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The Education of a Young CEO (part 1 of an infinite series)

Feb 5th, 2010 by nhajra

by Neel Hajra, President/CEO

You are now CEO. Congrats, and good luck with that mountain. (thanks to

You are now CEO. Congrats, and good luck with that mountain.

It’s time to pass on a few lessons learned in hopes of empowering other up-and-coming leaders out there. I assumed the CEO role in the summer of 2008 after seven years of program and management work at NEW. The bulk of my experience was as Chief Operating Officer, so in some sense the conditions for a smooth CEO transition were ideal. However, in practice the learning curve (and decline of the economy!) has been steeper than I anticipated . So, without further dramatizing, here are just a few lessons learned, with more to come:

  • The chief executive role is DIFFERENT: I know what you’re thinking: “yeah, yeah, every role is different.” Actually, not really. I’ve done program work, development work, executive management, and served as a board member. I’ve worked in nonprofit and for-profit environments. NOTHING approximates the experience of being at the head of an organization: The pressures, challenges, and rewards combine in a way that can’t be replicated through other roles. So when you assume the top leadership position, you will experience a shock to your system.
  • No one cares as much as you do: This may sound like a knock on  everyone else, but actually it’s not at all. I am lucky to have an outstanding staff and strong board, plus a huge range of external resources that help NEW succeed. What I mean is that there’s only one person who can truly push forward an organization’s total agenda: you. You can (and should!) empower and entrust folks within and outside and organization to further your nonprofit’s mission. However, all the resources and allies in the world still won’t matter if you don’t push constantly to move things forward.  You will realize that all roads lead back to you, even when you don’t want them to.
  • Your good habits become bad ones: I realized very early on that habits I developed as a program manager and COO were actually counterproductive in the CEO role. Deep involvement in operations? Bad. A ‘to do’ list mentality? Bad. Sweating the small stuff? Bad. You will have to “unlearn” practices that helped make you successful in the first place.
  • Governance work is time-consuming: Despite watching my predecessor maintain a strong board of directors, I really didn’t appreciate how much time it takes to evolve, maintain, and engage a strong board. Executive management of the governance function is the “dark matter” of the nonprofit world – it’s there, but no one really appreciates just how much there is (even with an outstanding board chair). You will be surprised at just how much time it takes to maintain strong governance.

Well, I could go on and on, but we pay for blog posts by the word. Okay, not really… more to come soon!

Posted in By Neel Hajra, management | 1 Comment »

Tools for Smart Giving

Jan 11th, 2010 by nhajra

By Neel Hajra, President & CEO, Nonprofit Enterprise at Work

(Note – this post is a continuation of a series of posts initially published in AnnArbor.Com. Part 1 was “Why Give?” and Part 2 was “Supercharge Your Donation”)

Thanks to www.photos8.com

Thanks to www.photos8.com

If you’ve decided to donate your hard-earned money to nonprofits, good for you! Your support is needed now more than ever. Sometimes the harder question is where to to invest your charitable dollars. Local or national or international? What kind of cause? With 40,000+ nonprofits in Michigan and a million nationwide, the choices are many.

One way of cutting through the clutter is to think of your charitable giving as a portfolio of investment choices. Perhaps your charity portfolio is based on habit or personal connections, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, if you want a more strategic portfolio that really reflects your values, a little bit of homework and diligence goes a long way. To get started on your portfolio, I recommend CharityVillage.com’s nice checklist for choosing charities, or U.S. News & World Report’s user-friendly Giving Guide. If you’re looking for something closer to home, check out the Giving Wisely tips published by a coalition of Michigan nonprofit groups and the Michigan Attorney General’s office.

