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August 15, 2008

Tips on Recruiting New Board Members

Many charities struggle to recruit the right board members and get them involved in fund raising.

They can take a lesson from Carol Weisman, a St. Louis consultant. In addition to her work advising charity boards to improve their fund-raising and other skills, Ms. Weisman has recruited many trustees herself.

Ms. Weisman says she once filled the board of a new nonprofit organization that fights child sexual abuse with the help of her manicurist. The manicurist and her three partners all agreed to wear a lapel pin at work that said, “Ask me how I can stop child sexual abuse.”

Because so many influential people in town visited the shop, Ms. Weisman says that she quickly recruited 17 new members from the people who expressed an interest in the pins.

A common mistake people make in trying to recruit new board members is “to assume No means No forever,” she says. “What I do is ask, ‘Are you not interested today or forever?’”

Ms. Weisman says she is asking that question a lot in her current effort to transform the board of a local group that works to preserve hiking trails and other recreational spaces. So far, Ms. Weisman says, she has recruited two new board members in the last two months.

“I have a list of 15 high-powered individuals on my list,” she says. “I ask if I can call them next year, and I make sure that a board member invites them to an event as a guest. I tell them I am going to do that.”

— Holly Hall

Friday August 15, 2008 | Permalink

Comments

1. Although many highly qualified candidates are in fact interested in helping to advance great organizations, the most desirable candidates are concerned about getting bogged down on boards that are time-wasters. Boards can make themselves more attractive to the right people by focusing their attention on taking the organization to the next level and expecting each board member to participate productively and generously. www.korngoldconsulting.com

   — Alice Korngold    Aug 18, 04:04 PM    #

2. And let’s not forget to ask those 15 high-powered people on the list to suggest others they know that might not otherwise be on the organization’s radar screen, but who might be perfect for the organization.

   Terrie Temkin
   CoreStrategies for Nonprofits

   — Terrie Temkin    Aug 18, 04:59 PM    #

3. I have worked with Carol Weisman in a number of settings and her advice here is—as it has always been— spot on! Many organizations do not communicate effectively with their current and potential volunteers, including their Boards, about expectations, challenges and opportunities. Then once recruited, don’t stop! Keep that two-way comminucation going, and don’t make the assumption that having been told once, these facts will stay at top of mind or that they will be constant…more likely things will be in a state of perennial evolution.

   — Schuyler Gott Andrews    Aug 19, 01:07 PM    #

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