A new class of board members is about to join your nonprofit team! Are you ready for them? Are you committed to investing in their experience so that it’s meaningful for them and of benefit to your organization? Or are you avoiding eye contact and hoping they just find their way?

If you want engaged, motivated nonprofit board members who are amazing ambassadors for your cause, it’s time to get serious about board development. This doesn’t happen by accident.

When I was the Executive Director at the Y, I learned this the hard way. I mean, I was nice to all my volunteers, but I just thought they knew what to do and would do it when it needed to be done. Oops. They were constantly asking questions, they stopped coming to meetings, they weren’t raising money, and I felt like I was always looking for new board members. That was no fun.

I finally figured out the big secret that saved us:

Most of the strategies we use to motivate and retain employees work for volunteers too!

Here are 4 ways to apply what we already know to improve our odds of successfully onboarding new nonprofit board members:

1. Orientation Plus – yes, new board members need to get the bylaws, see the financials, appreciate your history and mission, get a tour of your facilities, and embrace their fundraising role. AND – they need to fully understand your organizational culture so they have a strong foundation to build on. Are you talking about how decisions are made? What does a board meeting look like? Are there power dynamics to be aware of? (what would you want your employees to understand?). Be sure to conduct a professional, group orientation session but understand a learning curve is not conquered in one meeting.

2. Relationships – this is so critical and yet so overlooked! Your board is part of your work force (as are employees). They will work closely together so building relationships between board members will support their success. Do you have mentors for the new members? When do they get to socialize without a business agenda? I’d suggest having the board president meet with each new board member about 90 days into their first year and just get to know them. Think about how you can create opportunities for board members to become better acquainted.

3. Feedback loops – communication throughout this process is paramount. And in order for you to be effective at creating an environment that engages new members, you need to know what they think and value. Consider a mid-year check in, just for new board members, where you could buy them lunch and just ask a few questions about how their experience is going so far. Ask their mentors to share relevant information with the Board Development Committee. At the end of the year, a board satisfaction survey (do you conduct staff satisfaction surveys?) could be done to see where things stand. And then you’ll have a benchmark for future years to analyze trends and continuously improve the board experience.

4. Expand their experience – once they have their feet under them, extend opportunities to do more in the areas that interest them most. What skills do they want to learn? Do they want to lead a committee? Can they host an event at their home? Could they attend some crucial meeting in the community with you? (how do you develop your staff?) One day perhaps they can serve as a mentor.

Let’s remind ourselves what all the fuss is about.

When you have engaged and motivated nonprofit board members who show up, they are your best ambassadors! When they are in the community telling the story of your good work, that converts into great PR, it turns into money and the next thing you know, your board is the envy of the social sector. A professionally run organization with strong leadership wins every time.  If you get stuck, look at what you do with your staff.

What have you done to get your new board members off on the right foot so you don’t go nuts? Tell us below.

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