Forming a nonprofit board is really straightforward. When you register your nonprofit through your state and then through the IRS, you will be required to submit your bylaws. Simply put, bylaws are kind of like the nonprofit’s constitution. They are rules your organization agrees to follow. How many board members will you have? What are their terms? What are the positions and governing responsibilities of board members?
For advice, be sure to reach out to a qualified provider like Nonprofit Legal Services of Utah for guidance in setting up your bylaws and forming your board of directors. Remember, if you are just starting, keep it simple and grow organically.
To truly build capacity, your board typically needs diverse skills, networks, and knowledge to support the organization's growth. Although board members volunteer their time and talent without compensation, when bringing on new members, you need to conduct a rigorous interview process to ensure they're a good fit, just like employees.
Creating the Board’s Structure
First, you will want to ensure that your board complies with local laws; but typically, your board will have no fewer than three members. Nonprofit boards vary from organization to organization; however, each nonprofit board is set up to do the same thing: build their own capacity so they can change the world!
An effective capacity-building board is likely to have these key positions:
Board Chair or President: This is the leader of the organization, the person that sets the tone and direction of the organization. Board Chairs utilize existing networks to build capacity for the nonprofit organization, engage in fundraising and major gift plans, as well as ensure that the organization is living true to its mission.
Vice President: The Vice President assists the president in major campaigns and brings their networks, skills, and expertise to the organization. They are very experienced and knowledgeable with the organization’s mission.
Treasurer: The treasurer may serve as the bookkeeper, accountant, and keeps the budgets organized and clean. Working closely with CPAs and CFOs, this position is vital to prevent any financial corruption within the organization.
Secretary: The secretary prepares agendas, keeps minutes, assigns and follows up on tasks, and helps with basic organizational tasks and filings.
Board Members: Board members are here to support the mission through capacity building, fundraising, engaging donors, planning events, strategic planning, and enhancing and supporting core programs in ways that are best for the organization.
Larger organizations may have more positions written in their bylaws and small, grassroots organizations may have untraditional positions, wearing many hats. Regardless, every board will have a minimum of three members and structure will be clearly defined in the board’s bylaws.
Developing Board Committees to Build Capacity
Small to large-sized boards may need to establish committees to achieve their objectives. For example, if your board consists of 20 members that meet monthly, you may need to create committees that also meet aside from regular board meetings. For example, you could create 4 committees, each group with 5 members. The objectives of each committee may reflect the nonprofit’s capacity-building goals. Each committee may have a unique goal from the strategic plan such as fundraising, strengthening the board, or supporting and enhancing core programs.
Mighty Penguin offers top-notch board recruitment and engagement services, strategic planning and much more. If your nonprofit organization needs a strategic plan makeover or needs to create their very first, get in touch with our team today!
Engaging the Board for Maximum Impact
Engaging your nonprofit board takes dedicated leadership skills. Typically, the board chair and executive director will work together to achieve this. Board members need clear roles, responsibilities with expectations clearly defined from the executive director and board chair. What are the roles of each board member? What is the time commitment? Are they expected to volunteer so many hours? Are they expected to give a consistent certain amount of time? What purpose will they serve to build the capacity and longevity of the organization? Are they passionate about the mission and vision? Is it personal to them? Creating these expectations during onboarding processes, emphasizing expectations during yearly retreats, and giving time to set up a one-on-one to further go over roles and expectations is critical.
Successful Board Meetings
Successful board meetings rely on detailed agendas and meeting notes. Keep meetings fun, engaging, and oriented towards fulfilling the strategic plan. At meetings highlight wins, success stories, and any progress towards goals. Be sure to recognize and celebrate achievements of board members and give them fair opportunities to speak their minds.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
-Helen Keller
To increase board engagement, it may also be helpful to assign tasks to each board member at meetings. Additional ways to engage the board are by conducting surveys to see what they are interested in supporting and discovering ways they would like to support the nonprofit organization, assuming it is based on your strategic plan.
Define Board Success
What does success look like for your organization? Here are a couple of capacity-building metrics for board members to assess:
- Resource Mobilization Efficiency: Measure the effectiveness of resource utilization for fundraising, grant acquisition, and volunteer engagement.
- Community Impact Assessment: Evaluate outcomes achieved, such as the number of beneficiaries served and improvements in quality of life.
- Board Diversity and Inclusion: Track demographic characteristics of board members and inclusivity in decision-making processes.
- Strategic Partnerships Development: Assess success in forming partnerships aligned with organizational goals to expand reach and impact.
- Organizational Sustainability Index: Monitor financial reserves, revenue diversification, staff retention rates, and governance practices for long-term viability.
Define your success by assessing meeting various capacity milestones. Be flexible and adaptable if milestones are not being met. This may mean the scope needs to be adjusted or other internal shifts need to happen.
Strategic Planning for Growth
As we bring it all together, it's important to remember that strategic planning needs to happen before capacity planning can really happen. Strategic planning involves sending out surveys and hosting retreats to assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your nonprofit organization. Compiling data from the various constituent feedback will help craft a document that details out your objectives and priorities. This process can also help identify board committees for supporting each strategic objective. Strategic planning is a tool many nonprofits use to engage their board, assigning roles and clarifying tasks.
Conclusion
In conclusion, forming and maintaining a nonprofit board is essential for the success and longevity of any organization. By following the steps outlined above, you can ensure that your board is structured effectively, engaged, and working towards the common goal of making a positive impact on the world. Remember, it's not just about the number of members on your board, but the quality of their contributions and their dedication to the mission that truly matters. With careful planning and strategic leadership, your nonprofit board can achieve great things and effect meaningful change in your community.
