Executive Women in Nonprofits Shared Interest Group: Moving a Board Out of the Weeds and Into Leadership

By Denman Wall

On November 30, 2018, the Executive Women in Nonprofits (EWIN) Shared Interest Group (SIG) met at the delightful new headquarters of The Toy Association in midtown Manhattan. At the SIG, over a dozen very influential nonprofit women leaders discussed the many challenges of keeping a board thinking strategically and staying on-course vs. lingering in the minutia and distractions associated with smaller tasks, i.e., the weeds.

Leading the discussion entitled Moving a Board Out of the Weeds and Into Leadership, were Marsha S. Block, CAE, CEO of American Group Psychotherapy Association and Linda Ferm, CAE, President of Ferm Strategies and chair of the EWIN SIG.

During the roundtable introduction, some of the common challenges that were identified by attendees included:

  • Major gaps between a board’s attention and the organization’s program needs
  • Board members not “staying in their lane”; Not letting staff do their jobs
  • Boards that act more like committees instead of boards charged to lead
  • Boards that are too big or too small; How to upsize or downsize a board
  • Lack of Transparency
  • Passion and Commitment; lack of engagement due to term limits or other factors
Brenda Thompson The EWIN SIG brought together leaders in the association community.

In creating a framework for defining a path forward, Mrs. Ferm provided an overview that describes how nonprofit boards traditionally experience five distinct phases in their lifecycle and how each cycle manifests a different approach to the kind of board involvement:

Phase 1 – Board members tend to be engaged in nearly every detail out of necessity as there is typically no governance structure or staff defined.

Phase 2 – The organization is starting to grow, and the board is dealing with membership and volunteerism growth concerns as well as fundraising issues.

Phase 3 – The organization is starting to mature even more and is starting to require a CEO and/or staffing to stay viable. In addition, more committees start to ramp up, requiring board members to become leaders.

Phase 4 – Disengagement between the board and its members emerges. Organizations start to look for members who are in their early career to carry the organization forward.

Phase 5 – There is an aging board. The organization is generally mature and has a voice in the community it serves. This phase also sees a decline in membership, mergers between organizations, and an organization altering its mission either by expanding it or morphing into a different org with a new name.

With the framework for moving ahead defined, Ms. Block shared some of her proven methods and lessons learned during her 30+ year tenure overseeing three organizations. The best practices she shared included some of the following tactics:

  • Providing mentoring and guidance on-boarding as board representatives take up their seat
  • Ensuring extensive board preparation, particularly the Executive Committee
  • Being extremely organized to set board members up for success
  • Scripted reports for board meetings, particularly for the board chairs/president and treasurers
  • Regular board retreats and taking leaders through leadership training and team-building
  • Ensuring the conducting of Board Exit Interviews by the Nominating Committee
  • Most importantly, nurturing friendships between the C-Level and board members

This last point was echoed by the attendees, who all shared similar experiences. According to Ms. Block, “When you have their back, they have yours…It’s all about your relationship…”

In all, the SIG was a well-enjoyed, engaging discussion (all the attendees participated) about an important leadership topic that most board-driven organizations face.

Be on the lookout for the next EWIN SIG, taking place on January 11.

Denman Wall is Sr. Director, Interactive Services at Dolci Interactive and the Editor of InView Newsletter.