We Need New Nonprofit Board Models

Nonprofit AF Jul 7, 2020
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We Need New Nonprofit Board Models Giving Compass

Giving Compass’ Take:

• Vu Le explains why we need new nonprofit board models and offers three suggestions for improved models. 

• How can board(s) you serve on be improved? What are the first steps to improvement? 

• Read about insufficient board diversity. 

Board members are volunteers who contribute time, money, talents, connections, and even the occasional shoulder to cry on during challenging moments. Without the awesome folks on my board, the two organizations that I was ED of would not have been nearly as successful. I am also currently serving on two boards of organizations I love. I know how hard boards and board members work, and we owe a lot to the brilliant board members out there who are helping us make the world better every day.

However, we need to admit that boards in general are seriously problematic. I have a Rule of One-Thirds when it comes to boards: 1/3 of them are helpful, 1/3 are useless, and 1/3 are actually harmful. This means that 2/3 of nonprofit boards are useless or harmful. For every good-board story, there are countless tales of crappy boards. Those who micromanage the staff. Those who get buried in operations, wasting their time scrutinizing font selections and toilet paper purchases. Those who prevent progress, like the boards who refuse to allow their organizations to publicly support Black Lives Matter, thinking it’s too “political.” Even among the boards I’ve worked with, I’ve dealt with my fair share of crappiness, like the time my board blocked a paid family leave policy that the staff all supported and the entire sector is moving toward.

But how could boards not be crappy? We are talking about a structure where groups of volunteers who barely know one another, see one percent of the work, often don’t reflect the communities we serve, and who may have little to no experience running nonprofits, being given vast power to supervise leadership and determine values, policies, and practices. Why did we think this weird structure would work?

Read the full article about new nonprofit board models by Vu le at Nonprofit AF.

Boards and Governance is a complex topic, and others found these selections from the Impact Giving archive from Giving Compass to be good resources.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    The Dollar Effect: The Simple Solution to Tackling Nonprofit Problems

    Giving Compass' Take:  • Medium shares insight from tech company Symph, which provides solutions to the challenges that every nonprofit faces through a web app called The Dollar Effect. It allows donors to try out giving $1 to see how the system works before committing larger amounts. • For those concerned with both UX and financial transparency, this might be a good way for nonprofits of all sizes to engage with charitable constituents without devoting resources to a whole team of designers. · Read about increasing the nonprofit sector's effectiveness through culture, success measurements, and governance.  It’s always best to understand why donors give; showing donors why they matter and letting them know how they can help make a difference can easily be done especially with the internet nowadays. Plus, with an added creativity  —  getting your messages across can rightfully inspire the trust (and hearts) of people from around the world. But how far does it actually go? To the donation page hopefully. We initiated The Dollar Effect to also answer an often overlooked question: Why should I trust you(r online form)? It’s important to let donors understand the basics of how the online donation system works, but rarely would they bother to ask. It’s easily understandable if they have doubts about the forms. A good way to it is to let them try it out themselves without having to risk so much. The Dollar Effect initiative lets donors try out giving just a small amount (just a dollar!) to see how it goes  —  how the system works and where their dollar goes. It’s a good entry level to fully engage your donors as it gives your donors the opportunity to act right away. Read the full article about The Dollar Effect by Symph at Medium.

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