By Alison Stein Wellner and Sandy Asirvatham

Q. We have been successful at recruiting young, entrepreneurial, passionate board members. They are bringing energy, new ideas, and financial resources to our charity. However, they lack experience in the nonprofit environment, and we are experiencing culture clashes. (For instance, one trustee, a venture capitalist, wants to lower staff pay and institute a bonus system -- he believes workers can only be motivated by money.) Can you direct me to a book or other resource I could share with these board members as part of their orientation?

A. To get the most out of younger board members, it's important to remember that a one-size-fits-all approach won't do, says Kenneth Fischer, president of the University Musical Society, an organization affiliated with the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor that supports local performing-arts groups. Over the past five years, his organization has stepped up efforts to recruit younger board members, he says, and now counts five members younger than 40 on its board of 34.

The secret to success, Mr. Fischer says, is to get to know the young trustees as individuals -- assess their skills, interests, abilities, and limitations, including time constraints. Although the best time to take their measure is when they are being recruited, he says, it's important to keep in touch with them as time goes on. As their circumstances change, he says, you need to make sure that the tasks you're asking board members to perform continue to be appropriate.

It's also important to remember why you've recruited younger board members in the first place. It's part of the University Musical Society's mission to reach Ann Arbor's younger residents, and so it seemed like a natural choice to put one of the organization's younger board members in charge of the major annual fund-raising event, says Mr. Fischer.

"The event was successful from a fund-raising perspective, but just as significant from our standpoint was the number of, and the quality of, people that she brought to the organization through participation in the committee, people that now can become active in our organization as audience members and donors," he says. So, if you've recruited young trustees for their energy and ideas, it might be best to steer them toward tasks where those assets can be most helpful.

To learn more about board management, your best bet is to go to BoardSource's Web site and look for the resources the organization offers. Check out two BoardSource products in particular: The Board Building Cycle: Nine Steps to Finding, Recruiting, and Engaging Nonprofit Board Members, by Sandra R. Hughes, Berit M. Lakey, and Marla J. Bobowick (2000, $27 for BoardSource members, $36 for nonmembers), and Building a Successful Team: A Video Guide to Nonprofit Board Development, (2002, $46.50 for members, $62 for nonmembers). If you become a BoardSource member, for $139 per year, you'll also have access to the organization's chat rooms, online bulletin boards, and e-mail advice from consultants, which may give you still more ideas.

You can also learn more about preparing new board members in this Philanthropy Careers story from last year.