We have gotten lots of questions this year and actually we're
getting ready to have a new release of the website, lots of updates, lots of new
programs, and we're gonna have lots of new things for board development so be
on the lookout for that. We're gonna do some emails and promos, so you know when
that comes out, but today we're here to talk about is there such a thing as too
small - get your mind out of the gutter, I'm not talking about that. We're talking
about your board. Is there such a thing as too small in your nonprofit board, and
the answer to that is absolutely, absolutely there is. So how do you know
what is the right amount, the right size for your board members? And it might be
different when you start your organization than when you've been
around for five or ten years. And we're gonna talk a little bit about that, but
it can you have one board member and that be enough? Can you have two board
members and that be enough? And the answer to that is no to both. So we're
gonna let Marie talk to you for just a second about the purpose of your board
and why you need more than two board members, and we are really looking
forward to some questions. So if you want to ask questions in the comments section,
we're happy to do another recording later to address them. Alright, so for
those of you who are new to the Funding For Good vlogs or maybe you just missed
some of the prior board vlogs, we've talked a lot about the fiduciary duties
which are the legal duties of a board of directors of nonprofits, and essentially
there are three of those - one is the duty of care, and that means board members are
going to make informed decision in the best interests of the organization;
two is loyalty that individuals on the board will act in the interest of the
organization and put their loyalty, give their loyalty to the organization and
put it beyond and above their own interests, conflict of interests, those
things; and finally the third in fiduciary duty is duty of obedience and
that is the board's way of saying we are going to govern according to our bylaws
and approved policies and procedures. That being said,
board members are considered fiduciaries, which means they are legally responsible
for the organization and they have to make informed decisions, there has to be
consensus. The IRS, our government, does not give nonprofit status to an
individual. Nonprofit exempt status is given to an
organization, and in order to have a full organization, you need members of a board.
What happens when you have two board members and there's a deadlock, how can
there be consensus, how can there be, you know, if you vote on something and you
just can't agree, how do you break that vote? Because it's impossible with two
people, or if you just have two board members and one of them doesn't show up
for a board meeting, how do you have a quorum? You can't, so two is definitely
not an appropriate board number, and someone might say - well what about three,
because when you get more than two or three people in a room, it's hard to form
consensus? Absolutely but your organization exists to serve the
community as a whole and to do things that is not possible for one person. So
obviously the more committed, dedicated, organized, individuals in your group, the
better now. There is such a thing as too large as well, but we've gone from two
that doesn't work, three you say - okay well three, there's the tiebreaker. Once
again, how many of you have a hundred percent board attendance at all your
meetings? Probably not many of you. So if you have three board members and one
misses, once again, you're at a deadlock. Once again, difficult to have consensus.
You risk the possibility of two people kind of ganging up and teaming up
against the other, so you're really it. The dynamics are not productive for
constructive conversations, dialogue, and consensus building, and then when you
have we get into more things like board roles, you know a lot of organizations
have a treasurer, a secretary, board chair, a vice-chair, and there's a reason for
that. Additionally you typically have board term limits because you want to
have several classes on your board, so everybody's not rotating off at once,
because if everybody rotates off at once, then who's gonna be the mentor for the
group that's coming in? How are they gonna learn anything? And some people are
like - all our board members have been on there for thirty years. Again, that is a
huge red flag and not a best practice. Bylaws exist for a reason, and more than
likely your bylaws say you have to have a certain number of board members,
and they serve for this period of time. So if you don't have enough board
members to keep some folks on, that know the history, that know the policies and
procedures and can train new board members or mentor them, then you're starting fresh all the time, which means you're not really building a robust organization because you're always in an infancy stage of training people. And absolutely,
and running a non-profit for those of you who are in the mix right now, you
know nonprofits are messy, they're not easy, it's a lot of work. So they say more
hands make lighter work. You need more people actively working. So some people
say - but we have a governing board, we're not a working board. Technically
whether you're governing or you're a working board, you should have active
boards. That was another vlog topic that we've covered, but every board member
should be active, which means they should be contributing to the resources of the
organization, helping secure resources so that your mission can be fulfilled. So
one, you need board members so that you can have active board members to be
able to fulfill fundraising, resource development, leadership trainings, all the
things. And what about succession planning? Succession planning is huge. The
Board of Directors is responsible for hiring your executive director, also for
bringing in the new leadership on the board. So when you have one or two people
and they've got too many irons in the fire, are they really gonna have the time
to identify, recruit, train, mentor, those new people? And when we get into a lot of
people want to know about effective fundraising with your board, and you only
have two people, then how many people do you have contributing to your
organization outside of donors? Because foundations will ask what
percentage of your board give financially, you want to be able to say a
hundred percent, but when you only have two board members listed that's not so
impressive. So you know additionally with fundraising, we do lots of prospecting
with boards, so if you only have two board members and you say - hey everybody,
give me a list of five people or businesses or corporations you feel like
might be interested in supporting what we do, you have a list of ten people. When
you have eight board members, now you have a list of 40 prospects. So you know,
there's the board is responsible for helping with some of the work,. Let's
say you're doing a special event and your board members are required to
volunteer, so big difference between having two
volunteers for a special event and having eight, right? And we talked
about this last week, but if you were expecting to be competitive in grant
processes and cycles, one of the key questions you can be asked is about your
board, and well several key questions. One is how is your organization governed,
and obviously you will say - board of directors. Many times they will say - how
many members or individuals are on your board of directors? And you have to state
that how many of those contribute financially, you will have to share that,
and almost in every application for anything over a thousand dollars and
most every application we fill out, we have to upload a list of all the board
members - that includes maybe their ethnicity, their professional background,
their geographic location, because donors are looking for diverse boards that are
representative of your area, absolutely. And can two people really represent the
entire area in which you live? Maybe if you're in a remote corner of Alaska, but
for most of us and donors are saying we want to invest in your success and your
impact, and they're looking at the capacity of the organization to succeed.
So just like if you go to the bank and you ask for a loan, they're gonna say - are
you currently working, you know, what is your income? They're gonna ask all these
questions to determine if you are going to be a safe investment for them.
Donors do that with nonprofits, and they say - okay, this organization has a robust
leadership on the board. There are five, six, seven, eight, nine, active board
members. That's great, but if you come in with a number that's too low
and they say - wait a second, iif one or two people drop off, this organization has no
governing body and is at jeopardy of closing their doors. So donors see tiny
boards as a huge red flag - a huge red flag.
Hopefully you've learned some information about why your board can be
too small. Maybe the next time, we'll talk about is there such a thing as too big -
there's also, yes. Hope you have a great day, keep growing for good, and we'll see
you on another vlog soon.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét