Time and Money

Time is not money. We all have exactly the same amount of time—twenty‐four hours every day. But we have vastly unequal amounts of money. Time is a nonrenewable resource—when a day is gone, you cannot get it back. Money is a renewable resource. You earn it, spend it, and earn more. Further, you cannot go to the telephone company and ask to volunteer your time in order to pay your phone bill. You cannot pay your staff or buy your office supplies with your time. People are rarely anxious about asking someone for their time, but most people are quite reluctant to ask someone for their money, even though for many people, time is the more precious resource. In trainings, Kim often uses this example: “If a board member is assigned to call three people and tell them about a meeting on Wednesday night, they will do it. If two people can come to the meeting and one can't, the board member does not take this personally and feel like a failure. However, if this same board member is assigned to ask these same three people for $100 each, they will probably have to go to a training in how to ask for money before being comfortable carrying out that assignment.” Kim has conducted thousands of trainings in how to ask for money, but has never been asked to lead a training on how to ask for time.

Comparing time and money is like comparing apples and asphalt. We waste the time of our creative volunteers when we don't have enough money, and we waste the money of our donors when we don't use volunteers appropriately. Board members must understand that contributions of time and money are very different, although equally important, parts of their role. People who want to give only one or the other are valuable to an organization, but are not suitable to be board members.

The Role of Paid Staff

Paid staff have specific roles in fundraising: to help plan fundraising strategies; coordinate fundraising activities; keep records; take care of routine fundraising tasks such as renewal appeals; and assist board members by writing letters for them, forming fundraising plans with them, accompanying them to solicitation meetings, and so on. Generally, fundraising staff handle most or all of the process of approaching foundations or government entities for funding, and they provide the backup needed for others in the organization to do effective fundraising. The executive director and the development director need to be comfortable asking for money in person, and they need to set an example for the board and volunteers. Remember that success in fundraising means growing your base of donors. That involves developing and deepening relationships with your supporters. It is impossible for a small staff to maintain all donor relationships. Even if it were possible, it would be very unwise. Just as it is foolish for an organization to depend on one or two sources of funding, it is equally unwise for it to depend on one or two people to fundraise and preserve donor relationships.

The final reason for all board members to participate in fundraising is to ensure that the work is evenly shared. Fundraising is rarely anyone's favorite task, so it is important that each board member knows that the other members are doing their share. If some members do all the fundraising while others are involved in evaluating programs or discussing policy questions, resentments are bound to arise. The same resentments will surface if some board members give money and others don't. Those who give may feel that their donations buy them out of some work or that their money entitles them to more power. Those who do not give money may feel that they do all the work or that those who give money have more power. When board members know that everyone is making a personally significant financial contribution and giving their best effort to fundraising according to their abilities, the board will function most smoothly and members will be more willing to take on fundraising tasks.

Our Board Members Don't Have Any Money

Social change organizations correctly want diverse boards—with members who represent their constituencies and most likely cross class and race lines. We understandably want to nurture new and younger leaders, and we want to give people a chance to serve on our boards who may not have served on a board before. If we have a truly diverse board, it will include people who live on very little money. They may work one or more minimum‐wage jobs, or their only income may come from Social Security, or they may be paying down large student debt, or experiencing any number of financial hardships. It is easy to say of these people, “They can't give because they don't have any money.” However, the fact is that no one doesn't have any money. To be a donor means to give something more than nothing. Hence, giving one penny makes someone a donor. Board members may not be able to afford $100 or $1,000, but no one can't afford $1.00. In fact, the evidence is very clear that poor people give away money, often at much higher percentages of their income than their wealthier counterparts. Unless they are in the 30% of the adult population who don't give at all, your board members who don't give your organization money are giving money somewhere else—perhaps to their religious affiliation or to their children's school. Board members don't need to know how much each of the others gives, they simply need to know, “We have reached 100% in giving. It adds up to $5,943, so we have $87,000 left to raise.”

Too Much Is Expected of Board Members

Small nonprofit organizations use volunteers to augment paid staff. The smaller the organization, the more responsibility volunteers will have, becoming more and more like paid staff. To a certain point this is fine. But there comes a time when board members are taking on much more work than they had agreed to. When board members find themselves attending three or four meetings each month and spending hours reading and answering email related to their board work, or spending a lot of time on the telephone on behalf of the organization, they begin to dread hearing from anyone in the organization and to count the days until their term is up.

