How to be an Excellent Board Member

Local nonprofits need and want trained Board members who understand their responsibilities in nonprofit governance and how to support their nonprofit Executive Director. Our annual survey of nonprofit member organizations shows how paramount the desire for effective and well-informed board members truly is. Every nonprofit organization needs a Board of Directors and with the large amount of nonprofits in San Luis Obispo County, that means many community volunteers are needed to serve on nonprofit boards.

A 2018 Nonprofit Board Leaderships Study by Korngold Consulting, LLC and IMPACT 2040 found that business professionals that serve on a nonprofit board of directors “listen more carefully to different viewpoints, create more inclusive teams, and make more inclusive hiring and promotion decisions.” Comments from participants in the research noted that working with people from diverse backgrounds helped participants learn to solve problems by working together through healthy debate. Additional benefits are the board participants become more confident, better leaders, who are able to accept more responsibility and feel better qualified for promotion (McClimon, 2019). 
 
Serving on a board is important, but being a board member that brings excellence to the position is another step. In 2018, Spokes created a new signature program to respond to the need of San Luis Obispo County nonprofits for more trained Board members. The Board Academy is the first intensive board training for nonprofits on in San Luis Obispo County. The first academy was held in October, 2018 with 17 participants representing 12 different nonprofits.

The next Board Academy will be held on Saturday, March 23 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at Spokes. Lunch and snacks will be served and each participant will receive a binder of materials to take back and share with their board. You can expand your knowledge and be a board member of excellence by participating in the Board Academy. Register here.

Seven topics pertinent to the education of all nonprofit board members will be covered including an overview of the nonprofit sector nationally to locally, financial management and fiduciary responsibilities, insurance and risk management, legal and ethical responsibility of the Board, governance issues, board and executive Director interactions and fundamentals of fundraising. 
 
Resources: 

Beacon Economics (2013) Central Coast Economic Forecast. McClimon, T.J. (2019) Nonprofit Board Service Builds More Effective Business Leaders https://www.forbes.com/sites/timothyjmcclimon/2019/01/14/nonprofit-board-service-builds-more-effective-business-leaders/#22b7384c31a9

 
Takagi, G. (2009) Number of Directors – What’s the Best Practice? Nonprofit Law Blog.  http://www.nonprofitlawblog.com/number-of-directors-whats-the-best-practice/