By Kerri L. Mollard, founder and CEO of Mollard Consulting
We often say that the single most important relationship in any nonprofit organization is the relationship between the board and its chief executive, and the second most important relationship is among board members themselves.
When these relationships are collegial and based on trust, candor, and respect, then the board is operating in constructive partnership –– with the chief executive and with each other. And when that happens, organizations can achieve all that they intend (performance) and amplify their outcomes (impact).
Cultivating Constructive Partnership
Building a constructive board-staff partnership is not a ‘one-and-done’ task. It requires cultivation and maintenance over time and through organizational and leadership changes. BoardSource recommends several practices to sustain this healthy state, including “thoughtful reflection on performance.”
Thoughtful reflection on performance can be formal or informal, and can include:
A board self-assessment prior to an annual retreat.
A personal self-assessment board members complete before beginning a new term.
An annual chief executive performance review.
A ‘year-in-review’ board meeting discussion to reflect on achievements and learnings.
A ‘year-ahead’ board meeting discussion to set goals and determine priorities.
Retrospective sessions to review events and large programs.
Auditor presentations to the finance committee and full board.
Program participation, satisfaction, and assessment findings.
Dashboards, scorecards, outcomes reports, and other metrics to understand impact.
Casual conversations over lunch, between board meetings, or in committees that allow for reflection and insights rather than constantly pressing ahead to what’s next.
Boards who create the time and space for thoughtful reflection on performance strengthen the constructive partnership, cultivate data-driven decision making, and improve governance.
These formal and informal activities, while critically important, do not always happen. Why? Capacity.
Making Time is Difficult, But Worth It
Five years after the pandemic began, nonprofit organizations are still meeting unprecedented levels of demand –– and they are doing so while understaffed, with disengaged boards, flat or frozen funding, and economic and political headwinds that are far beyond their control.
It can be maddening to nonprofit chief executives. There is never enough time, people, or money to do all that needs to be done.
But, if we make time to thoughtfully reflect on performance, the data will tell a story.
According to Leading with Intent, the BoardSource Index of Nonprofit Board Practices (2021), boards who regularly assess their performance rate themselves higher across all areas of board performance, which include setting the organization’s strategic direction, financial oversight, and level of commitment and involvement. Additionally, boards who have a strong knowledge of an organization’s programs are more strategic, more engaged, and raise more money.
Still, high-performing nonprofits are not the same as high-impact nonprofits.
We refer to an article written by Sean Stannard-Stockton and published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review that clearly articulates the difference:
“A high-performance nonprofit is a very well run organization. It has outstanding leadership, clear goals, an ethic of monitoring its activity to be sure its programs are effective, and it is financially healthy.
A high-impact nonprofit is one whose efforts have been proven to cause sustainable, positive change.
Impact can be seen only in retrospect. Often many years later. Performance can be directly observed.”
What data is your organization tracking? Do you have insight on performance and impact?
Collecting, analyzing, and reporting on data should not be onerous –– it should be easily codified into board and organizational operations. Software such as SureImpact makes it easier to achieve this, but it can start with simple moments of reflection, too.
Your Role as a Board Member
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” – Peter Drucker
The board’s roles and responsibilities, per BoardSource, are listed below.
Determine mission and purpose, advocate for them.
Select the chief executive.
Support and evaluate the chief executive.
Ensure effective planning.
Monitor and strengthen programs and services.
Ensure adequate financial resources.
Protect assets and provide financial oversight.
Build and sustain a competent board.
Ensure legal and ethical integrity.
Enhance the organization’s public standing.
Monitoring and strengthening programs and services (role and responsibility number five) can sometimes surprise boards. “Aren’t we supposed to stay ‘out of the weeds’ of daily operations?” they often ask. Yes, you are, but “monitoring and strengthening” is not “doing.”
It is critical that boards know whether the mission is being fulfilled, intended outcomes are being achieved, priorities and strategic direction are aligned, and the right people are employed or engaged in board service.
If your organization does not have formal and informal reflections, how can your leaders answer these questions?
At your next board meeting, we encourage you to pose this question:
A year from now, if the board could only review one data point, what would be the single most important measure of the organization’s success?
Let every board member answer anonymously and then compare notes. There may be tremendous alignment or differences in opinion, but either way, we promise it will be a meaningful discussion.
Send us a note about what that “one measure” would be. We’d love to hear from you and to see the diversity of responses.
As you think about the nonprofit organization(s) that you serve, follow the examples and questions posed here. Your ability to add capacity and encourage thoughtful reflection on performance will have a profound impact that will be seen (and felt) for years to come.
Kerri L. Mollard, founder and CEO of Mollard Consulting, can be reached at 614-484-1600 or kerri@mollardconsulting.com.
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