Small Business

Let’s Get It Right!
Realigning nonprofits starts with the board

by Sandra J. Gaillard
Since, my return to Milwaukee from Atlanta a little less than two years, I have witnessed the struggle in my community for organizations just to keep the doors open.

Given the state of our community, we need each and every opportunity to help our community help themselves.

My life mission is "to serve." Part of that mission was for me to present to you "Let’s Get It Right!" Any beautiful flower or fruit-bearing tree in abundance has healthy strong roots. The roots of your organizations must be a mission-driven board. Your board is the foundation of your organization. If your foundation leaks, it will eventually cause the organizational roof to crumble.

In truth, nonprofit management is hard work. You have got to be committed and you have got to be organized.

Like any organization, nonprofits are faced with the issues of cronyism and politics on boards; a subject I will tackle in this article. It appears to be very intrinsic in this town. People are busy scratching each other’s and have lost touch with the mission of the organization.

A board of directors is a body of individuals who govern the organization. To govern, the board must maintain the mission and make sure the organization is financially sound. The board should consist of a Chair or President, treasure and secretary. To operate you must have at least these positions that are functional. If you are a larger organization you probably have a Vice Chair or President and Standing Committees. The Board assures meetings are held on a regular basis as specified in the by-laws of your organization. Well-trained board members understand the need for accurate minutes, records, and financial reports not to mention your records are public information and should be accessible. The boards make the over-all decisions decide the direction the organization. They are liable for the actions of the organization. It is important to inquire if a board has insurance before deciding to participate. Boards need to understand they are responsible for the financial well-being of the organization. That means they need to be actively seeking and attracting financial resources and money to the organization. In short, the board is like the head on your body. If your head is aching the body is probably not functioning.

Dysfunctional boards

Boards become dysfunctional when they lose sight of the mission. If your board has lost sight, I can assure you, the ship will surely sink. Dysfunctional boards can be perfectly disastrous for a well meaning organization. I define dysfunctional as the following:

o If your board has become so political the organization is stagnant.

o A group of members are secretly meeting to form a coup.

They show up only to vote someone out. They can’t come together on any one thing. They fight, they stalemate, they argue, waste valuable time, nothing gets accomplished.

o Personality clashes arise. People start siding up. The meeting becomes a serious fighting match.

What was a wonderful mission becomes the mission from hell. Who suffers? The community and the people who use the service.

o Board members in name only. It is real sad to drop a name to a funder with the intent to gain a little credibility for the organization. But when the potential funder contacts the person who lent his or her name, that person can’t remember who you are or what you do. "What is the organization?" says the person contacted, unable to remember if they gave their permission to use their name or not.

If people are not working on your board and you are just using their name, it would be in your best interests to leave the name on the advisory committee’s rolls or get rid of the name all together.

o You know the board member from hell? When things do not go a certain way for this person, boy, they can jack some stuff up, what I call having a "fire in the gallery."

The person who doesn’t get his or her way begins to bad mouth the organization, putting its business in the streets. Nine times out of ten the information the person is putting out there is invalid. They haven’t participated in the process or attended any meetings.

Stay clear of this personality type. They waste your time and you get nothing done.

o Then you have "chatter boxes" who have absolutely no interest in the organization. To them it is "social hour." The board meeting is nothing more than a place to hang-out.

They don’t commit to any work, they are non-productive, they waste your time. Chase them away. You have work to do, people to serve, and not enough services--or money--to go around.

o Then you have "The Over-loaded Board Member" He takes on multiple tasks that he or she may or may not be able to complete (due to having so much on his plate already). They may very well have good intentions or, just simply want something to be in control of, yet not willing to share the responsibility for the task with others.

The best thing to do with "The Over-loaded Board Member" is identify the personality type first and give him or her a specific task. If they don’t complete the one task and do it well, send him or her on their way.

o There is "Big Mouth Board Member." This person is consistently off task. They are always late and loves to exercise their maximum voice capacity on issues you have discussed and decided on three months ago.

They come with a personal agenda about how the organization should operate but they haven’t attended any meetings. They are angry because the board decided not to hire a family member or relative, or because the meetings are boring or they don’t like the agenda process. They think it should be a free-for-all, so they talk out of turn.

Like the "Board Member From Hell," the Big Mouth Board Member likes to disrupt things. They only think of themselves and usually makes everything personal--about themselves. These types of individuals need to be removed from your board immediately.

Board members tampering with line staff. Micromanaging anyone! What is that! If you have hire staff, trust they will perform the task. They really don’t need Board members breathing over their shoulders. If you employ competent people, trust the work will be done. Back off, get back to your day job. Considered this, if you truly are a member and working on the Board issues pulling in resources, you certainly don’t have time to be tampering with the staff. If you decided to volunteer with line staff remember they have their work.

Remember, Board members who show up without completing their task have a major impact on the organization. Incomplete work equates to poor services offer to the community. Empty promises build nothing. The truth, Boards are hard work. They must have the time and be committed to the mission of the organization or simply don’t serve.

If you relate to any of the above it is time to revisit the mission of your organization. It may be time to retrain and refocus. In most cases dysfunctional Boards carry a tremendous amount of dead weight. Drop it or it will destroy, and mangle a perfectly well meaning mission driven organization. Your house can not be in order if your roof is on fire.

Mission Driven Boards (Functional Boards)

Well serving Boards are committed and mission driven. The organization has come together on a general consensus of what that mission means, and how they will operate to make it happen. Yes Folks, they are on the same page. They strategically meet with an agenda, stay on task in support and over all good of the organization. Once your Board comes together behind the mission there is nothing as a body that Board can not achieve. Your Board should be operating with a short and long-term strategic plan. A strategic plan is a guide to let you know if you are on task. These plans need to be tweaked from time to time. But that is ok, the bigger picture is accountability, who does what and when to make it happen. It keeps the whole of the organization moving forward.

I am concerned about the shrinking services provided for my people. I am concerned about the quality of those services. We deserve information and the opportunity to act on the platform of knowledge. As you know, knowledge is a lethal weapon and I trust that you will use it wisely. Until next time.

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The course will be held on Wednesday, July 25 at Tri-City National Bank, 6767 W. Greenfield Ave. Second Floor in West Allis, from 6-p.m.