Building Your Board from the Ground Up Carmen Bogan The Bogan Group LLC

economic and other challenges. Selecting board members goes deeper than finding “impressive” people. It’s about finding people who can add the distinctive qualities needed to lead your organization ahead even given tough societal, political, economic and other challenges. It’s about finding people who See it, Get It, and Won’t Run from it.

Building the Board Members whose personal vision match the organization’s mission Bring expertise in key areas that the organization needs to support its functions and fulfill its mission Represent diverse skill sets, experience, cultures, etc.

Who are receptive and respectful of differences internally and in the community.

Evolution of a Board Form a new 501(c )(3) Incomplete, but have core people Beginning to work together to formulate ideas/plans/goals for organization Develop initial plans for building a full operating board Fully functional board – move the org forward Established/mature/inherited - refresh to avoid stagnation

Building the Board Celebrate And Refresh Identify Recruit Orient Cultivate Recruit Orient Engage Educate Evaluate Celebrate And Refresh

Step1: Identify type based on needs Take Stock of the current board - What is the current composition of our board? What characteristics, skills experiences and backgrounds do we need to move forward? What gaps do we need to fill? What are the priorities for identifying new members? What other attributes or qualities are important for new members to have? THE MATRIX

Steps 2 and 3: Cultivate and Recruit Identify individuals as potential board members. Begin the process of cultivating them – get them interested in your org. Recruit individuals who are a good fit. Dig deeper to find out whether they would be value added to the org. Make the ask of the “right” candidates

Steps 4 and 5: Orient and Engage Orient new members to the organization and to the board Engage all board members This is your team. Your engine. They are no longer candidates and board members. They now have to work together as a well-oiled Machine. Soooooo….

Steps 6 and 7 Educate and Evaluate Educate and develop the whole board. Provide information related to your mission. Hold retreats and involve members in addressing challenges. Promote exploration of issues facing the organization. Evaluate the board as a whole and members based on their Board Member Agreements

Barriers to Keeping Boards Involved Board too large. Not enough work. Board too small. Work is overwhelming. Members receive insufficient orientation. Agendas too weak. Members don’t feel well used. Little or no opportunity for discussion. Board lacks social glue. Stagnant Worksheet