Are You Recruiting the Board Members You Need Or, the Ones You Deserve?
Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So, we’ll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent guardian. The Dark Knight
-Commissioner James Gordon at the end of the Dark Knight
Anyone who knows me in more than a peripheral sense, knows I’m a Batman Geek. Over the past whatever number of years I’ve been writing stuff, I conveniently try to shoehorn Batman-esque metaphors into my writing; Rocky and James Bond too but we’ll deal with that another day. This quote has haunted me for the past 16 years since this wonderful, and just a bit too long, movie came out. I think it’s because it’s so hard to fully parse out the meaning! Regardless, there have been countless times where I felt like there might be a parallel with what I was writing about and so, I led off a post by highlighting it. Here I go again.
What exactly does Commissioner Gordon mean? What is this delicate dance between what you need right now and what you deserve? This almost makes my brain hurt. Can this idea, whatever exactly it is, apply to people, organizations and other entities? I guess so since here, he’s talking about Gotham, a large semi-real/semi-fictional City.
So this is where our story really begins. I’ll start with the question that got me thinking about this: Is your organization recruiting the board members it needs or those it deserves — and really wants? I’m loving this question as it has me thinking back over my two decades plus in the nonprofit sector. Long ago in a time long forgotten, nonprofits sprang up with the simple intention of either solving a problem and/or doing good things that the for-profit sector or government decided wasn’t their thing (think museums, libraries, the preservation of natural green spaces).
Anyway, over the years, and I’ll age myself and give the classic “back when I started out”, charitable work was looked at differently. When asking an individual or institution for financial support, the whole pitch was about helping for no other reason than just being a good person or if a company, being a good corporate citizen. Really. Not much more than that.
The nonprofit sector has truly evolved in just the past two decades. Now the well intentioned people who start the nonprofits know that to survive, they’ll need to raise lots of money until someone ingeniously figures out another way to do it. To raise this money, they’ll need to talk about their logic model, ability to scale and replicate and ensure a high and very measurable social return to investors. To name just a few things.
All good, right?
Well mostly. I have no problem with any of the above and in fact, in most ways, I think this positive evolution and to get a bit Darwinian, does ensure survival of the fittest (and most impactful of course!) At the same time, I can’t help but think and even question whether this push for true impact and a more ROI-like return hasn’t perhaps poisoned the well just a bit.
Here’s why: I’ve lost count on the number of times where I saw a nonprofit client’s eyes dance with joy when talking to candidates for a board role when they threw in those cool big-business terms like measurable metrics of success, ROI, replication and scalability. And that was the conversation. In some of those same conversations, what’s gone missing is a discussion of connection to the cause, passion for mission and um, just general caring.
The idea for me sharing this came about as I recently had a conversation with an Executive Director of a mentoring organization. They were struggling with the decision of whether to bring on a recent board candidate. This candidate said all the right things: She had played a lead role in bringing several businesses to scale. This senior level marketing executive also had multiple corporate contacts. And she was well known for her cost-cutting acumen that had helped turn several businesses from loss leaders to high ROI enterprises. Add to this that she checked all the boxes when it came to the 3T’s of board participation: no problems with the time commitment, an easy breezy yes to the give and get and as noted (treasure), off the chart talent. Yet, something was missing.
When probing for a true connection to the work of the nonprofit, the candidate simply said “I like what you do and would be happy to be involved.” Not necessarily a bad answer. But not my favorite. The individual happened to live in a uniquely positioned community where schools within miles of her were actually being served by the organization. Whether she realized it or not, friends and connections of hers were actually supporting this organization by both volunteering for it and donating to it. Yet, no connection that she could speak of.
What would you do?
Here’s what I suggest when it comes to recruiting board members that have BOTH passion for your mission and the skills and understanding of what’s necessary for a nonprofit to thrive in today’s competitive environment:
Be idealistic: If you’re working or volunteering in the nonprofit sector, I’m going to guess you have some level of idealism. You believe the world could be just a little, or maybe even a whole lot better. Stay true to that idea. And know to carry it out, you’ll need board members who have both. You, your organization and your work deserve it!
Be picky: Well, selective might be the nicer word but really, choose wisely. Hiring and recruiting get compared to dating a lot. And it makes sense. It’s a dance where both sides are trying to show their best selves and then slowly reveal the more challenging elements of the package. Recognize you’re going to have to kiss some frogs. Do so and realize that the frogs turn into princes only in fairly tales, not once they join your board.
Be patient: I know I’m kind of saying the same thing here (as the first two) but it’s worth stating in a slightly different way. Take the time to recruit and build the board your organziation’s important work deserves. Don’t settle for just accepting the board members you need to be better structured and sustainable. Get the ones that will go at it with passion, purpose and perseverance.
