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A complicated truth is that the same turnover, personal time assessment, and value propositions impacting our nonprofit workforce are also deeply impacting our nonprofit boards. The conversations about how to reignite and reengage our most essential volunteers are ever-present. While not surprising, the escalation of these discussions since the pandemic is, just as in the workforce, a reality we must accept. You are not alone in thinking about what is happening in your boardroom as the challenges are not restricted to one type of organization, geography, budget size, or mission topic.
Layering on the shifts in philanthropy and general volunteerism levels in this country and our state is an opportunity to pause and consider what to do next. Importantly, starting by understanding that at the heart of both philanthropy and volunteerism is the value proposition of meaningful engagement – where effort matters, where making a true difference in the world in real time is truth, where boundless opportunities exist to the donor and volunteer to be part of something bigger than oneself. These are all still available tools for us to access. Equally true, we cannot forget that board service is what happens in people’s free time. Board members could be doing anything else, but they are choosing volunteer service (and often choosing philanthropy to match) so our efforts to use our tools are essential to our success to both attract and retain boards on purpose.
Confoundingly, most of the conversations happening in nonprofit capacity-building circles are all about the staff response to board challenges, but the majority of nonprofits in this country and two-thirds of all Alaska nonprofits have no staff. We need a different conversation with different options to keep the mission moving productively and our boards on board.
To be sure, regardless of staffing levels, the research and our experience over decades are clear – the single most important factor of a high-performing organization is the quality of the board’s work. To also be clear, the staff can and often do buoy a low-functioning board for a bit of time, but ultimately it cannot be sustained so we all need to pay attention to how our boards are functioning and do our part, regardless of our role on the board or staff, to help the team succeed.
For all of you serving on nonprofit boards without staff, these five practical options can keep your board engaged and effective, and the work meaningful, and hopefully have fun while not incurring costs.
While it is never a good idea to be a paid staff and a board member at the same time, it is the norm to be both a board member and an unpaid staff member or volunteer at the same time. The trick is to know the difference between each role and the boundaries and ethics of each. A few ways to make this distinction is to recognize first that boards speak with one voice and have no individual power or authority (regardless of title or tenure) to make individual decisions. The decision is always made by the collective body. At a minimum, these decisions are legal, financial, and strategic and often include matters of public policy, messaging, and strategic partnerships. Unpaid staff have designated and specific roles that if the organization had the resources would be paid positions. These positions provide longevity and continuity of mission and organizational structure. On the other hand, volunteers (who are not board members) are often characterized by short-term and sporadic work and there are often far more of them than either board or staff. All three of these roles often come together in committees where separation of duties and reporting structure become even more important.
One extra note on potential team members: paid staff or not, it is common for nonprofits to engage 1099 independent contractors as team members. This is common to achieve technical aspects of maintaining the business such as bookkeeping, communication, events, and legal guidance, and can also be used for sporadic mission delivery. If there are no paid staff, the reporting structure, communication, and expectations can quickly become murky and complicated. First, it is essential to clarify that this is truly an independent contractor role and not a subversion of the Department of Labor rules on staffing. Then it is important to ensure written agreements are in place to save time, headaches, and hassle with your team.
The roles of officers, especially that of the secretary and treasurer are fairly different if there are paid staff on the team or not. For example, generally, if staff are part of the mix they are building the budget, taking minutes, preparing the board packet, storing organizational documents (using a Document Retention Policy), and filing official compliance documents while the board secretary is usually just the official signer on behalf of the organization and the treasurer is usually just presenting the financial statements and/or chairing the finance committee.
The difference in the treasurer’s role revolves around who is preparing the financial statements, budget, and 990 for review. One reason we often see a desire for a “treasurer for life” in unstaffed organizations is that the burden of creating and presenting the financials makes this person indispensable. However, this arrangement also creates some risk management issues for the organization that should be carefully considered.
An additional practice is to encourage each board member to serve on the finance committee for at least a year during their time as a way to engage more people and provide a positive exposure to the system.
Few people want more meetings but if a meeting is necessary then it must focus on what matters the most. When there is no staff and the board is the primary unpaid staff support, it is all too easy to let the urgent take over the strategic, effectively eliminating all the board topics from the agenda in place of the logistics of the day.
As the saying goes “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Defining success whether strategic goals, annual priorities, fundraising or communication efforts, budget, or truly anything that requires people, time, and money, the team needs a plan to stay on track and work effectively together. Without clear definitions of success and no staff to keep the team aligned, it is simply too easy to get off track and spin in different directions.
One of my long-standing models for board service is that of firefighters because they don’t just do their duty to put out fire and that is exactly what makes them good at it. Instead, they focus on the team and build a culture of trust and connection. They play together, eat together, practice together, and align themselves to a set of ethics and values that keep them safe and working as a team. And, they can distinguish fire from other issues they need to contend with so they put the right resources in the right places. The lessons are many and one that stands out among them all is that of a culture of trust, ethics, connection, communication, and team at the center of success.
Nonprofit board service like civic engagement overall is a choice to take a deeper and more thoughtful step into society at large and our communities more specifically. It is not an easy choice, and each person goes on their own journey to decide when the time is right for them to invest in the process. Let’s all do our part to make sure the board experience is something people want to keep doing and more people choose to do every day.
Laurie
P.S. If you are ready to take the leap into board service, check out Alaska Board Match and sign up today. It’s free.