Once you’ve identified portfolio candidates, you have a range of online resources to help decide which investments are the smartest ones. The last thing I want to do is make your giving process more complicated, so I’ve ordered these tools from “simple” to “complex” – you can decide which ones are best for you:

  • Annual Reports (simple): Many nonprofits produce annual reports on their websites that summarize their program and financial activities for the past year. Use these to get a better sense of exactly how an organization would use your funds. If they don’t publish an annual report, sometimes the websites themselves might provide similar information.
  • Solicitation Licenses (simple): Many (but not all) nonprofits in Michigan are required to have a charitable solicitation license to ask for donations. The Michigan Attorney General’s office publishes a spreadsheet of charities that are currently licensed in Michigan – this doesn’t guarantee that a nonprofit is good, but it’s a quick and easy check on a nonprofit’s basic legitimacy
  • Boards of Directors (fairly simple): Every nonprofit is governed by a board of directors that is the ultimate authority for an organization’s activities. These boards are critical – in fact, many foundations that specialize in charitable giving assign very high importance to a board’s membership. A board roster should be available on a nonprofit’s website (and be very suspicious if it’s not!). Do board members appear to come from reputable organizations? Do they represent a cross-section of the communities they serve? Better yet, do you know someone on the board you could talk to?
  • Online Rating Systems (fairly simple): There are several online services that rate larger nonprofits. Keep in mind that these rating systems are highly controversial – each rely on different factors that may or may not tell the whole story.
  • CharityNavigator: The most well-known (and controversial) rating site, this service relies mostly on financial data from nonprofit tax returns.
  • BBB Wise Giving Alliance: Another popular service, this site provides evaluations of charities based on a set of best practice standards.
  • Givewell and American Institute of Philanthropy: Two more services that evaluate charities on a somewhat more holistic set of criteria.
  • Nonprofit Tax Returns (more complex): The Form 990 is an annual tax return that must be filed by all charitable nonprofits with income more than $25,000. If you have the time and desire to do a deep dive, go to Guidestar and look up a nonprofit’s Form 990. The Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York publishes an excellent walk-through for interpreting this complex document.
  • Audited Financials (very complex): If you’re REALLY serious about understanding a nonprofit’s financial activities, consider an organization’s audited financial statements. Larger nonprofits conduct independent audits every year in order to verify that their financial activities are accurate and compliant with regulations. These reports are extremely revealing, which is probably why surprisingly few nonprofits publish them online. If you can get your hands on one (online or by request), you can learn a lot about a nonprofit’s overall financial health, as well as how they spend their money.

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IS/CMF 2009 Conference: A group conversation with Geoffrey Canada

Nov 6th, 2009 by nhajra

by Neel Hajra, President & CEO

This goes toward my ailing 403(b)

This goes toward my ailing 403(b)

First, some fluff:

  • I asked the concierge to check with Lost & Found about my misplaced jacket. They couldn’t find the Lost & Found lady. So, do two losts make a found? (answer: yes – they found the jacket, but not the lady)
  • On the last night of the conference I joined a large contingent at Detroit’s MGM Grand Casino. The picture says 1,000 words.

Alright, on to the good stuff. On Thursday night Geoffrey Canada (of Harlem Children’s Zone fame) received the John W. Gardner Leadership Award. He proceeded to give one of the great acceptance speeches I’ve ever heard. Inspiring. Insightful. Hilarious. Real.

On Friday morning I had the opportunity to attend a follow-up, CEO-only group conversation with Mr. Canada. Amazing again, but in a totally different way. The conversation was much more about Geoffrey as a CEO, instead of Geoffrey as a visionary leader. Here’s a really high level summary of some of the topics that were discussed:

