“If you ever get stretched to the point of being discouraged, pick up an annual plan and see how much you have done. If that doesn’t do it, walk through the village green, which was a dump of abandoned cars and watch the weddings happening there now and take time to smell the roses.”
Dick Brant, member of the board, Leelanau Conservancy
Non-profit board members do not receive any pay for their time, efforts, interest and expertise. Some people might ask, “why would anyone serve on such a board? What do they get out of it?”
Why indeed.
While the rationale for board service is unique to each individual board member, some themes do emerge. Some are in it for the networking opportunities, to rub elbows with influential people. Some are in it to learn new skills applicable to their jobs. Some are in it because they couldn’t say no to a friend who asked them to join the board.
Most agree to serve on a board because they believe in the mission of the organization and believe that they can make a positive difference to the effectiveness of the organization. They perceive the reward of making the world a better place.
I don’t know many board members who joined because they thought it would be fun. Rewarding, maybe. Fun, I don’t think so.
Should board service be fun as well as rewarding?
Adult learning and performance theory says that people learn and perform at higher levels when they are smiling, laughing, loose and relaxed. How did you learn to spell when you were a kid? With a ruler aimed at the back of your head, or embedded in a game focused on the names of African animals? Would board members perform better if they were having fun?
On the off chance that this is true, what can you do to make board service more fun?
1. Break bread together. There is something magical and deep-seated in the psyche about sharing food together. Explore starting board meetings with a half-hour tea, cocktail, ice-cream social. Or including a meal in the middle of the board meeting. Or having a social event for the board itself with no business agenda.
2. Start board meetings with ten minutes to list all the things that are going right with the organization. This exercise sets a positive tone and helps the board realize that progress is being made.
3. Give goofy awards for board contributions, the more light-hearted the better.
4. Give the board members a chance to get close to the mission. At The Watershed School in Boulder, Colorado, a half-dozen students come for the beginning of the board meeting to say what is going well for them at school and how the school could improve, giving the board an up close source of important information about how the school is doing.
5. Give the board members tasks that are both indispensable and which they are suited to do, then reward them appropriately for completing them. The reward part should follow the Platinum Rule, which differs from the Golden Rule in an important way: “Do unto others as they wish to be done to.”
6. Perhaps the most important way to make board service fun is for the organization to make significant progress toward its mission. This requires having a clear sense of what constitutes progress (a vivid vision and way to monitor achievement).
“It’s truly fun to be part of an organization that really makes a difference.”
Craig Miller, member of the board of the Leelanau Conservancy
6. Perhaps the most important way to make board service fun is for the organization to make significant progress toward its mission. This requires having a clear sense of what constitutes progress (a vivid vision and way to monitor achievement).
“It’s truly fun to be part of an organization that really makes a difference.”
Craig Miller, member of the board of the Leelanau Conservancy
