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Charity
Channel
Board Resource Committee:
How to Get Rid
of Your Nominating Committee
by Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
President/CEO
CAPITAL
VENTURE
SM
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One of the best pieces of advice
for any nonprofit organization is to get rid of
your Nominating Committee. For most organizations,
the Nominating Committee has two primary functions:
to fill vacant Board seats and to elect officers
of the Board. In most case, this committee is an
ad hoc committee appointed by the President or Chair
a few months before terms are due to expire. Often
by the time the Board Chair appoints a Nominating
Committee, most of the Board members are busy with
other committees and the nominating task seems to
fall to someone who has not been tremendously involved
in other Board work. As a result, those selected
for the Nominating Committee may not be the best
and brightest of the Board members. The attitude
is sometimes, “Well, how much harm can they
do on a Nominating Committee?” The answer
is “A lot!”
Instead of a Nominating Committee, one recommended
approach is to have a year round Board Resource
Committee. This committee can also be called the
Governance Committee or the Committee on Directorship.
Whatever the title, the important things to remember
about this committee are:
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- It should meet year round;
- It needs to be chaired by the strongest
person on the Board;
- Its duties include doing an assessment
of Board performance, both the board as a whole and
individual Board members;
- It is responsible for developing
or refining Board position descriptions;
- It evaluates the needs of the Board
and develops a profile of the kinds of people that
are needed to fill vacancies on the Board;
- It works with the Board to help
find the right people to fill Board positions;
- It assures diversity on the Board;
- It implements, along with senior
staff members of the organization, Board orientation;
- It is responsible for ongoing education
of the Board.
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Board Resource Committee is perhaps the most important
committee of the Board, not an afterthought. This committee,
once in place, should first complete a grid analyzing
current strengths and weaknesses of the Board. Board members
should be listed, according to the years their terms expire,
and diversity indicators listed—ethnicity, gender,
geographic location etc. Skills, talents and areas of
special expertise should also be listed, along with giving
ability and contacts with various groups such as media,
funders, and government agencies. Once this grid is complete,
the committee can then determine where there are gaps
in Board diversity, skills and abilities. A profile can
then be developed for recruitment of new Board members.
The committee then takes the results of their assessment
to the full Board and asks for names to be considered
for nomination to the Board. Individual Board members
should never haphazardly, or on their own, recruit new
Board members. Names and resumes are given to the Board
Resource Committee for consideration. No one should ever
be approached with an automatic assumption that they will
be invited to serve on the Board, but rather that their
name is being considered by the Board Resource Committee.
The Board Resource Committee then arranges a meeting with
the prospective Board member, and the Executive Director
should be included in this meeting. Board position descriptions
are shared with the prospective Board members and expectations
of both the organization and the prospective Board member
discussed. Once the Board Resource Committee feels they
have a slate of candidates to present, names are then
brought to the full Board for approval. Once the new Board
members are elected by the Board, the Board Resource Committee
contacts the new Board members, inviting them to join
the Board and attend their first Board meeting. The Committee
is also responsible for providing orientation for new
Board members. This committee also makes recommendations
for Board officers to be presented to the full Board for
election. And, the same thoughtful process that goes into
recruiting new Board members should go into the Board
officer selection.
It is important, however, that the Board Resource Committee
meets on a year round basis and evaluates any problem
issues that may arise with the Board as a whole or with
individual Board members. Ongoing Board education is also
a responsibility of this committee and can greatly improve
the effectiveness of the Board. As an example, this committee
might arrange for case workers to make presentations at
a aboard meeting of a human service agency. Or the curator
of fine arts might provide education for museum Board
members. The Board Resource Committee should evaluate
the needs for Board education and work with the Executive
Director to provide the appropriate educational segments
at board meetings or retreats.
A Board Resource Committee, working thoughtfully, diligently
and on an ongoing basis can make all the difference in
the world between an effective, enthused, and inspired
Board and a lackadaisical Board that does not understand
its role in advancing the organization's mission. |
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