From Inexperience To Impact: Recipe For Board Leadership

Board leadership is one of the hardest jobs in the nonprofit world. Ask any fundraising professional to describe their board of directors and odds are you’ll get an earful.  Words like “weak,” “ineffectual,” and “disengaged” will likely come up. Hopefully, they don’t describe their board as toxic, but many are.

That, combined with relentless fundraising pressure, can cause burnout and turnover.

So, what’s an Executive Director (ED) to do?

There’s a lot that goes into building and managing a healthy board of directors but it starts with the Executive Director.

Understanding the qualities needed for great board leadership

To recruit, onboard, and lead a high-functioning board of directors the Executive Director needs key qualities like confidence, maturity, integrity, compassion, vision, charisma, and gratitude.

Confidence may be the most important quality because if an ED seeks excessive input from a board to make key decisions they should be making on their own—like hiring staff—they can seal their fate and forever be treated by their board as subservient.

Being a great ED and leader to your nonprofit board also requires the maturity to know when and how to pick your battles. It’s critical that an ED handle all interactions with fairness and respect—treating people equally, respecting privacy, and acknowledging mistakes. It takes a lot of heart to work in the nonprofit profession and a healthy dose of compassion on the part of the ED can boost morale and create a positive and supportive environment. Their vision must be inspiring to attract and keep board members engaged in fulfilling the mission. It takes a healthy dose of charisma to influence and motivate others. Finally, one of the most important qualities a great Executive Director must have is gratitude. They must set the example by expressing genuine appreciation for the generosity of donors, volunteers—including board members—and the contributions of staff.

On top of these key qualities, the Executive Director needs something else—and that is to embrace the role fundraising plays in fulfilling the mission. Naturally, fundraising works infinitely better when everyone sees the value of philanthropy, but an ED who doesn’t value, respect, or enthusiastically engage in fundraising isn’t setting any kind of a positive role model for the board (or staff). Why would a board engage in fundraising if its highest-ranking leader does not?

Now that we’ve covered all the qualities that make for a great Executive Director primed to lead a board, there are two processes they must follow to get high-performing board members and set them up for success.

Recruiting an effective board

Having a thriving board of directors starts with recruitment. A great board and a great ED are recruiting all the time, which means being board-aware with donors and having a well-run board-nominating (or governance) committee. Networking and social platforms are great ways to discover and engage prospective candidates from the professional and personal connections of both board and staff members. I recommend you ‘try before you buy’ and invite interested prospective board members to serve on an ad hoc committee. If a mover and shaker in your community declines your invitation because of their current board commitments, ask them to consider joining after their current term ends and steward them until they can join.

During recruitment you need to be crystal clear about the expectations of service, especially around fundraising! I like the approach my friend Andy Robinson suggests in his book, What Every Board Member Needs to Know, Do, and Avoid, which is to frame these expectations by clarifying what will be asked of them and simultaneously, how they will be supported.

For example, we ask that you provide a positive fundraising attitude, your skills, time, and effort, and that you give generously to us while you serve on the board. In return, you can expect training and support to be effective and choices in how you give.

Some sample recruitment questions to learn more about potential candidates can include:

• What interests you about our organization?
• What do you think are the characteristics of a great board member?
• Part of board service is fundraising. Can you tell me more about your experiences with fundraising?
• What skills, connections, resources, and expertise are you willing to offer or use on behalf of the organization?
• What motivates you?
• While you serve on our board, will you make us one of your top three philanthropic commitments?

Need a little more help with recruitment? Download my five-step guide to recruiting board members and 10 questions to ask a prospective board member

Creating a stellar onboarding experience for new board members

Here are five things you can do to ensure success for your new board members:

1. A robust board orientation—which includes the presence of your board chair—where you explain the board role and attributes of a great board member, and where you provide a tour, job description, and board manual.
2. A warm board welcome at the board meeting where they can get to know other board members.
3. Assign a board “buddy.” Ideally, this is the board member you’d most like to clone! They can help your new board member get up to speed and set expectations for service.
4. Three-, six-, and nine-month check-ins. It’s standard practice to schedule regular check-ins for new hires; why not do the same for new board members? It’s a great way to ensure they feel supported and know what’s expected of them.
5. Check in after the first term to invite for a second, or thank and release them for their board service. Too many boards lack term limits—or if they have them, limits aren’t enforced. Checking in before they move on to another term is critical to make sure you’re both a perfect fit.

Every board meeting should include a philanthropic activity or element of fundraising training, like calling to thank donors, outlining the sources of your revenue, or sharing ‘goosebump’ stories from the front lines about how donors make a difference.

Bringing it all together: Ensuring board excellence

Navigating nonprofit board management is both an art and a science. It takes more than dogged determination; it requires a spark of charisma and a solid backbone of integrity. An Executive Director needs to shine in these roles if they want a board that doesn’t just function but flourishes. By strategically recruiting and investing in thoughtful onboarding, a great ED can transform board members into fierce and loyal advocates for the mission.

Remember—recruiting, onboarding, and leading a board is a marathon, not a sprint!

This sample board agreement can make it easier.

Is there anything in this recipe for board leadership we left out? Drop your feedback in the comments sections below, we’d love to hear from you!