Throw out that board composition matrix.
Are you sick of pressuring board members to come up with people they know?
Do you tell yourself that there’s just no one to tap? All of the good ones are already on other boards.
Read on. This is for you.
Before getting started, think about your gaps and biggest near term challenge. Get specific. Then, ask these questions:
- What are the three most important things for our board to accomplish this year?
- Do we have the right people on the board to make that happen?
Rather than just looking for someone in marketing, think more widely and include bloggers, writers, community organizers, and others who know how to communicate a message.
When you’re looking based on your upcoming needs – not some outdated board composition matrix – you’ll have a much larger pool of candidates
You don’t end up recruiting someone with the right demographics or professional background or financial means but who can’t or won’t do what we have mistakenly assumed they could or would.
Think how great it would be if someone who has just joined your board – for example, to help with getting zoning law changed in your neighborhood – can’t wait to get started at his or her very first board meeting.
What’s your equivalent of needing to get zoning law changed?
Here’s my favorite counter-intuitive board pick story
First and foremost, this particular board needed to focus. With no plan or direction, they spent much of their time putting out fires.
Sound familiar?
I was the ED at the time. My goal was to find a board chair that could hold people accountable, follow through, and stay focused on the end goal.
Tom turned out to be the rock star we were looking for.
He was an electrical engineer at a university.
Not my idea of an ideal board chair at first.
He was 50ish, had a Lands-End wardrobe (that we could all predict month to month), was single, introverted, and had money – and you couldn’t tell by his lifestyle.
I still have his 15 year old silver Civic etched in my mind.
This introvert turned out to have the best facilitation skills I’ve very seen. He was kind, focused and straight forward. He had integrity and everyone trusted him.
These were some of his skills that made him a perfect fit for our organization:
- He created agenda’s that had goals and checked in with the ED each month (me) to make sure we were covering our bases.
- He kept people on track respectfully. If he stopped or re-directed you at the meeting, it may have pinched for a quick second – but not in an overhanded way.
- He made it his business to learn about the organization. He visited the site, knew the staff well, and studied governance. He knew nothing about it when he started. And best of all, he demanded the same of others.
His less than “ideal” characteristics that we worked around:
- He was not the person to ask for money one-on-one. It wasn’t in his DNA.
- He wasn’t good at chatting it up at a cocktail party.
How we leveraged his skills to move mountains:
- We was a brilliant public speaker. He spoke at scientific conferences regularly and those skills transferred beautifully. He could impress a room of interested people about our cause.
- He suffered through donor cocktail parties – we made him – but he was assigned one or two people to connect with 1-1. No asking for money and no working the room required.
- We made plans and he kept us on track. He met 1-1 with each board member annually and invited occasional board members to step down when it was time. Amazing!
Bottom line: Look beyond the resume. Find the type A folks, but keep your eyes open for the gems like Tom.
Clever Idea #1
The Blue Ribbon Task Force
Don’t run, this is a winner
It’s an great way to find board members you DON’T know.
Use this method to recruit 3 – 5 new board members in the next 6 months. This technique is taken straight from Jan Masaoka of the Blue Avocado.
Step 1
Make a checklist of attributes and skills that you need to achieve your priorities for the coming year (not accountant, lawyer…unless you know what you want them to do)
- Start by evaluating any stellar members that have previously served on your board.
- What made them an effective leader? What experience did they have, in nonprofits or in other areas?
- What were their social interests? What projects did they drive throughout their career? What were they most passionate about?
Step 2:
Form a Blue Ribbon Committee
Best thing about this blue ribbon thing – you’re not asking anyone in this group to join the board.
These are the people that you would like to have on the board but who would probably say no.
Perhaps they’re too busy, or too important, or just not that interested.
Don’t you love it! There’s no shortage of these people.
Grab them. This committee will meet only once — for one and a half hours — and then disband. (That’s pretty easy to say yes to and most people will say yes.)
This is only a summary. Read more here about Jan’s great approach. I think you’ll like it.
Clever Idea #2
LinkedIn Board Member Connect
This is the new cool thing and it’s proving to be a winner for many organizations.
Board Member Connect is a nonprofit board recruitment program that provides access to training, premium tools, and a peer learning community.
It’s a free premium LinkedIn tool used exclusively for board member recruitment and even works in small communities.
Features include:
Exclusive educational webcasts: access to training sessions by board recruitment experts and interactive product tutorials by LinkedIn team members.
A LinkedIn profile allows you to see what a candidate is interested in, what groups they participate in, what nonprofits they have worked with, and peer recommendations they have received.
Leverage your donors’ networks to filter candidates
One of the easiest places to start expanding your network is right in front of you: tap into your donors’ networks.
Side note: 78 percent of respondents in a LinkedIn survey said they were interested in sitting on a nonprofit board.
That is a lot of eager candidates who could serve as your next great board member.
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