Nonprofit Board members are the key to the success of a nonprofit organization. The board’s role is to ensure that the organizational mission is executed in a legally-sound and ethical framework. To achieve this task, it is important to choose members with a wide range of expertise and experience. The ideal board should be diverse in terms of age and background, too. This will ensure that the board is able to take on all aspects of governance.
Finding board members can be a challenge especially for nonprofits in the beginning with a small number of donors or supporters. There are a variety of ways to locate potential candidates. Asking the current board members to provide names of people who might be interested is one way to locate potential candidates. Find out whether any business or civic organizations provide workshops on how to set up nonprofit boards. These classes can provide a an abundance of information for those who want to become board directors or volunteers.
The Governance Committee should contact the candidates on its list once it has done so. It is important to communicate the requirements and expectations for board membership clear to potential applicants so that they can determine if it is something they would like to pursue. The committee responsible for overseeing the selection process needs to make a more efficient process to select and interview board members. It is also helpful to have non-profit board members’ job descriptions to use as guidance as the committee makes its selections.