Category Archives: Board Engagement

Board President to Executive Director: “We’re not a fundraising board.” (Part III)

Posted on July 20, 2009 | 1 Comment

This post is part three of a three-part series on board/staff collaboration. Go here to read part one and here to read part two.

“What we got here is a failure to communicate” said the Board President slightly chuckling at his own joke.

“Actually, what we have is a failure to listen” the Executive Director answered back.

Time for polite conversation was over. The Executive Director believed that the window for proactive solutions was beginning to close and the door to crisis management was about to open. This organization was heading for trouble. For the past half hour their conversation had gone round and round about how best to engage the Board in fundraising, and more specifically helping to cultivate new donors.

The Board President took a deep breath and began again: “We’re not a fundraising board. That’s the reality…”

“Nor is this Board engaged around our cause.”

“Yes,” only slightly agreeing “but most care deeply about the people we serve.”

“Deeply enough to help us avert a crisis?”

“I don’t know. What do you think we should do?”

“I don’t know.”

The conversation came to a halt. They each looked away from one another. Then the Executive Director decide to try a different approach:

“When you look at our organization, what engages you the most?” he asked.

The Board President was not sure. “There are so many different programs and services we offer. They all do good work…”

“But is there an experience that you had over the course of your tenure on the Board, that makes you think ‘ah, yes that’s why I’m doing this!’”

“That happened early on before I was even on the Board” he began. “I was on a tour of one of the centers and I met a young man who told me a little about his life before he came here. He was doing drugs, dropped out of high school, and started hanging out with a gang. It seemed that the whole world gave up on him and he gave up on himself. He somehow found his way to one of our centers, got a job, was encouraged to stay away from the gang, finished high school and went onto college. What struck me the most is that he could of very easily had been a headline in the newspaper, something I would have overlooked. But there he was standing before me—proof that no life should ever be thrown away.”

“‘No life should ever be thrown away’” repeated the executive director. “That’s a great story. That’s why I’m here too.”

Being completely upfront and honest, the Board President said: “My time on the Board hasn’t lived up to that moment; not that I need to have those kinds of experiences everyday but I really hadn’t thought about that encounter in a long time.”

“We need to change that” replied the Executive Director.

And the conversation begins.

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Staff Member: “We’ve already tried that” (Part II)

Posted on July 2, 2009 | Leave a comment

Please Help by Dave Knapik

Please Help by Dave Knapik

This post is part two of a three-part series on board/staff collaboration. Go here to read part one.

“We’ve already tried that, it didn’t work.”

The board member smiled back at the organization’s marketing director and thought: “you may have tried it, but did you do it right?”

The marketing committee meeting was approaching its conclusion and nothing had been accomplished. The first 10 minutes were spent on waiting for people to arrive and picking through a box lunch, 15 minutes on the marketing director bringing everyone up to speed, and the last 30 minutes spent on people offering up ideas on how to help the organization “build awareness”—none of which was focused and all of which put the marketing director and her half-time assistant on edge, fearful that they were about to have a lot of tasks dumped on them.

The board member glanced at the clock on the wall and thought about the important presentation she needed to prepare back at the office. She was not sure why she agreed to sit on this committee, other than the fact that she has 25-years in brand management and product marketing and thought she could help the organization out. She tried to push the meeting forward: “What are our next steps?”

Recognizing they were out of time the marketing director replied: “We should schedule our next meeting?”

As she was leaving the building, the board member ran into the organization’s new executive director. “How was the marketing committee meeting?” he asked.

“I’m not sure I’m the right person for this job” she replied candidly.

“Did something happen?”

“No, nothing happened.” She paused. “I have so much on my plate right now at work; I am going to be out of the country quite a bit over the next twelve months so it going to be hard for me to be active.”

“We can really use your expertise. You have so much to offer.”

“Really? It didn’t seem that way to me” she thought to herself “and by the way, I want the last hour of my life back.”

She could see the concern and disappointment on his face. She smiled at him and said: “I will help you find a replacement.”

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Board Member: “I don’t understand what we do?” (Part I)

Posted on June 30, 2009 | 2 Comments

HELP by LiminalMike

HELP by LiminalMike

The following is part one of a three-part series on board/staff collaboration. Identities have been concealed to protect the innocent.

“I don’t understand what we do?”

The question hung in the air. The executive director, just three months on the job, did not know what to do with it. It all seemed quite obvious to him and yet this long-time board member was not getting it even though he had been talking to her for the last hour about the organization they were both supposedly committed to.

“Is she stupid?” he wondered to himself. “Or am I the idiot.”

The organization seemed to have so much more potential when he applied for the job—a positive national reputation, a board full of influential community leaders, and nice size cash reserve. But it was all a house of cards. Within weeks his finance director announced a budget shortfall equal to half of the organization’s operating budget. Goodbye cash reserve. Massive staff lay-offs and program changes that immediately followed put that national reputation in danger. And finally, his influential board did not seem very interested in being an influential board for this organization including the person sitting in front of him at this very moment.

Instead of wondering why he and his wife quit good jobs and moved 1000 miles, he tried to push the conversation forward repeating much of what he had said earlier. Speaking slowly and providing extra emphasis to key words like ‘mission’ and ‘program” just in case his board member’s english was not as good as his.

“Our M-N-R program is really the centerpiece of our work, providing diverse opportunities for our participants to connect with professionals in the field…”

He noticed her eyes beginning to glaze over, and began to imagine that he sounded like one of the adults on a Charlie Brown television special: “wha wa wa wha wa wa wa.” But then she interrupted him and nonchalantly dropped a bomb.