  • Scaling operations: Geoff felt strongly that one “must sacrifice perfection for scale.” He also noted that it’s a constant struggle to maintain culture among a large organization. A lot of his daily duties involve finding out “why someone didn’t do what he said he would do.” Scaling requires constant re-training and constant corrections in order to maintain mission. This NEVER ends.
  • Fundraising: Like most executives, Geoff hates fundraising. Isn’t it nice to know that even the greatest of the great fundraisers don’t necessarily like it??
  • Staff retention: Mr. Canada felt that executive management has to be very constant, with extremely low turnover. HCZ achieves this through many tools, including the use of annual and five year bonus plans. Salaried staff has to be fairly constant – about 15% annual turnover or less. He accepts high turnover among part time employees due to the nature of the work (hard!) and workforce (many first-time jobholders that might not be ready for the high standards of HCZ).
  • Working with Boards: Geoff worked to convert his inherited board into a fundraising board (through planned and natural turnover). The transition continued as HCZ went from a $5 million to $70 million annual operation over a decade – board members that couldn’t secure six or seven figure contributions were given the opportunity to step down (and did). He feels that the Board Chair is critical in showing leadership for a fundraising board.
  • Innovation: He noted briefly that fundraising was critical because “public money would never have allowed for the creation of the Harlem Children’s Zone.” It’s a profoundly important observation that the nonprofit sector generates innovations and impact that other sectors cannot.
  • Corporate Giving (and philanthropy in general): He takes foundations to task for expecting outsized results from “small philanthropy”. He notes that no one expects an undercapitalized for-profit to succeed, and yet that’s exactly what’s expected of most nonprofits. “The philanthropic community needs to step up!”
  • Succession: Great story – when Mr. Canada and his board chair were asked by an important funder what would happen if Geoff were hit by the proverbial bus, his board chair simply replied: “we’re F**ked”). That set into action some very deliberate succession planning, and some very interesting observations. In the for-profit world, companies simply pay a group of potential successors a ton of money to keep them from moving to other opportunities. Can’t do that in the nonprofit world! Instead, Geoff has set a specific timetable for his departure – by the time he turns 60 in a few years, he will have transitioned away from day-to-day operations. Also interesting is that his role will be replaced by several managers, each with certain deep expertise (e.g., finance, psychology, education, etc.). I also loved his characterization of typical succession: Executive Directors stay too long, which causes organizations to wane. So when a new E.D. comes along, every blames that person for the declining fortunes of the nonprofit, even though it started with the prior E.D.!
  • Planning and Implementation: The nonprofit sector has gotten much better at planning, but still is weak on implementation. HCZ relied on a seven year (!) business plan, developed with Bridgespan. A decade later, “90% of it was right”. The plan actually envisioned their stratospheric growth, including the fact that the cost of living adjustment in year 7 represented half of the total budget in year one!!! Geoff wanted to take that “absurd” number out, but was convinced that he had to leave it in if they truly wanted to achieve their vision.
  • Data Infrastructure: Mr. Canada was surprisingly passionate about a fairly boring subject: data collection and interpretation. He feels that it’s a critical part of the success of most nonprofits, yet foundations refuse to invest in this kind of infrastructure. Without it, there’s no true accountability to achieving mission.
  • Collaboration: He stated that most “nonprofits misunderstand deals that work.” On the for-profit side, there’s an immense amount of investment in understanding brand, market share, value, and many other considerations. Nonprofits don’t have the capacity to do this, but CAN improve their collaboration through transparency and clearly defined expected outcomes. He tied this back to accountability – if you can’t mutually define clear and measurable outcomes, the deal’s not worth doing.
  • Replication: The Obama administration plans to replicate HCZ in many other communities. This is the classic model of the nonprofit sector innovating, and the public sector providing capital for replication and sustainability. Geoff’s main concern is that the first 5-6 replications MUST succeed, otherwise everyone will lose faith in the potential for replicability. He said that the “biggest mistake” made by communities wanting to replicate HCZ is that “they don’t read our business plan.” The key is to have a strong business plan, and then “manage to it.”

