The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - (Page 8) Diversity In Occupations Drives Successful Boards BY MARK HRYWNA I f the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker were to be appointed to a nonprofit board, it’d be a good start, but they likely still would lack the occupational diversity that brings balance to organizations. The three characters from the old children’s nursery rhyme, “Rub A Dub Dub,” might have valuable entrepreneurial know-how to contribute, but who brings legal experience or technical accounting knowledge to the table, never mind information technology or public relations? And there’s always the question of, will they fundraise, or at least connect with potential major donors? While ethnic, gender and age diversity often comes up when the topic of diversity among nonprofit boards is discussed, occupational diversity also is an important part of the process. After all, an organization cannot be run by lawyers and accountants alone. Selecting board members will have a long-term effect on any organization so it’s a process that should be included in a strategic plan, said Linda Crompton, president and CEO of BoardSource, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that publishes governance best practices. It’s not so much a discussion of what occupations should be represented on the board, she said, but a consideration of what skill sets and resources a nonprofit will need to aid the organization in the coming years. Boards should talk about it because it’s very much related to the organization and depends on the mission and stage of development, Crompton said. The needs of a board overseeing a five-year-old private school likely will be very different from those of a more mature, larger organization. “It’s a question of achieving a balance,” Crompton said. The challenge is to also bring in a broad range of age, gender and race while bringing together a balance of skill sets. Certain skills transcend certain vocations.“You can be in any kind of job background, but you need some kind of community involvement and in many cases fundraising experience,” she said. “You could’ve gotten that in a wide range of occupations, not necessarily fundraisers, but as the head of a committee that does fundraising, for instance.” At some organizations, fundraising is a requirement of board members, regardless of their occupation or duties. Not all boards want their members to be fundraisers,but if they do,it must be understood up front. “You don’t have to be expert in fundraising, but if there’s an expectation of fundraising, you need to have one or two people that understand the dynamics, either contributing personally or provide access.You need a couple of people on the board with an understanding of what it’s all about,” Crompton said. Nonprofits must consider other skills and experiences of board members, along with the types of connections they bring with them to the board room. Alphonse Brown, director of development at the National Minority AIDS Council in Washington, D.C. and former chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), relates an experience he had with Big Brothers Big Sisters. He was invited to serve on the board primarily in a fundraising capacity but he also wanted to do something different. Brown created a campaign to recruit more “Big Brothers” who could be paired up with kids to serve as mentors. “In the final analysis, because I was a fundraiser, they actually asked me to design a program that really showcased not only my professional talent but something they needed,” Brown said. “In this particular case, because the number of kids were disproportionately African-American, it was a perfect match for them, but I could also raise money for ‘‘ and every board member can do that, at least to a minimal level,” he said. The challenge that any organization faces is bringing on someone who can complement what the board and nonprofit does, Brown said, and it’s the same challenge when you’re looking to bring on someone from the accounting field or an attorney, whether they’re diverse or not. At AFP, a number of factors are examined, he said, such as geography, profession and whether the person has a consultant background versus, say, raising money for a health agency. Depending on the organization, someone who brings political connections could be necessary, Crompton said. It also is helpful to have a board member who has experience in public relations or marketing, to understand issues and challenges in that arena, she said. These days it also helps to have someone who knows and understands information technology (IT). While management and staff have the day-to-day responsibilities of running the organizations, board members should be concerned with the long-term, strategic decisions regarding things like IT and finance. Board members are responsible for ap- In the final analysis, because I was a fundraiser, they actually asked me to design a program that really showcased not only my professional talent but something they needed. --Alphonse Brown proving a strategic plan developed by management that outlines future investment and direction in specific areas. “It helps if you have someone on board with an IT background,” Crompton said, who can advise whether investment is aggressive enough or realistic in terms of outlay. “Those kinds of issues, someone without an IT background will not ask,” she said, and lack meaningful input from the board. The risk of occupational diversity among larger organizations with management teams is when board members end up second guessing hired staff, or a board member pulls in their own technical direction with no interest in giving validity to others, according to Eli Mina, author of 101 Boardroom Problems and How to Solve Them. It can become a struggle unless roles are clearly defined, with board members not micromanaging but providing more detached oversight, Mina said, adding that the board must “hire the chef, but stay out of the kitchen.” He emphasized defining them,” Brown said.