5 Core Beliefs of Every Great Nonprofit Board Member

Hey, it's Joan. So I'm just not going to lie. It's hard to be a board member. It's a really hard job to get right. I've been on a board so I know something about this.

Many board members have full-time jobs, and they try to navigate being a successful board member with being successful in their careers with managing their home lives — it's a lot. We put a lot on them.

So I want to offer you five core beliefs that I think make a terrific board member, and I want you to be thinking about these beliefs if you are on a nominations committee, if you're an executive director and you're navigating and meeting and networking with people. I want you to think about this if you're a current board member. Do you have these? And I want you to think about this if you are shopping for a board and think you might want to join a nonprofit board.

So, it begins with deep legit passion for the mission — that's not even one of the five. If you're not there, that's a non-starter. So here are the five:

You have to believe, number one, that board service is a privilege and an honor. That's what will make you go the extra mile.

Number two, you need to believe that the needs of the organization always come first — not your interest in a particular program or your interest in a particular geography, or whatever that blank, blank, blank is...

The needs of the organization come first, you come into that boardroom wearing your organizational hat, not any other hat.

Number three, you have to believe that you're there to contribute in a way that's meaningful to the organization. This is a tough one because sometimes you come thinking, you know what I really have to contribute is X... but what the board really demands of you is something different. Maybe it's that and something else. You have to be receptive to what the needs of the organization are and contribute in a way that's meaningful to the organization.

The next one is you need to believe that there are two views and you've got to balance them: the today view and the long haul view. You need to balance the needs of what the organization demands from you today, but you can't let that impede your ability to think big, to be bold, to have an appetite for what greater impact could look like. Both of those have to be held in the same board member.

And number five (best for last) you have to believe that it's your job to share your passion for this organization, with anyone and everyone. I have a client whose wife said to him, do you have to talk about the organization to the woman at the checkout counter? And Chris says, well, you know, I guess I don't, but her son wants to join one of our summer camp programs...

Right? You have to leave a board meeting like so filled, so ignited to want to tell people about this organization, to invite them, to give them the opportunity to be engaged with an organization that means so much to you; that from which you derive so much meaning and purpose.

You have to believe that you're in the invitation business. So, board service is a privilege. The needs of the organization come first. You have to believe that you're there to contribute in a way that's meaningful to the organization. You have to believe that you're there to balance both the current needs with an appetite for innovation and greater growth and impact.

And, you have to arrive believing you are there to share the good news about this organization because you have derived so much meaning and purpose from your connection to it. I think you can do that.

A high-functioning board is a real game-changer for your nonprofit.

In fact, there is no way you or your org can thrive without one.

Join me for a free online workshop that will show you exactly how to build the high-functioning board of your dreams!

You will also get access to some valuable bonus tools that will help you design your board with intention so you can build the board your org really, really needs to make a HUGE impact.