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Posted in By Neel Hajra, governance, management | 2 Comments »

Independent Sector / CMF 2009 – the First 24 hours

Nov 5th, 2009 by nhajra

by Neel Hajra, President & CEO

24The full conference started about 24 hours ago, and I’ve been immersed in conference activities for about 19 of those hours. Whew. If you want a great, detailed rundown of the conference goings-ons, check out Rosetta Thurman’s wonderful perspective. I thought I would focus more on just a few of MANY emerging themes (with more to come). These are some of the topics that have recurred across many conversations and sessions:

Silo-Busting

Two esteemed leaders from the Obama administration spoke about busting government silos. Many speakers at the plenaries discussed the same need within the nonprofit sector and among nonprofits, for-profits, and government. Representatives from corporations and corporate foundations seemed to feel the same way. Isn’t it funny when everyone wants the same thing, and no one can achieve it?

There’s at least one explanation that came in the form of an awesome quote (gleaned during an under-45 convening of CEOs): “Everyone in this room is smart enough to know that we can’t trust each other.” Believe me, many other CEOs in the room nodded ther heads when this was stated. It wasn’t just a small-minded quote; the greater point was that the nonprofit sector itself incentivizes organizations to address self-interest above all. It’s how we’re recognized, it’s how we establish leverage and influence, and it’s how we’re funded. So the unanswered question arising from the silos issue is: is there enough trust among the nonprofit sector to truly break down the barriers between organizations and separate causes?

The Future Is Cloudy (with chance of rain)

Even the veterans in the room agree that the future for the sector and for society is more unclear than in the past. EVERYONE is discussing an uncertain future, and many are holding up the current period as one of the historic inflection points for U.S. society – what we do now will resonate for the next 50-100 years. Scary. Cool. Scary cool.

The So-Called Leadership Deficit

That Bridgespan work on the impending generational leadership deficit has been cited at least 5 times by panelists and presenters. It’s the notion that a huge population of Boomer leaders will be riding off into the sunset, with not enough leaders to replace them (particularly during the Gen X succession period). The end conclusion, that we have to do more to develop the next generation of nonprofit leaders, is admirable. But what’s interesting is that few young nonprofit professionals I’ve talked to actually agree with the deficit theory. I would sum up the perspectives this way:

  • Boomers see “their” nonprofit sector as the single way to achieving social benefit; later generations view the sector as one of many tools to do so
  • If Boomers built the sector without much guidance, are the rest of us really that ill-equipped to step up and figure it out once they move on?
  • If everyone is so concerned about the bloated nonprofit sector, is it such a bad thing that it will contract based on a shrinking population?

Lack of Mobility for Nonprofit Professionals

On a related note, there’s a lot of frustration among younger nonprofit leaders about the lack of upward mobility within their organizations or even among organizations. So, to summarize: There’s an impending leadership deficit. Rising leaders feel that there’s little or no upward mobility within the nonprofit sector. Epic disconnect!

Social Media is Really Great… Or Really Bad…

Boy, people are either in love with or torn up about new communications technologies such as online social media, mobile technologies, etc. This must be how it feels whenever a disruptive communication technology comes along. I wonder if the advent of the telephone created the same sort of excited angst? Email?

Okay, back to the fun, and more to come!

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Independent Sector / CMF Pre-Conference (Tuesday)

Nov 5th, 2009 by nhajra

by Neel Hajra, President & CEO
CEOs in CaptivityI’d like to start off by introducing a startlingly cool new technology call Presenter Cam. In a nutshell, it’s a picture… taken by a presenter (me)… of a bunch of CEOs chatting. Cool, huh? I’m hoping that this is the next disruptive thing in conference technology.

Alright, on to the Independent Sector / Council of Michigan Foundations 2009 Joint Annual Conference.

Pre-Conference (Tuesday)

There were a lot of separate tracks going on, and mine was really all about Next Generation Nonprofit Leadership.

Fellows Retreat

The afternoon started with a 3 hour NGen Fellows Retreat. The 12 of us got to know one another, and started conversations around what sort of project to take on for the next half year.

