Who do you need on your board? Where do you find them? How do you vet them? What do you do to keep them?

1. Building the board of
directors you need
Gayle L. Gifford, ACFRE, M.S.

2. Questions for Today
Who do you need on this board?
Where can you find them?
How do you cultivate, vet and onboard?
How will you keep them?

3. Workshop protocols
• Use chat or hand raise if
you have questions
• Mute when not asking
questions
• This is a taste, not the
whole meal.
• You get what you give.
• What matters is what
happens when you
leave.
• There are no wrong
questions.

4. Board Member Hats
• Whole = Governance
• Individual = Volunteer
Board effectiveness is a social construction – David Renz

5. Case: Urban Debate League
Program:
• Afterschool high school debate teams
& tournaments in 10 Title I schools in
four cities.
• Evidence-Based Argumentation
(EBA): Innovative teacher
development program transfers
debate skills into the classroom.
Documented learning gains.
Staff
• 10 year Executive Director resigned.
• Program director promoted to
Executive Director.
• 1 Vista
• Teacher coaches paid by their
schools.
Funding
• $150,000 budget (with EBA); 50%
grants; 50% contributions
• Difficulty renewing EBA contract
with school department.
• Chronic cash flow shortages, tenuous
funding
Board
• 12 board members: seven active
• One recent resignation (a former
educational leader)
• Two chronically absent rotating off.
• Three-year terms

6. Question 1
Who do you need on this board?

7. Board
Composition
Board members as
capital
investments
and
Board members
aren’t seats, they
are human beings
– Deb Beck
Capital is any
enduring asset
capable of producing
additional assets
From:
• Economics: Principles and Practices;
G.E. Clayton, 2008
• Beyond the Balance Sheet, Elizabeth
Castillo
• Governance as Leadership, Taylor,
Ryan, Chait
Human value
• Intellectual
• Moral
• Creative
• Psychological
Relational value
• Social
• Political
• Spiritual
Symbolic value
• Reputational
• Cultural
• Geographic
Financial value
• Giving

8. A board
of
leaders
Idea generation and innovation
Envisioning
• Foster frame-breaking thinking
Resource connecting
Spanning
• Networking, Intelligence gathering
Details, structure
Organizing
• Task oriented, get things done
Team developer
Social
• Humor, caring, conflict mediation

9. The new
board
matrix
Parts
• Contributed knowledge
• Leveraged
relationships
• Applied cultural
fluency
• Self-management
Whole
• From outside, the
synthesis of the above

10. Matrix
Tool

11. Question 2
Where can you find them?

12. Where to look
• Donors, volunteers
• Participants
• Community partners
• Traditional & social
media
• Ask for them
• Corporate community
relations
• External nominating
committee
• Keep a perpetual
running list
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

13. Question 3
How will you cultivate, vet and
onboard them?

14. Create a rigorous
recruiting process.
• Courting and cutting
• Resumes
• Site visits
• Informal interview
• Formal interview
• Reference checks
• Clear expectations

15. Question 4
How will you keep them?

16. A board where folks
want to serve
• Work that matters
• Meetings that matter
• I matter
• Transforming
experiences
• Opportunities to learn
• High expectations
• Interesting, collegial
peers
• Fun
• Rewarding

17. A few more words
on diversity
• Do the hard work
• Look for barriers in all
places
• Build authentic work
and partnerships
• Level power structures
• Be honest about intent,
need, seek consent

18. Questions?

19. About Gayle L. Gifford, ACFRE, MS
• Co-President, Cause & Effect Inc.
www.ceffect.com
• Co-researcher Voices of Board Chairs
• Board chair Blackstone Academy Charter School
Find me
• gayle@ceffect.com
• The Butterfly Effect
www.ceffect.com/blog
• Twitter @gaylegifford
• LinkedIn gaylegifford
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