Board Recruitment: Getting the People You Want

by Peter Brinckerhoff, Corporate Alternatives, inc.

Board recruitment vexes many a non-profit exec. It did me, when I was an executive director. Let me provide you with a few truths I've learned over the years as a board member, as an ED, and as a consultant.

1. You get out what you put in, or: You can't delegate board recruitment to the Board.

I see far too many execs who decide that they will leave board recruitment to the board. It's easier for the ED (in the short run), and it gives the board something important to do. Winner! Or not. What happens when you let the board recruit the board? You get new board members that are like the old ones? Why? Because people recruit who they know, and they tend to know (and hang out with) themselves. Thus, if you asked me (53 years old, married, suburban, grad school, middle class, three kids) to recruit members for a board, I'd recruit....more 50-something, married, suburban, well-educated, middle class people with kids--because that's who I hang out with.  Take-away: The recruitment of board members needs to be a board-staff partnership, and needs to seek specific people for specific skills (see #2).

2. The skillset your board needs is a moving target.
As time passes, your strategic plan should evolve to keep up. So should your budget, your marketing, your staff mix. Why not your board? Some skills may be relatively timeless, but many change with the times. If you are planning a major building project, do you have bankers, architects and realtors on the board? If you are doing community outreach, what about community leaders, ministers, elected officials? Take-away:  Develop a short and long term skillset list and drop it into your ongoing recruitment efforts (see #3).

3. Successful recruitment is ongoing.
The worst mistake organizations make in recruitment is rushing it. "Ohhh, here comes the nominating committee meeting three days before the annual meeting where we elect board members. Huh. We better get busy and find someone." And just how good a candidate do you think the organization finds? If you have a skillset plan, and you have board terms so that you know when most people are going off the board, this is a predictable, manageable issue.  Also, if you add non-board members to a committee for a year, this can be a way of developing a board pipeline into the organization. Add board recruitment to your annual work plan. Takeaway: Slow and steady wins this race.

4. The most successful recruitment is viewed as a marketing task. 
The board is a market? Of course it is. And what do you do with a market? You find out what they want. How do you do it? You ask. Ask during recruitment, ask during their service, ask after they go off the board. Ask what the board members want from their service. If they give you well-intentioned platitudes, "Oh, I just want to help my community," drill down and ask them how the organization can specifically help them realize that aspiration more fully.Takeaway: Ask, ask, ask.

 
5. Don't recruit people for (just, or first) their fund raising ability.
One of my biggest concerns about U.S. boards is the trend to have 100% board members who are first and foremost fund raisers. Bad idea. While fund raising should absolutely be part of the board skillset, having this capability as the first and primary skill bodes nothing but trouble for the organization. Boards are supposed to be checks and balances on the staff. If the board does not manage, if there are no other skills but fund raising on the board, how can they provide the oversight needed to insure good stewardship? Takeaway: Have a policy board with some fund raisers on it.

6. Be clear and straightforward about expectations.
I despise people coming to me to help with an organization (as a volunteer) and saying, "Oh, it doesn't take too much time." Well, if it really doesn't, why do you need help? Be completely forthright with potential board (and committee) members about the organization's expectations of them. Number of meetings, duration, date, time and location of meetings, workload between meetings, etc. And, tell people in writing, in person, and put all of this on your website.Takeaway: Truth in advertising will increase your board retention.

All of these techniques will help you recruit better board members and retain them longer.

Reprinted with permission. Originally published in The Mission-Based Management Newsletter, November 2005. To subscribe:  send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . You will be added to the mailing list and begin receiving your own copy with the next issue.

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Bulletin Board

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