This dynamic can be changed or averted altogether by adhering to the following principles:

• Board members should understand that they can say no to tasks that go beyond their original commitment.
• Staff and board members should ensure that tasks given to the board have a clear beginning and end. Thus, when additional work is essential, board members should be assured that extra meetings will not continue for more than a month or two, and that once that task is accomplished they will not be asked to do more than the minimum for a few months.
• A careful eye should be kept on what the whole board does with its time. Board members (particularly the executive or steering committee) should ask, “Are all these meetings necessary? Can one person do what two have been assigned to do, or can two people do what four have committed to do?” Consider holding some meetings virtually and doing routine business by email.
• Boards should not be asked to make decisions or take on tasks for which they are unqualified. Sometimes consultants need to be brought in to make recommendations, or the board needs to be trained to handle tasks related to management and fundraising.

Individual Board Members Feel Overworked

Even if the board is attentive to the time limitations of board members, some members may feel overworked either because they were given the wrong impression of the amount of work involved beyond attending regular board meetings, or because they are already overcommitted in the rest of their lives. In the latter case, they cannot completely fulfill the expectations of any part of their lives, so they feel overworked even while not doing very much for the organization. A clear and precise job description or statement of agreement will help with this problem.

A tip: Don't try to talk anyone into being on the board. When you ask people to serve on the board, tell them why they would be a good addition to the board and what you would expect from them. If their response is less than enthusiastic, let them go. We would not offer a job to someone who said, “I don't know if I have the time.” A board role is a job—and it needs to be approached as such.

The Board Avoids Making Decisions

In this instance, board members never seem to have enough information to commit themselves to a course of action; they continually refer items back to committees or to staff for further discussion and research. This problem is generally the result of inadequate board leadership. The board chair or president must set an example of decisiveness. This person needs to point out that the board can never know all the factors surrounding a decision yet must act even if factors are changing on a daily or weekly basis.

The person facilitating a meeting should always establish time limits for each item on the agenda. Close to the end of the time allotted for an item, the chair should say, “We are almost at the end of time for discussion on this item. What are the suggestions for a decision?” If the chair or facilitator of the meeting does not take this role, individual board members should take it on themselves to call for a time limit on discussion and a deadline for a decision.

Very few decisions are irrevocable. Decisions can be modified, expanded, or scrapped altogether once they are made and put into action if they are not working out.

Decisions Are Made, Then Forgotten

When this shortcoming arises, the board both fails to implement its decisions and ends up discussing the same issue again in a few months or years. Further, board members feel that they are not taking themselves seriously and that their work is for nothing. Three methods can be used to avoid this problem. One method is to appoint a member to keep track of decisions and remind the board of them. The secretary of the board can serve this function, or someone designated as board “historian.” A second, complementary method is for decisions from board meetings (distinct from meeting minutes) to be kept in a notebook or a protected webpage, such as within Google Docs, that can be easily accessed when setting meeting agendas or even during a meeting. The decisions can be categorized and indexed so that they can be easily found. The chair and executive committee should review decisions frequently.

Finally, each board member should read and keep a copy of the minutes of every board meeting. Don't rush through the process of approving minutes, particularly if they are recording anything that was contentious. At board meetings, the board chair or secretary should ask members questions such as, “Rob, can I make sure I captured your amendment accurately?” or “Mary, can you make sure that I got all the budget modifications?” The board members then know they might be called on to review parts of the minutes and so will be more likely to read them thoroughly.

There Is No Accountability

Of all the problems that plague boards, this is the most serious. It's often the case that board members have thoroughly discussed their responsibilities, solemnly signed their board agreements, enthusiastically endorsed the mission and goals of the organization, and then, one after another, don't do what they said they would do—and nothing happened.

