Board succession

We started out at our last roundtable discussing Executive Director succession planning but ended up focusing more on Board succession. Thoughts—

• You sometimes think that it will be hard to find Board members with the same passion for the organization. But new members join and its not long before they are “infected”.
• Create meaningful roles for volunteers. Allow selected volunteers to serve on certain committees. This gives you (and them) an opportunity to see what their role as a Board member would be like.
• Limit terms for all officers to 3 years. Limit terms for Board members to 2 consecutive 3 year terms with a year break before the next six year stretch. But ask your Board member if they would like to stay involved during the one year break—on a committee or helping with a program or a fund raiser. If you don’t limit terms you make it harder for the Board as a whole to get used to working with new members.
• In at least the last year of the President’s term, have a President in training. This does not necessarily have to be the Vice President. This person will spend a year with the President assisting them with their duties so that the transition is easier.