Giving Compass' Take:
- Here are 13 suggestions for how organizations can make their online board meetings more inclusive, engaging, and successful during the pandemic.
- What can board members bring to virtual board meetings to ensure that they are productive and mission-driven?
- Understand more about boards and leadership here.
What is Giving Compass?
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In 2020, nonprofit boards everywhere pressed pause on in-person retreats, holiday parties, fundraising events, and opportunities to socialize, and began to hold meetings on virtual platforms like Zoom because they had to. These shifts posed—and continue to pose—many challenges.
Ways to Build Board Effectiveness Virtually
- Connect members to the mission.
- Recruit members who found it hard to attend meetings in person.
- Onboard new members virtually.
- Schedule shorter and more-frequent meetings.
- Reconsider meeting times.
- Minimize reporting and maximize discussion.
- Make sure everyone gets a chance to speak.
- Make the most of virtual tools to boost participation.
- Take charge when conflict erupts.
- Give people a chance to get to know each other personally at every meeting.
- Use board work outside meetings to build connections.
- Organize social events outside meetings to foster relationships.
- Make it a team effort.
Read the full article about online board meetings by Mark Zitter & Jon Huggett at Stanford Social Innovation Review.