulfill that commitment so we can start the new year knowing we can make those goals come true.
Please join me in making this organization, that I know you passionately love, your top philanthropic priority.“
If your board members think the only reason for 100% participation is so other funders will give to you, then you need to rethink who’s on your board.
Donors give money.
Volunteers give time.
BOARD MEMBERS GIVE BOTH!
If you’d like to hear more about inspiring your board members “ please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.
Susan
sdetwiler@detwiler.com
by Susan Detwiler | Feb 24, 2014 | governance, leadership, mission, nonprofit, Standards
How’s your Board experience?
Should you delight your board? Should you not? Is this even a question you ever contemplated?
Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers* and The Secret to Delighting Customers*
were both published by Harvard Business Review: the first in 2010; the second in 2013. Very different titles, but very similar premises. A satisfied customer is one whose whole experience is satisfactory. Not just a single episode of customer service; or a single phone call experience. It is the gestalt of the experience with the company that either keeps a customer loyal, or sends her away.
The same is true for Board experience. Have you seamlessly delivered what you promised your Directors or Trustees when they first joined the board?
Did you set out Board expectations before they accepted a Board position? Are you holding them to it?
Did you promise to keep them regularly informed? Are you delivering?
Did they expect to have meaningful, generative discussions about the future of your organizations? Are you creating an atmosphere so that can happen?
Were they passionate about your cause when they joined? Are you feeding that passion?
Did you tell them you needed their wisdom and insight to plan for the future? Are you actually using that talent?
In the course of two, four, six years of board service, there are bound to be times when a trustee’s experience on a board will be less than satisfactory. There are going to be times when finances are tight, or a capital campaign stalls, or an Executive Director leaves, or there are obnoxious people taking up board space (no, never!). But overall, have you made their Board experience worth their time and talent?
The nonprofit world focuses on the competition for dollars. But the competition for good Directors and Trustees is also fierce. Good board members ask hard questions before they join your board, and will hold you to the answers. But they’re worth their weight in gold, because with an engaged, passionate, knowledgeable board, you can aspire to higher heights.
But they’ll only stay if their Board experience keeps them coming back for more.
______________________________________________
*Read Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers
**Read The Secret to Delighting Customers
by Susan Detwiler | Jan 19, 2014 | collaboration, governance, management, nonprofit
They both get a bum rap!
A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing, but who, as a group, can meet and decide that nothing can be done. Fred Allen
A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours. Milton Berle
Then there’s this rubber stamp I was given, that said, Great idea! Assign a committee to foul it up!
There is an image of nonprofit board committees as the place where ideas go to die a slow and lingering death; where process overcomes inspiration; where group-think strangles innovation.
But if you’re running an organization, it’s really hard to get anything done if you can’t segment off a group of people to work on specific jobs. How do you get people to work on these jobs? You invite them. Nicely.
The problem with committees is that word: commit.
That’s especially true in today’s society. Sometimes I feel so rushed and overwhelmed, that the thought of taking on another commitment sends me screaming in the other direction “NOOOoooooo!!!!! You mean, I have to come to meetings and be obligated for two whole years???
But if someone said to me, Hey, Janet has this great idea; Joe and I are going to help her make it happen. Can you join us? my answer is probably going to at least lead to a query for more information.
Asking someone to join the Finance Committee might be deadly. Asking someone to help figure out the best way to maximize the dollars we have available for our mission¦? Well, that’s intriguing.
Being offered an idea for engaging new supporters and telling them to give the idea to a committee is disheartening. Being asked to explore the idea with others and generate ways to make it work is an invitation.
Committees aren’t inherently bad. It’s how we ask people to serve that creates the deadly atmosphere surrounding them.
Invite people to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. Let’s change the conversation.
by Susan Detwiler | Jan 1, 2014 | governance, management, nonprofit, Uncategorized, work
I resolve to do more (fill in the blank)¦¦ in the coming year.
Congratulations! But what are going to do less of?
A simple and powerful tool for any manager, Do, Delegate, Discard is especially helpful to Executive Directors who are the lynchpin between the Board of Directors and the staff. It makes you focus on making the most of your time, and helps you make best use of the talent around you.
First, write down everything you are responsible for. Everything. That includes bringing in office snacks, managing the $5000 library fund donor and organizing the annual gala. Making thank you calls to major donors, reviewing the copier contract, meeting board members for coffee and writing the copy for the eight page monthly newsletter. Writing the development and communications plan, keeping the FAQs up-to-date, hiring, evaluating and firing staff and developing the employee handbook. Whatever it is, write it down.
Now, make three columns next to the list: Do, Delegate, Discard.
For each item on the list, decide if it’s something ONLY YOU CAN DO, something you can DELEGATE TO SOMEONE ELSE, or something that doesn’t have to be done, i.e., DISCARD.
Caution! Even if you think that only you can do it right, that doesn’t mean that only you can do it. This is where perfectionists stumble. Consider “ an Executive Director earning $80,000 a year (plus benefits), and ostensibly working 40 hours per week (ha), is earning $48/hour. Does it really make sense for you to be the author of every article for the newsletter or to maintain the FAQs? Or should you be focusing on staff development, major donors and board interactions? If you honestly believe that only you can do the job, then mark the DO column. These items should be where your organization will derive the greatest benefit from your time.
Control freaks stumble when they contemplate handing off to a subordinate. Delegating is scary, but successful delegation ultimately pays off. Staff get the chance to shine and the satisfaction of being responsible for jobs well done. So into the DELEGATE column put reviewing the copier contract, keeping FAQs up-to-date, managing and writing the newsletter, reviewing lower level staff, drafting new handbook pages. It may mean time to train your staff, but developing your staff is ultimately what will make you – and your organization – even more productive.
Superwomen and Supermen stumble on DISCARD. There is a subconscious fear that you will be thought less of if you don’t do every. single. thing. But DISCARD may be the most powerful action you can take. It forces you to stop and think about why a job is done at all. Maybe the 8 page monthly newsletter should drop to 4 pages, or bimonthly, or not even exist. What purpose does it serve; would something else serve that purpose even better? Should stewarding the library fund donor be woven into the general donor stewardship program? Are all the board reports needed? Can you move to consent agendas? Should you drop the gala that nets $20,000 but has hidden labor costs of $50,000?
Deceptively simple, Do, Delegate, Discard is a powerful tool for managing your time, and empowering your staff. It’s a great way to begin the new year, and make room for all those NEW resolutions.
Passion
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