The Role of Nonprofit Board Members

Nonprofit board members play an important role in the growth and success of your company. They help to establish strategy and direction, ensure they have resources available, and provide oversight. They are accountable for ensuring that the organization is legally and ethically run, and adheres to its objectives.

Your nonprofit board should consist of people who are committed to your cause and have the right connections and skillsets. It’s generally easier to recruit board members from your personal network but if you don’t have the necessary talent in-house then look for candidates on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and volunteer recruitment sites.

Your nonprofit board’s core responsibilities include governance, policy, fundraising and supervision of the Executive Director/CEO. Depending on how to improve board governance the size and scope of your nonprofit the board committees could be formed to handle specific activities or projects. For example your finance committee may concentrate on budgets while your legal committee might handle insurance policies.

One of the most important aspects to keep in mind is that a main responsibility of your board is to raise money to ensure the programs and services you deliver will continue to be available. To best fulfill this duty your board must be capable of seeing the bigger picture and make a strategic decision regarding how to move forward. A large network will assist your board in achieving this.