What I Learned: Leadership Deficit? What Leadership Deficit? Seriously, based on the other 11 Fellows in the room, I can honestly say that the nonprofit sector seems to be in good hands now and in the future. Sweet.

EPIP / YNPN Session

The Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy and the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network put together an outstanding large group discussion where young professionals and veterans alike talked about challenges and solutions for career development in the local nonprofit sector.

What I Learned: First, that there’s a need for a YNPN in the Detroit area, and I’m glad that it’s in the works. Second, that the idea of a ‘personal board’ is really compelling – an individual should convene an advisory group that can help him/her develop networks and a personal brand. I thought that was a cool way of looking at it.

NGen Speed Networking

The evening wrapped up with a very good speed networking event among NGen (under 40) participants. It was 3 minutes with one person, then on to the next. It was loud, it was boisterous, it was effective, and it was… loud.

What I Learned: Speed networking is a great tool to form some initial networks, which in turn empowers and emboldens young professionals at the main conference. Several people commented to me the next day that they enjoyed knowing people at the conference instead of feeling like being on the outside looking in. Conferences, take note: it’s fast, it’s easy, it works!

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Independent Sector / CMF Conference, DETROIT STYLE!!

Nov 3rd, 2009 by nhajra

D-Town, Baby!by Neel Hajra, President & CEO

Well, I’ve settled into my hotel room and am ready to immerse myself in the joint Independent Sector (national) / Council of Michigan Foundations (statewide) Conference. The view from the hotel room (on the right) sort of sums up our Detroit region – partly cloudy, partly sunny, with the view slightly obscured by a thin film of gunk.

Here’s what I’m looking to learn about and share at the conference:

  • The state of the emerging generation of nonprofit leaders, both through the conference’s extensive NGen series (see PDF) as well as a smaller group of NGen Fellows, of which I’m humbled to be a member.
  • The “State of the Nonprofit State” according to the foundation community. Hey, did I mention that this is the single largest convening of Michigan’s very significant foundation population? What are their priorities in Michigan? What’s their opinion on the current stress on our entire nonprofit ecosystem. How can we all partner to relieve this stress? And how does partnership with the for-profit and public sectors play into foundation thinking?
  • The trajectory of the nonprofit sector as a whole – I can think of no better convening to gauge this, and the “Futurelab” activities will be quite interesting (heck, you can go to the site yourself and add your voice!).
  • Re-connecting with a ton of local nonprofits to get a sense for current local challenges and issues, since NEW’s mission is to provide responsive solutions to these challenges.

And now, time for some totally useless missives:

  • Conference Fashionista: What to wear at conferences is always an interesting puzzle. Power suits? Trendy? Relaxed? I’ve decided to take a blended approach: Relaxed today for a retreat and networking, crisp and formal at the start of the main conference, slowly seguing to more casual (but still formal) attire as all 800+ of us become best buddies. Oh go ahead, roll your eyes, but I’m just saying out loud what most conference-goers are thinking! LOL!
  • Marriott Broadband is Old School (at best): No easy access wireless, $12/day charge for broadband, and the reference guide still warns of room charges when using my dial-up modem. Um, yeah, I think it’s time for a Marriott 2.0 revolution…
  • Detroit is Underrated: I hope that out-of-staters will form a more realistic picture of the Detroit region – it’s certainly embattled, but not nearly the war-torn moonscape that everyone else makes it out to be. A few days with the amazing local nonprofit sector should help move the ball.

First real report tonight!

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Why Nonprofits Are Selfish, and What Robert Egger Is Trying to Do About It

Oct 19th, 2009 by nhajra

Thanks to http://www.lumaxart.com/

Thanks to http://www.lumaxart.com/

by Neel Hajra, President/CEO

I first noticed Robert Egger and the DC Central Kitchen through his inspiring opinions on social enterprise as a form of liberation. This guy often speaks the truth (better success rate than most!), and always speaks truth to power (a rare trait, indeed!). Better yet, he’s a luminary who truly buys into the idea of empowering and enabling the next generation of nonprofit leaders – that rocks.

