Soapbox Engage Blog

Your nonprofit needs a strong infrastructure and internal culture to move with full force toward your goals. You might have a dedicated base of staff and volunteers who are eager to push forward your initiatives, but what about your board members?

Your board can play a significant role in your nonprofit’s success, but if they aren’t engaged and excited about your mission, it’s easy for their talents and connections to go unused. As a result, you might be leaving pivotal fundraising opportunities on the table.

If you’re struggling with board engagement, use these best practices to reinvigorate your board members and connect them to your greater purpose. With your board members’ full support, you’ll be able to operate your nonprofit much more effectively and take your mission to new heights.

1. Conduct a board self-evaluation annually.
2. Host more productive board meetings.
3. Engage board members in a variety of activities.
4. Match board members to roles that suit their skills and interests.
5. Show impact through frequent progress updates on key initiatives.
6. Thank your board members often.

1. Conduct a board self-evaluation annually.

General board disengagement happens from time to time. For instance, board members might feel less engaged right after a major campaign or following the busy year-end giving season. These instances are natural and typically fixed through time or a few schedule adjustments.

However, if you notice ongoing disengagement, your board would benefit from taking a step back and evaluating your individual members’ performance. This way, you can better understand the issues affecting membership engagement.

Follow these steps to reset your board:

1. Conduct an annual board self-evaluation. This will allow board members to provide feedback about group dynamics, infrastructure and committee work, as well as their own engagement level and what’s holding them back.
2. Use evaluation feedback to create a plan for improving board engagement. Work with board leadership to reflect on the board evaluation results and drive necessary changes to existing policies and procedures. Create a bold action plan that will allow your board to boost engagement and more effectively meet team-wide goals.
3. Implement and track new strategies to assess success. Put the governance committee in charge of implementing the plan and tracking progress toward your goals.

Work closely with your board’s leadership team and a dedicated nonprofit consultant to ensure your plan is successful. Nonprofit consultants can provide a third-party, neutral perspective to help accurately diagnose your board’s needs and opportunities. Plus, they can act as an accountability partner to help facilitate ongoing change.

Review Aly Sterling Philanthropy’s guide to the top fundraising consultants to explore top firms and find the right partner to fit your goals. When your board needs a major overhaul or wake-up call to its procedures or operations, this type of revamp can help your board members feel more connected to your mission and prepared to address your nonprofit’s challenges.

2. Host more productive board meetings.

Meetings allow board members to align on key decisions and establish each individual’s responsibilities. Organized and effective meetings give your board members a clear idea of what they can be doing between meetings to support your organization.

Use the following tips for more effective in-person meetings:

Choose a quiet, central place to meet.

Ensure the meeting space allows board members to speak face-to-face, whether in-person or virtually. It should also have any technology accommodations you’ll need to lead presentations.

Provide each board member with a printed copy of the agenda and supporting resources.

This gives board members something to reference and keeps the conversation on track throughout the meeting. Ensure that any resources relevant to the discussion, like your fundraising calendar, are readily available to reference.

Keep the meetings concise and effective by sticking to the agenda.

Keep team members’ attention and stay within the allotted meeting time by staying on-topic. You can always address spontaneous discussion items at the end of the meeting if you have additional time or in an email follow-up.

If you’re planning to host board member meetings hybrid or remotely, keep these tips in mind:

• Use a secure video conferencing platform. Choose a video meeting platform that allows you to share important documents without fear of mishandling this crucial data.
• Set video meeting etiquette guidelines. Ask board members to tune in from a quiet place with minimal distractions, such as an office or library meeting room. Also, ask board members to mute their microphones when they’re not speaking.
• Train board members on using the platform so everyone can participate. Provide guidelines for how board members can use the video platform’s tools to participate in the discussion. This might include virtually “raising a hand” or leaving comments in the chat.

Whether you’re meeting in person or remotely, leave time in your meeting for board members to ask questions so that everyone is clear and aligned on their next steps. You’ll also want to assign a point person to take notes and record them in a living resource library where anyone can refer back to them in the future.

3. Engage board members in a variety of activities.

Board members can easily feel disengaged or disconnected from your organization if their participation is limited primarily to attending meetings. Get members out of the board room and encourage them to interact with your other team members by involving them in:

• Communications and outreach: This might involve sharing petitions and information on social media, sending emails to family and friends or speaking in front of a crowd about the importance of your mission.
• Donor cultivation and stewardship: Board members can play a key role in your fundraising strategy by leveraging their networks to cultivate new supporters and meeting one-on-one with prospective major donors.
• Mission-experience opportunities: Provide opportunities for your board members to participate in the mission. It will boost their sense of camaraderie and remind them why they got involved in the first place.

Brainstorm different opportunities that will not only connect your board to your mission but also help foster more productive working relationships. For instance, you might find that some of your veteran board members are interested in mentoring new members or staff on your team. Then, you can set up a mentorship program to help team members get to know each other better and support a positive work environment.

4. Match board members to roles that suit their skills and interests.

Every board member brings a unique set of skills to the table. That’s the benefit of having a diverse board— each individual offers talents that complement the others’. However, board members can feel a disconnect if they’re taking on roles or responsibilities that don’t align with their skills and interests.

To correct this misalignment, survey board members to learn about their skills, their passions and where they think they can make the biggest impact on your mission. Then, take steps to ensure each board member has the opportunity to take on responsibilities that play to their strengths.

These roles could be:

• Stewarding strong major donor relationships with one-on-one meetings
• Engaging with corporate partners
• Spreading awareness through social media
• Providing support to your finance committee, such as financial planning or overseeing endowments
• Overseeing board governance and recruiting
• Mentoring staff
• Volunteering with the mission

When board members feel comfortable and confident in their roles, they’ll be able to make more effective contributions and feel greater satisfaction and enjoyment from their positions. This can boost their investment and overall engagement in your board’s operations.

5. Show impact through frequent progress updates.

Just like donors and volunteers, board members want to know how their efforts or contributions make a difference. Share this impact by keeping your board members tapped into relevant progress updates for key projects or initiatives.

For instance, perhaps your board has been engaged in the process of hiring a fundraising consultant. After your board members approve a certain consultant, provide continuous updates on how your organization’s fundraising efforts have grown with the consultant’s help.

Or, maybe your board worked on adjusting your organization’s fundraising strategy to direct more funding to your volunteer program. Highlight the strides you’ve been able to make with your program because of the increased funding. Regularly filling your board in about your organization's activities and progress will lead to a stronger sense of ownership over their roles.

6. Thank your board members often.

Board members will feel more inspired to do their best work when they are acknowledged for their contributions. By expressing gratitude to these dedicated individuals, you show how much your organization values their continued engagement.

eCardWidget’s guide to board member appreciation recommends the following:

• Ask your nonprofit’s team or community members to deliver notes or eCards thanking board members for their hard work.
• Host a casual appreciation event at a local restaurant.
• Film a thank-you video with a well-known leader of your nonprofit.

You don’t have to say thank you with a big gesture each time— board members will feel acknowledged and appreciated with simple, recurring gratitude messages.

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Your nonprofit’s board members are essential to your long-term success. When your board is engaged, it sets the tone for the rest of your team to be able to complete tasks efficiently and effectively. Remember, you can always partner with an expert consultant to reset your team, align your board members with your overarching goals and promote accountability.