Board members are like any group of human beings—classes, families, workplaces, etc. Let's say in your workplace you have a rule that everyone must clean up after themselves. But consistently, predictably, Gary does not. People see him leave dishes and cups in the sink. At the staff meeting, people indirectly call attention to the problem: “Someone has been leaving dishes in the sink,” or “I am tired of doing other people's dishes,” with meaningful glances in Gary's direction. Behind his back, people say, “Can you believe him? I can't believe his wife/partner/mother puts up with this at home.” But no one ever says, “Gary, are these your dishes? Can you please wash them?” Before long, other people will start leaving their dishes in the sink and Gary will not be the only culprit. Ditto board members. June says she will get all the food donated from her cousin's store, but doesn't, leaving the organization to have to buy food for their event. Ravi says he will ask five people to renew their donations, but he doesn't, leaving the staff to ask the donors to renew. Daiyu, who always does what she says, notices that June and Ravi are still on the board and, except for some grumbling about them, nothing is said directly to them, and nothing happens. So pretty soon Daiyu isn't fulfilling her commitments either.

Accountability on a board is actually a very simple thing to put in place: when people say they will do something, their commitment is written down, someone reminds them to do it (reminding people of their tasks is a task), and they are thanked when they finish it and praised in front of the board. If, after one or two reminders, the job is still not done, the board chair or someone else on the board calls and asks, “What happened? What could have been done differently? What would have allowed you to do your work?” And when a person establishes a pattern of saying they will do something and not doing it, the board chair meets with the person privately and asks whether they really want to be on the board. Accountability is not to punish anyone but instead to ensure that the work of the group gets done, in part by rewarding people who do what they say they will do and by surrounding them with other reliable people.

If you set a tone of expecting people to keep their commitments, being appreciative, and making sure work is divided relatively evenly, you won't have to have very many difficult conversations.

Recruiting Board Members Willing to Help with Fundraising

There is a common belief that a board should have “movers and shakers” on it. Bank presidents, successful business people, politicians, corporate executives, and the like are thought to be people with power and connections to money, making them ideal board members. An organization needs to define who are the “movers and shakers” for its work. Many of the people perceived to be most powerful in a community would be terrible board members, even if they would agree to serve, because they would have neither the passion nor the interest in serving the organization. There are hundreds of successful organizations whose board members are neither rich nor famous and who have no access to the traditional elite, but whose connections are exactly what the organization needs. Belief in the mission of the organization and willingness to do the work required are of far greater importance than being part of the traditional power elite or being wealthy.

First and foremost, board members and new recruits must understand, appreciate, and desire to further the goals and objectives of the organization. Enthusiasm, commitment, and a willingness to work are the primary qualifications. Everything else required of a board member can be learned, and the skills needed can be brought to the board by a wide variety of people and taught to others on the board.

Prospective board members are found among friends and acquaintances of current board members, staff members, former board and staff members, and current donors and clients. Ideally, a prospective board member is someone who already gives time and money to the organization.

The chair of the board should send an email to each prospective board member asking the person if they are interested in serving on the board and giving a few details of what that would mean. The email should ask for an appointment to discuss the invitation in detail. Even if the prospect is a friend of a board or staff member or is a longtime volunteer, a formal invitation will convey that being on this board is an important responsibility and a serious commitment and that it is a privilege to be invited. Whoever knows the board prospect can follow up by talking to the person about being on the board. If no one knows the prospect, two people from the board should see the person. If the prospective board member does not have time to meet and discuss the board commitment, this is a clue that they will not have time to serve and should be removed from the list of prospects. It is particularly important to discuss the amount of time board participation requires as well as the expectations of board members in the area of fundraising. Do not make the board commitment sound easier than it is. It is better for a person to join the board and discover that it is not as much work as they originally thought than to find that it is much more work and resent having had the commitment misrepresented.

The Orientation

After a person has accepted nomination to the board and been elected, a current board member should be assigned to act as the new person's “buddy.” The current board member should bring the new board member to the first meeting, meet with him or her (perhaps for lunch or dinner) once a month for the first two or three months, and be available to answer questions or discuss any issues regarding board functioning or responsibilities and the organization's work. New board members have many questions that they are often too embarrassed or shy to raise at a full board meeting. They will be incorporated into the life of the organization much faster if they can easily find the answers they need.

Before their first meeting, new board members should receive a packet of information, including a copy of the board job description, the organization's bylaws, the case statement, and anything else that would be helpful to their understanding of the organization, such as an organizational chart, the current annual budget, brochures and other promotional information, and the names, addresses, phone numbers, and profiles of the other board members and of staff members.

Board members work best when they feel both needed and accountable. They will be more likely to keep their commitments when they know that doing so is expected and that others are keeping theirs. When this tone is established at the beginning, the board will function smoothly.