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Training and Orientation for New Board Members

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After meeting dozens of people who would like to serve on a nonprofit board, one thing they all have in common is their desire to do a great job as a board member. However, very few small nonprofit staffs have the expertise or personnel readily available to provide new board members with the tools needed to navigate through the web of policies and procedures they will encounter.

Why New Board Members Need Training

Most nonprofits are just happy to find a person interested enough to join the board—but to keep them engaged and feeling productive, it’s necessary to do some training. That’s because a new board member may have no idea of what needs to be done or how to do it. Even new members with prior board experience will need to learn the ins and outs of the particular nonprofit’s board operations.

How Orientation and Training Help New Board Members
 
Board orientation and training is therefore important for a member because it helps them learn how they can best serve as a professional asset to the nonprofit. These sessions provide new board members with the specific knowledge and resources to know how to execute their roles and responsibilities successfully.  Traditionally, the Board President and the CEO or Executive Director take the lead in instructing and familiarizing new members by discussing the board’s and nonprofit’s goals and priorities. Orientations also allow current board members to interact and share information about how the nonprofit and the board function together.

Steps to Board Orientation and Training
 
Ideally, a board needs to have a plan in place for orientation and a process for training new board members. Below are some guidelines, and Spokes members can visit the Resource Library page on our website to find a more complete listing.

  • Orientation should take place shortly after a new member is elected to the board, ideally before the new member’s first meeting, and should be conducted by the board chair along with the executive director and anyone else they think is appropriate.
  • New board members should be fully briefed on the activities of the nonprofit, the history of the organization and their strategic plan, and be given copies of prior board minutes, the articles of incorporation and bylaws in a New Board Member Orientation Manual customized to reflect the nonprofit’s administrative structure. 
  • A board agenda and any documents needed for their first meeting should be added into the New Member Board Orientation Manual.
  • Assign a current board member as a “buddy” to mentor a new board member, and ask the new member if they would like to join one of the board committees as well. Working with a smaller group on a specific project can help balance out the sometimes overwhelming number of issues a new board member must digest at the beginning of their term.

Resources for Board Orientation and Training

Spokes Members can find a more complete outline on their Member’s Online Resource Library page:
https://spokesfornonprofits.z2systems.com/np/signIn.do?target=%2Fpublicaccess%2FneonPage.do%3FpageId%3D1%26

Member General Resources Links:
https://www.spokesfornonprofits.org/services/nonprofit-resource-links/

Additional Information:

Board Orientation:
https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/board-orientation

Board Manual Template:
https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/industry-leadership/being-a-board-member/pubs/board-manual-template.doc


A Gold Mine of Grantmakers

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Are you struggling to find the grants you need? Imagine how convenient it would be to have a source of potential funding opportunities readily available right at your fingertips! The Foundation Directory Online (or the FDO), is a major benefit for Spokes members. This database features expanded profiles of more than 140,000 potential grantmakers offering at least 11 million types of grants valued at an estimated $250 billion.

Searching the internet to find grants relevant to your organization can be time consuming and tedious. That’s the value of the FDO, which offers multiple ways to quickly narrow your focus on finding compatible funders. A search on the FDO can result in a finely defined list of potential foundations with an interest in the specific areas of need for your organization. Tables and charts on the size, scope, and priorities of the foundation help you target your grant proposal for the best possibility of success.

Understanding the value of this database is important. Almost 75% of grantmakers do not have a website, making them difficult if not impossible to find. The FDO keeps an updated listing of foundations that have been verified, coded, and sorted by funding areas so members can quickly determine which ones are relevant for their business. 
 
The cost of a one-year membership with the FDO is $4,000, but Spokes members receive free access to the database in several ways. The FDO is available to individual members or organization members.

The most successful grants often come as the result of a personal connection with the granting organization. However, making a personal connection can be more challenging than writing a compelling narrative. Spokes Members can now connect grant research and personal relationships through LinkedIn, which will allow you to quickly and easily identify personal connections between you or your board members and key staff members of foundations and granting organizations. Spokes members can simply log onto FDO, select a foundation, view its profile, and click on the LinkedIn logo to see who in your network may know someone at the foundation.

In order to take full advantage of this new system, be sure to establish an organization profile on LinkedIn and connect each of your board members with it. That way, you’ll be able to immediately see any connections between your team and the grantmaker’s team.

Once you do find a connection, ask the connected board member to send an outreach letter to introduce your organization to the foundation. (This is a great strategy for reaching out to foundations that don’t accept uninvited grant applications, as well.) Find a sample outreach letter here.

Spokes Makes Marketing Easier

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Raising the visibility of your nonprofit organization can be a challenge, especially in San Luis Obispo County where there is plenty of competition from other nonprofits also looking to stand out. That’s why Spokes wants to find a few ways to make marketing easier for member nonprofits.