“That’s all well and good, but why should I care?”

He stared back.

“Why the !@#$ are you on the board? Why the !@#$ are you coming to meetings once a month and offering stupid ideas that will never happen? Why the !@#$ do you write measly checks once a year when I know that you can easily write three times as much. I’ve seen your house. Why should you care? Why should I !@#$ing care.”

Before all of this came tumbling out, he took a deep breath and instead replied:

“I don’t know.”

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Stop Telling Nonprofits to Act More Like a Business

Posted on June 17, 2009 | 5 Comments

Recycled Stop Sign by Arlette

Recycled Stop Sign by Arlette

I wish someone would stand up at a General Motors or AIG board meeting and say: “You know what guys, we need to act more like a business.” It would be one of those awkward moments where everyone around the table would stare blankly at one another not knowing what to say.

This statement, commonly heard by nonprofits, stinks. It is akin to diagnosing a broken toe by telling the patient she has a fever. All nonprofits must be operationally effective, but this is not what the statement implies. It furthers the perception that if you do not operate with a profit motive you do not understand business. It says: “for-profit expertise trumps nonprofit expertise.” It is one of the greatest barriers to deep collaboration among board and staff members—pitting the knowledgeable business leader against the knowledgeable community worker. Money vs. mission.

We need to smash these stereotypes. Running a non-profit business is different than running a for-profit business; the same way running a food shelf is different than running a theater company. Are there similarities? Of course. When making major strategic decisions do these similarities count? Not really. Board and staff leaders need to learn the business they are in— not just business. This calls for cultivating discussions where progressively more specific questions about the work are asked.

Here are a few questions to get the ball rolling:

• How are the needs of the people we serve changing?

• What are we most passionate about as an organization? How are our passions relevant to the people we serve?

• What are we best at delivering to the people we serve? Is it valuable to them and do they believe we are successful in delivering what we promised?

• What is the source that generates resources for us? For example, is it our relationships or our results? Does it fit with our capabilities and what we are passionate about?

• Are our operational practices aligned with the mission-driven results we seek to create? If not, where do the breaks occur and why?

• What capabilities do we need to develop, hire, or find? Are the existing capabilities we have within our organization positioned in the right areas?

I am big believer in nonprofit business best practices, but I am also big on listening carefully to your organization and letting it teach you what it needs to succeed. The point here is for board and staff leaders to learn the business rather than try to act like one. GM and AIG spent the last few years acting like one and now (hopefully) their learning to be one again.

I can be reached at carlo@creationincommon.com. Thanks to Tweeple @steveames, @TammieJones, @creativecarissa, @padraiclillis, @cic3 and @amyshropshire for challenging my thinking on this topic.

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Send Your Board a Message: Commit or Quit

Posted on June 9, 2009 | 6 Comments

Photo by Angel M. Cuesta

Photo by Angel M. Cuesta

I do not have much patience for a nonprofit board of directors that listens to reports, reacts to decisions, and offers advice. On the other hand, I am inspired by a board that takes action, creates opportunities, and builds relationships. The latter is deeply engaged in the cause, the former likes the idea of it.

It is time that we hold board members’ feet to the fire and send them a clear message: commit or quit—“Either get involved in the life of the organization or go find another cause.” “Either talk to people about what we do or go crawl in a hole somewhere.” “Either…” oh, I could go on for days. Unfortunately, speaking this kind of truth to (nominated and voted-in) power typically leads to: 1) you getting fired or 2) your board members actually quitting. Though it would feel great to say these things, it is not productive.

I used to think that the difference between a board that just shows up (or does not show up) and a board that takes action is the individual people involved. Sometimes it is, but most of the time it is the way a board acts together. For instance, if you showed up at your first board meeting and 45-minutes was spent on giving staff advice on how to give-away tickets to the upcoming fundraising event, you might think that giving advice is your job instead of supporting a successful event. Or you show up and each committee chair refers to the executive director or other staff to give the report, you might think that your role is an honorary one or you are just there to make sure staff does not do anything illegal.

How a board works sends implicit messages about role and expectation. In order to change the message, we have to change how the board conducts its business.

• Crack Open the Board Meeting – Two-hours in a room pushing information at one another is no fun. How about getting committee reports done in 15 minutes and spending the rest of time discussing strategic ways the organization can affect change.

• Focus on Inquiry and Dialogue – There is no prize for the best advice. In order to collaborate together, board members need to stop stating their own ideas and start listening to one another and asking questions. Through deep discourse board members are able to learn about the organization and its cause. Ultimately, they learn how best to work with other board members and staff.

• Build Public Milestones – The goal to increase individual donations may inspire the executive director, but it will not inspire a community volunteer. Boards and staff leaders need to be engaged in a dialogue about the future destinations they wish to reach that will excite the public and advance their cause.

• Take Action with a Beginning, Middle, and End – Bring a sense of organizational journey to board members’ work. Tie committee work to milestones, use benchmarks to evaluate progress, and help them see the results they create.

Finally, I believe most board members are ready to commit. Board member dedication is driven by board culture, that is why it is so important to ask the truly lazy to leave. This is the strongest message you can send to a committed board member: “We value your commitment so much, that we are only willing to surround you with people who are as deeply engaged as you.” This is a message they want to hear.

Carlo Cuesta can be reached at carlo@creationincommon.com

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