So it was really cool to meet and chat with Robert earlier this month prior to his speech at  MNA’s Nonprofit Day. He’s been leading the fight (via his V3 campaign) to help nonprofits find their collective voice and use it to make change. His words to a room full of nonprofits was really inspiring. Unfortunately,  the event also illustrated what an uphill battle Robert faces.

Right after his speech imploring nonprofits to unite, someone at my table said “I can’t believe that the DC Kitchen focuses on felons – after all, there  are so many people with medical challenges that deserve the same kind of attention.” She seriously didn’t see the irony of her statement. Not coincidentally, she works for a nonprofit that advocates for individuals with certain medical conditions.

This illustrates an embedded truth about the nonprofit sector that we all lose sight of sometimes. It’s all about private action for public good. Think about it: despite our collective efforts to improve society, the private nature of a nonprofit makes us each inherently selfish. It’s our blessing and curse. Throw in survival instinct, mission passion, organizational ego, and an economic crisis, and what you end up with is one heck of a fractured status quo. Plus, the power imbalance within the charitable sector (with hospitals, higher ed, and foundations on one side, and most of the rest on the other) makes a common voice even harder to find.

So total unity among nonprofits just won’t happen – that level of lockstep public good is better known as ” government” (which obviously comes with its own challenges!!). However, surely there are some common bonds that we can unite behind:

  • The value and power of the nonprofit sector as a whole
  • A place at the table along with government and for-profit businesses
  • Recognition of the true return on investment yielded by the so-called “charitable” sector

Robert, the nonprofit sector is pulling for you, except when it’s not – LOL!

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Posted in By Neel Hajra | 2 Comments »

The Nonprofit Leader: An endangered species, or evolution in action?

Sep 27th, 2009 by nhajra

by Neel Hajra, President/CEO

evolve

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmo/

The Meyer Foundation and CompassPoint issued a really interesting report based on a survey of 6,000+ “mostly younger” emerging nonprofit leaders. As with other bloggers, this report definitely resonated with me from a personal standpoint. It affirms the going wisdom that nonprofit leaders are overworked, underpaid, experiencing tremendous fundraising and other pressure, and likely to leave the sector within the next five years. The report brought up the much-cited red flag being waved by Bridgespan about the nonprofit leadership deficit as the Baby Boomers move on.

So this seals the deal that quality nonprofit leaders are an endangered species, right? Hmmmm, maybe not. To borrow from an environmental model, evolution is often a natural response to extinction pressures. Put differently, while the current model for nonprofits and nonprofit leadership might be in decline, it doesn’t mean that do-gooding organizations and leaders will decline. There are a few factors that I think might serve as counterpoints to some of the concerns raised in the Meyer/CompassPoint report:

  • Sector agnosticism is actually a good thing: Nonprofit leaders’ willingness to jump sectors is characterized as a threat to the nonprofit sector because it means more competition with the for-profit sector. I disagree for two reasons: (1) this same agnosticism also “afflicts” the for-profit side, and therefore it tremendously expands our talent pool, and (2) given the ongoing blurring of the sectors, choice of sector is becoming less relevant; social good is achieved in many ways.  Nonprofit and for-profit social entepreneurship is a growing trend, so we need to stop taking such a monolithic view of the nonprofit sector as THE source for social good.
  • Mission is our “killer app”: Never underestimate the power of mission – it will ALWAYS draw talented and passionate people, which leads us to…
  • The market will adjust/evolve: Assuming talented, passionate people are drawn to the nonprofit sector, these leaders (and those who want to attract them) will gradually redefine their roles so that nonprofit leadership remains sustainable. Maybe it means a smaller sector so that executives can be paid more. Maybe it means that this talent convinces funders to better value nonprofit work. Maybe it means a huge influx of for-profit types who carve out a new niche in the nonprofit sector. Maybe social enterprise slowly takes root to reduce fundraising pressures. There are a million “market” factors that, in combination, will evolve to ensure that good organizations with good missions will continue to attract good leadership.
  • It ain’t so rosy on the for-profit side either: Maybe my biggest gripe about this overall topic is the assumption that the picture is so much better on the for-profit side. It’s not. Yes, compensation is higher, but believe me, it’s just a trade of one set of pressures for another. Running a for-profit is usually an equally draining experience. Of course, better compensation makes for better retention, but let’s stop falling on our swords as nonprofit leaders by acknowledging that LEADERSHIP IS HARD, period.