To be effective in promoting your organization, you need to establish a strategic purpose for each marketing tool you develop. For example, social media is extremely popular these days. Just like Spokes, many of our member nonprofits are using Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram to get in front of their target market. But just having a presence on these sites isn’t enough; you have to ask yourself “What’s my intended outcome” every time you take a marketing action.

For instance, how will posting on social media bring more attention to your organization? What action do you want to inspire any reader to take after reading your posting?  How can you make what you post relevant to the reader, so they can identify with something happening to your mission that is in the news or that will motivate the reader to support you through a donation? And how might this post relate to other articles that have already been posted on a particular site?

Breaking through the “busyness” of daily life to attain visibility in a crowded marketing world is an ongoing challenge.  There’s always another event to attend and only so many days and dollars for you and your supporters to expend. Focus on determining exactly who your supporters are, what they like, what moves them to give their money to your cause, and why they want to see you flourish. That means being clear and consistent in all of your messaging and making sure that your mission stays front and center. A nonprofit’s mission is the heart of what they do, so be very specific about your message and keep it in front of as many people as possible. Whether you engage in public speaking, write articles, or post on social media, make sure that your mission is distinctive and well-defined. 

Spokes is working on ways to benefit member organizations by helping them to increase their visibility. Here are some ideas for you to consider:

Nonprofit Opportunities Page: Many of our nonprofit organization members have asked Spokes to help get the word out about an opening on their Board of Directors, a job offer or an upcoming event. Check out our website’s new Nonprofit Opportunities page under the “Services” area. If you are a member of Spokes and have an announcement you would like to share, follow the directions on the page to send us the information to post. The information will be available to anyone browsing our website. Click here to view Spokes’ Opportunities Page on our website.

Organization Member Highlights: Is your nonprofit in the news? Are you making some dynamic changes or updates to your activities? Starting this week, Spokes will be highlighting exciting and important news about members in our bi-weekly newsletter.   

2019 Business Expo at the Expo Booth: Spokes will have a booth at the 2019 Business Expo at the Expo trade show on Wednesday, May 15, from 4-7 p.m., which is being held at the at the Alex Madonna Expo Center in San Luis Obispo. If you have spent time at this event in the past, then you know it can be an outstanding marketing opportunity for your nonprofit organization. With more than 120 exhibitors and thousands of members of the local business community in attendance, we want to offer Spokes members a chance to boost their visibility by joining us as a part of our booth. This will be Spokes’ first time as an exhibitor, and we are offering Spokes member organizations the opportunity to have one promotional piece, brochure, or event announcement displayed at our booth to be handed out to attendees. A contribution of $25 is asked for this opportunity and there will only be 20 available spots. Please contact Consuelo or Howard at the Spokes office (805-547-2244) if you are interested.

Here are a few resources for even more ideas for marketing your nonprofit:

5 Ways to Market Your Nonprofit: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-to-let-the-world-know-about-your-nonprofit-2502367

10 Marketing Lessons for All Nonprofits: https://www.classy.org/blog/10-marketing-lessons-for-all-nonprofits/

Volunteers: A Valuable Resource

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People who give of their time, skills and resources as a nonprofit volunteer provide invaluable resources to nonprofit organizations. Now is a great time to show your appreciation for your nonprofit volunteers during National Volunteer Week.

National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to celebrate the impact of volunteer service and the power of volunteers to tackle society’s greatest challenges, to build stronger communities and be a force that transforms the world. Each year, we shine a light on the people and causes that inspire us to serve, recognizing and thanking volunteers who lend their time, talent and voice to make a difference in their communities. (Points of Light https://www.pointsoflight.org/nvw/)

The actual value of the time spent by volunteers working in a nonprofit is not reported on IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ, so the exact economic impact of nonprofit volunteerism is unknown. However, a report on San Luis Obispo County nonprofits estimated volunteers provide more than 627,274 service hours annually, and that could be a very low estimate (Beacon Economics).

Additionally, volunteers help fill the gap for vital professional services when budgets are tight and more assistance is needed. Just as in for-profit companies, salaries are usually the highest line item in a nonprofit’s budget. Most nonprofits can’t afford to hire the amount of staff needed to adequately meet operational demands. In addition, some businesses may not have staff at all and depend solely on volunteer help to function. Being consistently short-staffed and overworked can cause burnout, resulting in employees leaving to seek work elsewhere. Hiring and retaining volunteers thus becomes a crucial component in building a successful nonprofit.

Here are a few tips to help nonprofits find and keep the essential volunteers they need.

