1. Your mission is your lighthouse (a beacon in the fog)

Clearly express your agency’s reason for being and make it pervasive in your organization before you look for people who can help achieve long-term goals. (Placing your mission on all board agendas reminds members where to focus their efforts and votes).

2. Anticipate board turn over – well before the AGM

Define your agency’s succession strategy, including identification of suitable candidates, script for inviting potential nominees, interview process, selection criteria and who is responsible for ensuring the plan is accomplished.

3. Articulate the agency’s culture

Determine and explain the culture of your organization. What stage is the agency at in its life span? What’s the ‘tone at the top’? Communicate your philosophy on governance, board code of conduct and how it’s monitored, orientation for new members, availability of training, conflict of interest policy, board/staff relationship, how the board will be evaluated, and how stewardship of donors and funds will be fulfilled.

4. Know your priorities

Conduct a needs assessment to identify what your agency’s priorities are for the next one to three years. What type of leaders will you need to achieve your goals?

5. Identify gaps

Assess the skills and experience of your existing board – do you have a lot of dedicated ‘service-providing’ individuals who may be weak in leadership and management? Target individuals who have the ability to fill the gaps (e.g.) in fundraising, marketing. Make sure there is a broad representation of abilities, ages, gender, cultural diversity, connections and talents on your board.

6. Go beyond ‘the pulse’

Good prospective board members have more than a heart beat! Use the same tools for board identification you would for identifying possible donors:

• Linkage (there is a personal contact),
• Ability (the individual has the time and financial means if you expect board donations),
• Interest (you know enough about the prospect to know what’s needed to attract them to your cause).

7. Define tasks

Have written job descriptions for all board positions and use them with prospective board members (include fundraising if it’s a requirement). By defining your expectations (responsibilities, terms of office, time commitment, benefits, evaluation measures) prior to recruitment, the individual can accept (or refuse) with full knowledge of those expectations. Success cannot be measured until benchmarks for achievement have been communicated!

8. Know where to find suitable candidates

Solicit nominations and applications from your community. Consider individuals who have served on hospital, university or United Way boards for future recruitment. They may need a rest between board positions but they will be well oriented in roles and responsibilities (particularly fundraising). Alternatively, gather well-connected people (who, you suspect, wouldn’t join your board) for a ‘one-meeting nominating committee’. Inform them of your mission and invite them to suggest friends or colleagues who could be suitable members. Your fundraising or resource development committee is a wonderful place to ‘audition’ future board members. Finally, donors may be a useful source (provided their skills match your needs) – and you won’t have to convince them to contribute.

9. Be selective

Interview prospective individuals before inviting them to join. Here are some questions to consider: “What do you see as the board’s role in this organization?” “What do you feel is the board’s role in fundraising?” “What leadership role might you assume over the next three year period?” “What motivates you?” “What would you like out of membership on this board?”

10. Learn from your experience and strive to improve the process

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your recruitment strategy. Ask for feedback from new members and recruiters to determine if the message received matched the one that was sent. Revisit job descriptions to be sure that the information they contain is accurate.

Based on a presentation to the Multi-Level Fundraisers Group of the Greater Toronto Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives, February 8, 2000. For more information, call Cynthia Armour at (705) 799-0636; write to Elderstone Resource Development, 726 Wilson Line, Cavan, Ontario, L0A 1C0; or contact her by eMail at elderstone@sympatico.ca.