10 Simple Things You Can Implement Now to Strengthen Your Nonprofit Board

The Spring issue of PANO's (PA Association of Nonprofit Organizations) features this article by Elizabeth Vibber, MS, Strategic Consultant for Bucks County Center for Nonprofit Management

One of the most frequent concerns we hear from organizations is how to keep board members engaged and motivated. We have created a list of some very simple things you can do to energize your organization’s board meetings:

1. Have your Mission and Vision statement on every board Agenda.
A subtle reminder to all board members that the mission is central to all board discussions and decisions.

2. Start each meeting with a Member Minute where each board member spends a minute explaining what they have done since the last meeting to serve the organization: secured a donation, made an important contact, read an article, etc.
This exercise should only take about 15 minutes of your meeting, but will be well worth it by encouraging your board members to think about and promote your organization outside of the monthly meetings. Board members will learn from one another-and your organization will be the beneficiary.

3. Introduce a By-law amendment that limits the number of other boards your members can serve on.
I am always amazed to hear of individuals who sit on 2 or 3, even 4 Boards. Where do they find the time? How are they able to balance the tasks of your organization with their other commitments? Now if you have a Board Contract which clearly states the expectations for sitting on your board, and you hold your members accountable, this could be a non-issue. For other organizations this may be the nudge the ‘over-committed members on your board needs to move along. At the very least, it should make for an interesting discussion.

4. Create a 'Face page" for each of your board members in your board manual.
Although boards meet on a regular basis, they don’t always get to know one another on a deeper level. A ‘Face page’ or bio page would include more personal information for board members such as hobbies or previous work/board experience. This is another way to build camaraderie on your board, not to mention discovering the hidden talents of your board. These Face Pages belong in the board manual and aren’t for public viewing. Don’t forget the picture!

5. Use a DA or Devil's Advocate card at each board meeting.
Each meeting someone different is given the DA card and their job is to play the devil's advocate on issues before the board. This straightforward yet powerful tool can be used to avoid the pitfalls of those boards inclined to ‘group think’; to correct a flawed decision making process; or simply to give a voice to members of the board who may be less inclined to share an opposing view point.

6. Create a FAQ for new board members created by current board members.
Remember all those questions you had but were afraid to when you first joined the board? Or maybe you did ask them and you saw in the eyes of your fellow members that they realize they didn’t know the answer either. This is also a terrific tool to use when recruiting new members as it provides a glimpse into the culture of your organization!

7. Make sure all of your board members have business cards with the organization's mission statement on the back.
What better way to get your cause into the hands of your board member’s friends & acquaintances?!

8. Decrease the number of your committees and increase the number of your task groups.
Task groups are established to accomplish a specific objective—within a specified time frame. Once the objective is completed, the group dismantles. Task groups give boards greater flexibility, engage members more efficiently and allows issues to be tackled immediately.

9. Create a strategic plan dashboard tracking 3-5 critical indicators to the health of the organization and update monthly showing a 12 month trend for each.
Dashboards are designed to provide a simple visual overview of the health and direction of any organization that has financial statements, i.e. balance sheets, income statements (also known as profit and loss, or operating statement) and cash flow statements. These graphic images give the non-financial persons in your organization a better understanding of the finances..

10. Ask each board member to think of the single most important issue that they feel the organization should focus on in the next year and have them write it on an index card. Shuffle the cards and read them out loud to begin a strategic discussion.
This last tip is pretty self-explanatory and a great way to begin the annual review of your strategic plan.