  • Plan for volunteers before you reach out: There are endless reasons why a person chooses to volunteer. Some want to give back to the community, develop new skills or stay connected with others. Whatever the reason, plan for your volunteer the same way you plan for other staffing. Create a job description to clarify the needs of the organization. This helps create realistic expectations for the volunteer as well as for the organization. However, be flexible as a volunteer may not want to do all of the tasks you’ve outlined, or you might get a person with a totally different but essential skill set that you hadn’t anticipated.
  • Prepare to make a good first impression: Let everyone know when a new volunteer is coming so they can give him or her a warm welcome and the volunteer knows that their service is appreciated.  When setting the first appointment, be clear if you expect the person to start helping immediately or if this is just an initial interview. Have the volunteer application and information on the nonprofit ready to share with each applicant. Bringing in a volunteer is similar to bringing on a regular staff member—that is, treat everyone the same. For instance, if a background check is required for employees, then it should be required for volunteers as well.
  • Provide an onboarding training session: Having a first day onboarding session with a new volunteer is imperative to orient the person to the organization and for you to get to know them better. Be welcoming and positive so the person feels relaxed. Create a designated place to store belongings and to work, and provide and review information in your Volunteer Handbook together.

These few tips are just the start for working with volunteers, but getting off to a good start sets the tone for a successful relationship. To get more tips on working with volunteers, join Spokes for the following April workshops:

  • Preparing Your Agency for Volunteers, Tuesday, April 16, 9-10:30 a.m.
  • Keys to Keeping Quality volunteers: Volunteer Retention and Motivation, Tuesday April 23, 9-10:30 am.

See information below in the newsletter for more information on the workshops.

For Spokes members, go to your Online Resources Library in your membership area to find multiple resources for volunteer recruitment, management, and retention.

Other Resources:

2013 Central Coast Economic Forecast, Beacon Economics. www.Beaconecon.com

Top 10 Strategies for Retaining Volunteers that Actually Work: https://www.givegab.com/blog/top-10-strategies-for-retaining-volunteers-that-actually-work/

Nonprofit Board Governance

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Have you heard these statements?

  • “Nonprofit Boards of Directors must practice good governance.”
  • “The nonprofit is governed by its Board of Directors.”

The topic of nonprofit Board governance can be confusing, mostly because this important concept may not be fully understood. In general, governance brings together policies, systems and structures that provide support to Board members in making good decisions for the nonprofit according to expectations of the public trust.

Right there, you see that the topic can get confusing. It might help to know that governing a nonprofit is different from governing a for-profit organization. Nonprofits serve a public purpose without benefiting any particular individual. Therefore, the basic goal in governance for nonprofits focuses on protecting and furthering the mission of the nonprofit. However, the goal of a for-profit company is to generate income for the company, employee and shareholders.

Nonprofit boards are considered “Stewards of the Public Trust”, which signifies the general public trusts that a nonprofit is fulfilling its mission as stated to the IRS when it was granted exemption status as a nonprofit organization. The Board has three primary responsibilities: Duty of Care, Duty of Loyalty, and Duty of Obedience.

Duty of Care means the Board will make decisions with the same level of care as each member would for their own personal assets (even though board members have no personal assets in the nonprofit).

Duty of Loyalty means the Board puts the needs of the organization and the population that it serves above all other needs, especially the individual’s or group’s personal agenda.

Duty of Obedience means the Board will maintain compliance with all legal standards and regulations required for the exempt organization, including annual filings with state and federal agencies.  

A 2017 study on Boards of Directors showed that 56 percent of nonprofit Boards struggle with weak Board governance. As a result, approximately 52 percent of nonprofits are unable to expand their impact because of a weakness in strategic thinking such as developing a mission, strategy, impact evaluation, or insight by their Board.

What should be noted, however, is that these limitations are most likely not the fault of the Board members. Instead it’s more a matter of “you don’t know what you don’t know!” Without a doubt, those serving on a nonprofit Board have every intention of doing the right thing, making the right decisions, and being a good steward of the organization. But like coming into anything for the first time, Board members need to learn how to effectively govern a nonprofit and serve as a productive Board member. That takes information, training and dedication.

Spokes is always here to assist nonprofit Boards with the development of policies and procedures as well as providing an understanding of the legal and ethical responsibilities of the Board. Visit our website at https://www.spokesfornonprofits.org/services/just-for-board-members/ to learn more about the resources we have available to provide local nonprofit Boards with the management training, consulting and resources they need to better serve our community.

Resources about Nonprofit Board Governance:

Good Governance Policies for Nonprofits: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/good-governance-policies-nonprofits

Study: Most Nonprofits Lacking in Leadership, Management http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/study-nonprofits-lacking-leadership-management/

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