One of the most valuable assets to any non-profit organization is its Board. The expertise and the social and business networks Board members bring with them, directly impact the organization’s strategic direction, and, increasingly, its fundraising and financial strength.

Extensive research has been conducted on non-profit Boards and their effectiveness. Those of us who have worked on Boards for several decades or more have personally experienced the changing expectations of Board directors, as non-profit organizations have grown and developed.

My own experience is that Boards quite often spend little or no time setting out expectations for incoming members, that new members are rarely trained, and that self-evaluation of the Board’s performance is infrequent at best, but more often non-existent.

The 2000 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP) revealed that, on average, Board members donate 224 hours a year to their organizations. Their top two motivations to serve are a belief in the organization’s cause, and a desire to use their skills and experiences to support its mission.

Despite this, a more recent national survey, conducted by Imagine Canada on non-profit Board volunteers, found that Board members were frustrated by poorly run meetings, the unbalanced distribution of the workload among the group, and the challenges of attracting both volunteers and donors to the organization.

Board assessment and training can go a long way to solving some of these issues. It’s time for Boards to re-open discussions with their members and prospective members on expectations, roles, and the effectiveness of existing Board practices because the role of the non-profit Board is changing.

Many non-profits, to a certain extent, are now victims of their own success. With increasingly professional and organized fundraising efforts, financial contributions (and expectations) of non-profits are growing. There is dramatic evidence that the so-called coming “wealth transfer” will include a growing consideration of philanthropy, particularly with spectacular “organization-changing” multi-million dollar gifts.

These new “investment” opportunities have contributed to redefining the role of the non-profit Board member. Today, Board members, as a rule, are expected to make charitable donations to the organizations they serve at a “meaningful” level. In addition, Board members are expected to contribute time to fundraising efforts.

As financial donations grow in number and size, the spotlight is also on accountability. Donors increasingly scrutinize the financial performance and operational practices of the organizations they support to ensure that their philanthropic dollars are having the intended impact.

Board members need to defend the philanthropic investments they make and solicit. To act as the organization’s defender, in this regard, requires that members understand the organization’s decision-making criteria and policies. They need to ask the right questions about program expenses, delivery methods, and impacts.

For these reasons, all non-profit Board members benefit from being schooled and re-schooled in fundraising “best practices” and ethics. This support equips members to be increasingly vigilant that the organization’s successful fundraising resources are first, used as intended, second, secured and administered without undue expense and, perhaps most importantly, stewarded properly.

The good news is that Board members want this kind of support. The Imagine Canada survey reveals that Board members believe their leadership would be more effective with more frequent meetings and more opportunities for training.

It’s an investment in the most powerful asset of the non-profit organization.

The 2006 Imagine Canada survey, Board Volunteers in Canada: Their Motivations and Challenges can be found at:
http://nonprofitscan.imaginecanada.ca/files/kdc-cdc/imagine_board_volunteers_report.pdf

Harvey Gilmour is a partner at Red Letter Philanthropy Counsel Ltd. who has been working with and serving on Boards of non-profit organizations for over 30 years.  Reach him at harvey@redlettercounsel.com.