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What We Tell Executive Directors: ‘You Need An Active and Engaged Board!’

Audrey Levitin

By Audrey Levitin 

Every non profit organization in the U.S. has a Board of Directors. Great organizations turn that obligation into one of their greatest assets. 

The executive directors we work with often ask us: “Why isn’t my Board doing more?” To put it more bluntly than the EDs usually do, why isn’t a great board the norm rather than the exception? 

I know this may come as a surprise but – despite protestations – there exists a built-in ambivalence among EDs and CEOs to build a strong and effective board. When inviting someone onto a board, an ED is essentially choosing his or her boss – the person they are accountable to. It’s natural to appoint people that satisfy a personal comfort level, those that “want to help,” but are not necessarily able or willing to give support,  or take their accountability role as seriously as they might.

There is a price to be paid for keeping expectations low. While there are short term benefits to lessening the work that comes with board engagement, you, the senior nonprofit executive, won’t be able to build a great organization alone. Without an engaged board you will not only lack resources but the accountability structure to propel a mission forward.

According to BoardSource, “The most successful fundraising organizations have a powerful fundraising partnership between the board, the executive, and the fundraising staff.” 

The sweet spot in confronting the oversight power of the board, and the accompanying work in energizing a board, is building a relationship based on mutual commitment to the vision of an organization and the people served. The goal is to stay focused on creating something brilliant together. Toward that end, here are several goals: 

  • Create a culture of philanthropy.

    The Board of Directors has primary responsibility for meeting fundraising goals. In partnership with the Chair, ask each board member to commit to personal and measurable development goals.

    The benefit is multiplying the numbers of people with outreach who can speak effectively about the important work of the organization, people who will develop the capacity and confidence needed to ask for support.
  • Develop a strong governance structure to create shared accountability and collaboration.

    It is the Board’s responsibility to ensure adequate resources needed to meet budget projections. Create a powerful partnership with the finance committee, to help the board understand how development goals are unfolding. This practice of mutual accountability is important during periods including end of year fundraising and major events. In this way the Board can help get ahead of short-falls or build on surpluses and successes.
  • Build a partnership with the Board by sharing responsibility as ambassadors for the organization. 

    Create a communications toolkit as a practical step to ensure your board and staff are speaking in one voice. A toolkit should include a mission statement, accomplishments, and draft emails and content for social media posts. 
  • Hold an annual training for your board in fundraising and communications.  

    An annual training is a good investment in keeping the accountability in board fundraising and encourages personal commitments. (We often facilitate this work at CauseWired).

Board members can also provide immense support in some of the most challenging of areas: keeping up with technological advancements, helping address difficult human resource issues and developing investment strategies.

As we so often tell our clients, by following these best practices, you are not in the untenable position of reporting out to an unengaged or uninformed board of directors – but rather working with true partners who can help you to achieve great things for the people you serve.

Audrey Levitin
Senior Counsel
audrey@causewired.com

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CauseWired News Briefs: 9-25-2021

News from clients, friends and colleagues in the social justice and nonprofit sector.

INTERVIEW: We’re in strong agreement with the goals of the Black Feminist Fund, created this year in partnership with women’s movements across the globe and led by three veterans of philanthropy and social justice. The Ford Foundation is one of the seed funders of the BFF, and has a terrific Q&A up with the founding leadership: Hakima Abbas, Amina Doherty, and Tynesha McHarris, who said this: “Oftentimes our movements aren’t seen because philanthropy creates silos, and Black feminists can’t silo themselves and say, ‘racial justice here,’ ‘gender justice there.’ We want to fund movements doing the most transformative, intersectional work but getting the least resources.” Great read.

RELATED: Our client Sisters Lead Sisters Vote is looking for Black women who ran for office in the 2020 cycle for its in-depth research survey. “Our strength is not only our vote and our relationships with the Black community, but in our collective development and support of Black Women leadership. Our strategy is to amplify Black women’s voices; advance Black women’s political leadership; and expand Black women’s opportunities.” Data helps to make the case.

TERRIBLE MILESTONE: If you haven’t read it already, take the time to look through the report by the National Registry of Exonerations (a CauseWired client) which calls out a devastating milestone: 25,000 years of freedom lost to wrongful convictions in the United States. Innocent Black defendants served a majority of that time — a total of 14,525 years lost to unjust imprisonment. The National Registry of Exonerations reports every known exoneration in the United States since 1989, a total of 2,851 as of today. The NRE’s work is central to the justice reform movement nationally. 

BY THE NUMBERS: Speaking of data, the Vera Institute of Justice (a CauseWired client) has a very effective video that shows the massive scope of over-incarceration in this country. “There’s power in numbers: The U.S. has 5% of the world’s population but nearly 25% of the world’s incarcerated population. Every 3 seconds, someone is arrested. Every 24 hours, nearly 3 people are fatally shot by police. And Black people are 3 times more likely to be fatally shot by police than white people. The numbers are daunting. But together, we can change them.” Watch it here. 

ON THE FRONTLINES: When we think of social justice work here at CauseWired, we definitely include frontline direct service organizations as a major part of that community. And during this ongoing pandemic, that frontline work has been absolutely vital to communities and families, particularly in underserved communities. BronxWorks is the largest settlement house serving one of the poorest communities in the U.S. and – while an in-person gala was impossible this year – the organization (where CauseWired founder Tom Watson serves on the Board) made the most of the opportunity to connect with donors, supporters, friends, volunteers and staff. There wasn’t a dry eye on YouTube when this video premiered:

MAJOR MILESTONE: In a very different way, this video from Clinton Foundation also made an important point – it’s been 20 years since former President Clinton opened the Foundation in Harlem, and despite our democracy’s existential challenge over the last four years (and the targeting of the Foundation by disinformation purveyors in the process), its work continues. The key message: putting people first is what matters most.