THE BOARD ROOM

How to Create an Effective Board

How many people, with what qualifications, should you elect to your
board? Here are some guidelines.

By Alice Gore King

who carry their responsibilities.

m.
Simple as that sounds, it’s a tall
q) .“, .”.” .,. . order.

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.... . . . .. .
Qualified.
thinking
This means that the
of board members is in

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& ,,
.,. . ‘“.;&”:?
tune with that of the organization.
They are interested in its subject

4!%-=
a
. Y
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~.
J“
..*&.&
“’-i. Q.
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and purpose, agree with its princi-
ples, and believe in its programs.
sit-ins and marches are among the
If

activities, for example, people who

prefer different approaches may not
be right for the board.
Competency must be the first pri-
ority in choosing candidates. Select
those who can do the job, not those
“Agreed. This organization’s @ima~ objective in the coming to whom you owe a favor.
year will be the recruitment of new board members. ” In general, there should be repre-
sentatives from business and indu~
try, the professions, perhaps mem-
bers of the community, civic leaders,
n effective nonprofit board many. Give each person a specific and the government. They should
of directors is one in which responsibility, and retain only those be able to see ahead, suggest ways to
A members attend meetinm
faithfully, hold directed discussio~s,
perform the jobs assigned to them,
and immediately put through the
Figure 1.
motions carried. How can you
Association of Active Volunteers
choose such members for your
board?
First, elect people who are quali- Board of Directors
fied, properly motivated, and
dependable—and don’t elect too Chair Vice Chair Secretary Treasurer
1 I

Alice tie King is th founder and retired Committee Responsibilities

executive director of the Alumnae Advismy
Centm, Inc., in New York City. She is the Board &mbers
author ofDutton’s Career Opportunities
for Women in Business, Scrilmer’sHelp Community Dinner Education Finance
Wanted: Female, and articles in Gla- Relations Meetings
mour, Good Housekeeping, The Chris-
tian Science Monitor, The New York Luncheon Membership Newsletter Nominating
Times. and others.
Meetings
NONPROFIT WORLD, VOL. 12, No. 2. Publisbed
by The Society For Nonprofit Organizations, Program Publication Publicity Speakers
6314 Odana Road, Suite 1, Madison, WI Bureau
53719.

12/ NONPROFIT WORLD,VOL. 12, No. 2

deal with problems, be constructive
in their thinking, and suggest solu-
tions when they find fault. Board members should not be offered the
More specifically, there probably
ought to be a lawyer, a financier, appointment if they attach a string.
someone with public relations acu-
men, and a fundraiser. In some
cases it may be desirable to have a
publicist, human relations adminis-
trator, and someone whose field is brochures, and they like adding the But their input should be tailored
related to that of the organization. fact to their r~sum~s. But that is not to the needs of the organization,
For example, there should be a enough. not to their own self-interest. The
physician or gerontologist on the They may also be motivated by a photography club of a suburban
board of a retirement community or desire to serve. They may feel grate- town elected a chemist to its board
nursing home. ful for what their community has of directors because he was an ama-
Properly motivated. One reason done for them and want to repay it. teur photographer on the side. But
for accepting a board membership Or they may themselves be using the it turned out that his interest was in
is prestige. It is an honorary ap- services of the organization (a pri- getting his work exhibited, not in
pointment. People like to see their vate school that their children the concerns of the club. He was not
names listed on letterheads and attend). an appropriate selection for the
board.
Dependable. Board members
should have the time to attend
meetings and to shoulder their
Li!22e10 Gommaz2dmez21f assignments. They should not be
offered the appointment if they
for Boards of Directors attach a string. Saying they will
attend only those meetings that are
By Roger Fritz
held on Tuesdays or in the evening
disqualifies them.
W 7Lou&a~insisfuponLaoinJ ap[an. Not too many. A board should not
be large. The larger it is, the more
W 7Aouda1nofa[~wpe.sona[.e[afions&>siop.eoeni likely the members are to leave
06jecflbe c4ec2&ons. things to others. About 12 or 15—
give or take a few—is manageable.
W 7Aou&a~nofcon~se sizewif~superz0ri+. But a guiding factor is the size of
the program and load of business.
❑ 9Aou&a~criiicize on~6j#erinya6efiez-i~a. A board of directors is the conti-

❑
nuity of the organization’s gover-
7220u&abo6ia~na1)2cis aoaih6~andseuerafopinions’ nance. Its function is to establish
6e[ore c4eci&ng. policy, be responsible for raising
funds, and oversee operations. The
❑ 7Lou&abaooi~dl>inJ ch#aecuiiuesm~oAaoeris&eJ president or executive
the paid administrator
director
who supervis-
is

