Board Development & Recruitment Strategy

by Cary Griffin, Director of Special Projects at the Rural Institute

Most not-for-profit organizations struggle with maintaining an active, engaged, and intelligent Board of Directors. While there are no shortcuts to the “perfect” non-profit board, there are tried and true strategies that work. These take time and effort, but in the long run the effort pays for itself.

Great boards do not just happen. Strategy and work are behind every high performance board. When many agencies recruit board members, they simply look for bodies willing to serve, or find “resume-builders” in the community interested in gaining local recognition. Some of these folks turn out to be surprisingly talented; many do not.

Board recruitment is similar to staff recruitment. Hire to fill a space and one accepts dead weight. On any board, there is room for at-large members who represent broad constituencies. There are also tremendous organizational needs, and board members must be recruited who have the knowledge, connections, and tenacity to address these needs. Therefore, designing a written profile of desired board members is Step One of the recruitment process.

Board Member Profile

A board member profile outlines the specific traits and talents an individual should exemplify to be considered for membership on the board. For instance, an agency that is anticipating a capital campaign may need someone with connections to wealth throughout the community. Development of the profile starts with the board (and staff and consumers, too) brainstorming a list of all the names they can of people who fit this description. No one is ruled out because they might be “too busy,” “over-committed,” or seemingly “uninterested.” During brainstorming the trick is get lots of ideas on paper; editing comes later. The resulting list becomes a call-sheet. The Executive Director or board representative contacts the individuals on the list to feel-out their interest and capacity for accomplishing the board role. Even if someone is contacted who is too busy to serve, he/she probably has an employee, friend, or family member who is interested. Use the meeting to generate more connections. Networking is used to recruit the best and the brightest.

Select more than one candidate. Even in small communities, much talent exists and by making it somewhat difficult to attain board membership, the status of being a board member grows. Ultimately, the organization benefits from having the public perception of exclusivity. This board is the one the community seeks to join because this board has the best members. Selecting anyone who happens to be available drives down the likelihood that the best the community has to offer will ever be interested. Make it hard to become a member, make the work challenging, and the board gains status, power, and impact.

Talents and Skills

Another concern during recruitment is believing that all organizations need a legal representative and/or an accountant as members. These are back-office issues and may or may not be critical to the board. It is difficult to find attorneys and CPAs with time or interest to be on a board where their talents are used in the same way they are used in their professions. Many people want to be seen as more than their careers, so seek individuals who can use their talents and their broader interests to build the agency. Capitalize on the fact that people are interested in giving back to their communities and that they are intrigued at flexing their muscles and brains by learning new skills and having new experiences. Thoroughly consider how much legal advice is needed by the organization: typically, not much. So buy legal advice and recruit board members who can work on the strategic plan. If understanding money management is an issue, get a local college accounting professor to do a short in-service training for the board on reading balance sheets, and contract with a local CPA for actual accounting services.

Training and Expertise

Board development also offers opportunities to identify potential hard-working members. Most board members receive very little in the way of training and education about governance. Critical competencies for most non-profit boards include such topics as:

• human resources management,
• budgeting,
• understanding financial statements,
• “best-practice” in rehabilitation (or other fields),
• meeting management,
• communication, negotiation, etc.

In most communities there are local experts in these subject areas. Business owners, sales professionals, college professors, accountants, attorneys and others are often more than willing to give time to charitable organizations by speaking on topics of expertise. Not only do board members learn new and valued skills, but this also presents an opportunity for the organization to showcase its talent, mission, and commitment to the community. Undoubtedly, some of the people doing the training will become patrons of the agency, financial supporters, and, maybe—if they are good—future board members.

Cary Griffin is the Director of Special Projects at the Rural Institute. You can reach him at
(877) 243-2476 toll free; (406) 243-2454; or cgriffin@selway.umt.edu