We are thinking of styling our board more like a corporate board, with specific portfolios that reflect our key areas of strategic growth: three from diverse community constituencies; three for their prowess or leveraging ability in terms of fundraising; and three with specific areas of expertise related to our growth; and three who are very focused on governance responsibilities. Are there any models that help define categories like this and board responsibilities that utilize the specific skills that each person brings to the mix?
It’s great that you’re thinking strategically about the knowledge and skills you want represented in your board members. So many nonprofits fall short of thinking about whom to recruit and end up with boards who are less useful in terms of meeting the organization’s goals. That said, you’ll find that life doesn’t quite provide candidates in the proportions that you lay out. And you need more than one attribute per board member. All should have a passion for the work your organization does. All should make financial support a priority, even the ones coming from constituencies. They may not be able to match the dollars of the average board member, but they need to be giving at a “sacrificial” level.
Your mission and your by-laws can serve as a guide for the categories. The mission should talk about what you’re doing and with whom you’re doing it. The by-laws will describe standing committees, so you’ll need people with specific skills to do a great job in the committee work. If you create standing committees on 1) oversight for the programs you provide, 2) development, 3) strategic planning, and 4) finance and governance, then you'll have good matches for the four categories you listed.
I’m not aware of a source that would help you define the categories. You might find some models in books about high-functioning boards. But you’re off to a pretty good start already, and I’d just go ahead and execute your concept. By the way, I tend to favor a few more board members with development skills and a few less in the other three categories. For most nonprofits, it’s challenging to raise funds, and if you’re going to have a little imbalance, better to have it in development than to have too many people with financial expertise (unless you’re broke and the board’s focus is on getting out of hock).
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