Tough Time Finding Board Members?

A recent comment from Kim in an earlier post rasies the issue of the difficulty some not-for-profit organizations have finding people to serve on the Board. Coincidentally, I am currently working with an association Board who cites that same problem. But here is what I found:

• the Board spends no time on Board renewal - in other words, no work is done in the field to promote Board service and the benefits that accrue to those who volunteer (i.e. developing governance and leadership skills).
• the Board has not examined the way they conduct their business to see if changes could be made to make the time commitment and workload required of Board members more managable (i.e. by establishing Board committees, or using technology to communicate and make decisions through, for example, teleconferencing).
• the Board has no strategic plan (although that is now in process) that contains a compelling vision that inspires members and increases their interest in contributing to the future of their association.

To those association Boards who find themselves in a constant battle to find "warm bodies" to serve as Board members, I say this: spend time at your next Board meeting asking yourselves why this is so. The status quo is not your only option. The amount of success a Board has finding competent and committed Board members is often tied to the amount of time the Board spends on Board successsion planning.

Every Board should establish a policy that compels the Board Chair to conduct an exit interview with every parting Board member to find out why they no longer wish to serve and how their experience as a Board member could have been improved. The results of those interviews should be shared with the entire Board - they will fuel this very important discussion on an ongoing basis.