“Increasingly, organizations, if they don’t do that, ought to because it leads to more efficiently run boards and ultimately more efficiently run organizations,” he said. Today’s marketplace demands that all board members be expected and asked to raise money and assist the organization in remaining financially solvent and viable, Brown said. “The reality is, not all board members will be fundraisers, and that’s where I think the professional practitioner must evaluate that with the help of volunteer leadership. Not everyone will be proficient or want to do it but at least they can contribute,” he said, whether that might be offering names or adding to the process in some way. For instance, if board members work for government and are prohibited from fundraising, allowances can be made, but those board members can still contribute, perhaps providing some expertise, while not directly raising funds, Brown said. “I think it’s a matter of giving and getting, the roles and responsibilities of the board during orientation but also during regular evaluations. Drawing attention to those clear definitions can help boards stay on strategy and not drift into the tactics that are more the employees’ task. A board with vast occupational diversity can become dysfunctional if individuals push in their own direction. Board members who have an open mind,can learn easily and be constructive, engaged members of a team,Mina said,can make occupational diversity less significant when selecting board members. “The wealth knowledge around the table becomes immaterial if they cannot work together,” he said. In most cases, Crompton said, identifying an entrepreneur can be valuable because the way they approach things is different from someone with a corporate background. One critical element to have is at least one person, depending on the size of a board, who has a strong financial acumen, she said.That’s one area that nonprofits “tend to be light on” perhaps because many of those people already serve on corporate boards that pay their board members.“Now more than ever, it’s important to have someone that understands the financial side of the operation,” Crompton said. Nonprofits and their boards vary too much to be able to set a hard and fast number of certain vocations. Requiring at least two members with a legal background may work, Crompton said, but it would be overkill if there are only four board members. While it’s important to have board diversity in terms of skill set, race, age and gender, Crompton said, at same time you have to try to do that while limiting your board size. If a separate person were brought onto the board for each necessary skill set, it would quickly become an overwhelmingly large board.“Even for large organizations, once you hit 17 board members, it changes the dynamic,”she said. Ideally, board recruitment would be an ongoing exercise, Crompton said. When developing board profiles, organizations should examine two things: strategic plan for the future and the current composition of the board. “That’s the template that we suggest boards use to identify those things; what are you going to need on the board as you go in a strategic direction,” she said. Issues may come up, such as becoming more dependent on donations, creating a need for a fundraising board member,or future legal challenges that may lie ahead, which might require someone with a legal background. Crompton emphasizes planning ahead when considering your board’s composition. If two years from now a nonprofit knows it might need someone with a legal background, it should begin cultivating people who might potentially fit that bill, Crompton said. “Don’t wait until the last minute, until it’s absolutely urgent for someone with a particular background,” she said.“Use some sort of profile so you know what’s going to be needed and cultivating those prospective board members ahead time.” NPT JANUARY 1, 2009 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com http://www.nptimes.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 Clothes Sense Office Web Use Tough To Control Fundraisers Are Going After States Contents Page 4 Diversity In Occupations Drives Successful Boards Princeton, Foundation Settle Donor Intent Case Pulling Out A Rabbit Igniting A Service Nation Evaluating The Evaluator What To Expect Special Report: Accounting Software Advertiser Index NPT Jobs Resource Directory The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Fundraisers Are Going After States (Page 1) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Fundraisers Are Going After States (Page 2) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Contents (Page 3) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Page 4 (Page 4) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Page 4 (Page 5) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Page 4 (Page 6) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Page 4 (Page 7) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Diversity In Occupations Drives Successful Boards (Page 8) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Princeton, Foundation Settle Donor Intent Case (Page 9) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Igniting A Service Nation (Page 10) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Evaluating The Evaluator (Page 11) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - What To Expect (Page 12) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Special Report: Accounting Software (Page 13) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Special Report: Accounting Software (Page 14) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Special Report: Accounting Software (Page 15) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Special Report: Accounting Software (Page 16) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Special Report: Accounting Software (Page 17) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Special Report: Accounting Software (Page 18) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - NPT Jobs (Page 19) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Resource Directory (Page 20) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Resource Directory (Page 21) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Resource Directory (Page 22) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Resource Directory (Page 23) The NonProfit Times - January 1, 2009 - Resource Directory (Page 24)
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