Man, the results of the survey really do tell my (and many others’) story. I agree that we need to do more to offer a better “product” to emerging leaders. But when I think about the unstoppable passion and energy of the upcoming generations of leaders, there’s no question in my mind that they’ll find ways to use their powers for good. It’s just a question of how our institutional (nonprofit, for-profit, government) and civil society landscape will evolve to accommodate our social superheros. :)

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Posted in By Neel Hajra, Uncategorized, management | 3 Comments »

Downsizing? Well then, about that board of yours…

Aug 26th, 2009 by nhajra

by Neel Hajra, President/CEO

<div xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" about="http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsgalpert/2455566419/"><a rel="cc:attributionURL" href=

Thanks to Michael Galpert

A recent local survey showed that 40% of nonprofits in the area plan to downsize their staffs by the end of 2010. I’m sure this is reflective of national trends. Add in the fact that 40% of local organizations already downsized in 2009, and we’ve got a downsizing revolution on our hands! Weeeee, are we having fun yet?

There’s plenty of wisdom out there on downsizing staff, but why isn’t anyone talking about downsizing boards? (well, okay, a few are at least making passing mention).  Let’s debunk some of the reasons:

  • “Board Members Are Free”: No, they’re not. Boards take a lot of care and feeding (and if they don’t,  you have an engagement or “rubber stamp” problem). Unless you have a hands-on working board (i.e., one where trustees act as volunteer staff), a smaller board might help reduce the workload for a downsized staff.
  • “Boards Should Be Big”: No, they shouldn’t. Best practice advice varies, but many agree (including me) that a board larger than the teens usually takes you down the path of diminishing returns in terms of coordination, engagement, and responsiveness. In tough times, you want a board that’s as agile as your downsized staff.
  • “Feelings Will Be Hurt”: Yes, they will. Welcome to management. Are hurt feelings more important than good governance? Plus, maybe feelings won’t be hurt: a local nonprofit trustee recently commented on the tough economic times by saying “I didn’t sign up for this” – maybe some trustees would welcome an escape path!
  • “It’s a Way to Engage Important Community Members/Fundraisers”: Yes it is, but so are committees, task forces, advisory councils, and so on. It’s time we all stopped lumping together governance with other forms of volunteerism and advocacy – a great fundraiser or networker might be an ineffective board member.
  • “We Need These Trustees More Than Ever”: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Trustees may have been recruited for an expertise or function that’s not even relevant to your nonprofit any more. Just as you assess each staff person’s value to your organization’s mission, you should do the same with each trustee.

A quick and easy way to assess the need to shrink or grow your board is to do a Board Composition Analysis. These are often used for recruiting new board members, but can also be applied to a “right-sizing” (sorry, I couldn’t resist that cheesy term!). This analysis simply maps your board assets, and helps illuminate who really brings value to a board. For example:

Skills/Knowledge Trustee 1 Trustee 2 Trustee 3 Etc…
Accounting X X
Advertising
Admin/Management X
Etc…

(shameless plug: For $40 NEW offers a bundle of 120+ downloadable governance tools and documents, including a Composition Analysis template)

There’s no “one size fits all” approach when it comes to nonprofit boards, but let’s take off the blinders and include the board in the downsizing equation!

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