Lffli. es and directs the day-to-day busi-

❑ 7L0u~abpm.e/~cri ficsmronJ~JeeAandWJurneni..
ness and carrying out of policy. In
time, paid administrators resign, are
❑ 7Aou~a~noisei~n&s f*nciJoa&,~rfL~~ieIdins@n#-
replaced, or retire. The board, on
the other hand, is constant. Individ-
caniresu f is. ual members change, but as an enti-
ty it is self-perpetuating.
W 51LousJaf7~ei/>n2 comn2ifmenis~rco..ec fions6jacer- One type of board set-up is as fol-
iain cJafewiiLcAec~poinis fo Leep i!eplan on sdedu[e. lows:

❑ ~~ou~~noimedhin &y-io.~ayAc,i,Ons, 6ui~cuson

● around 12 members,
three classes, each
divided into
for terms of
f~e}uiure. three years
● four officers: the chair, vice chair,
Dr. Roger Fritz is president of Organization Development Consultants, 500 Technology
secretary, treasurer (and some-
Drive, Suite 201, Naperville, Illinois 60563 (708-420-7673). Dr. Fritz is the author of 26
books, including Performance Based Management, Productivityand Resu/ts, Rate times others such as correspond-
Yourself as a Manager, and Lessons from Today’s New Breed of Successful Entrepre- ing secretary, recording secretary,
neurs. His People CompatibilitySoftware System evaluates the compatibility of people on second vice chair, etc. )
the job.
● an executive committee com-

MARCH/APRIL 1994 / 13
 posed of the four main officers, Consider the first board of a first board will have four people
who decide matters of immediate newly founded organization. Sup- who will serve for three years, four
importance between meetings pose it has been decided that there for two years, and four for one year.
will be 12 people on the board. The These are the three classes. At the
Q often a stipulation that board end of the first year, elections will
bvlaws will state: “The board of
members and officers may be be held to replace the one-year
d;rectors shall consist of 12 or more
elected for only two consecutive members, this time for a three-year
members. ” This implies 12 without
terms. term. They may be the same people
being restrictive. It is important that
Figure 1 shows the set-up of the the bylaws be loose, not tie hands. or new ones. The following year, the
hypothetical Association of Active To get the ball rolling and start original two-year members will be
Volunteers. the cycle of three-year terms, the re-elected or replaced for a three-
year-term. By the third year, the
revolving pattern will be estab-
lished.
To elect board members, a nomi-

Summa Cum nating committee, appointed

chair, searches for candidates
presents a slate to the board at the
by the
and

annual meeting. Nominations may

be made from the floor, and then a
vote is taken.
But here lies a difficulty that too
often causes poor results. Although
this nominating committee may be
appointed at the time of the annual
meeting, it is apt to wait until the
last minute before getting to work.
Then it makes a hasty, superficial
search. Instead, it should devote the
whole year, not just a few weeks, to
finding candidates. And it should
be monitored periodically.
Be sure it’s clear who’s in charge.
F ~RE POWERFIJL~ (JTI#m ACCOUNllNG PACKAGES The chair must be ready to accept
ADS ProFund gives you more power and control than other ftmd accounting blame along with credit and to lead
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many other features. And unlike commercial packages that aren’t designed for ily swayed, and unable to take
non-profits, it doesn’t leave you with time-consuming manual ledger work. responsibility, the board will floun-
der.
FAcc~ DATA FROM YOUR CURR~ SOFIWARE. You can import
Having an effective board may
files from most software directly into any ADS ProFund module. So ProFund
not be easy, but it is simple. The key
worka with the software you already have without manual data re-entry,
is to turn all efforts toward finding
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Selected References
Anthes, Earl, et al., 7’he Nonprofit Board
Book,
Carver, John, Boards that Make a Dt@ence:
NEW ACCOUNTING RULES FOR NON-PROFITS A New Desi~ for I.eadershiP in Non@ofit and
The Financial AmountingStandardsBoardis requiringgreatar Public Organizations,
From, Eugene, Poli~ Vs. Pa@r Clips: Selling
detail in the financial statements of non-profitorganizations
the Corporate Model to Your Nonjsrojt Board.
starting Dee. 15, 1994.
Muehrcke, Jill, cd., Board Leadership CY
‘four current accounting system may not have the reporting Governance, Leadership Series.
capabilitiesthe newrulesrequire,Tofindouthow ADSProFund O’Connell, Brian, The Board Member’s Book.
can help, call us at 1-600-266-6167. For a copy of FASB
Statements 116 & 117, call {203)647-0700. ext. 10, These publications are available through
* Ver, 9.4 is new for 1994! Our the Society For Nonprofit Organizations’
Resource Center, For ordering information,
AdvancedDataSystems ~~~~~~~~’~$~~
nl!m P.O. Box 2130, Bangor ME 04402-2130
ADS ProFunflruns on DOS,Novell,and Unix systems.
::~:r~~~~rded
see the Society’s

at 6314 Odana
Resource Center Catalog,
included in this issue, or contact the Society
Road, Suite 1, Madison,
Wkconsin 53719 (8004247367).

14/ NONPROFIT WORLD,VOL. 12, No. 2