Recuiting a Stronger Board - Introduction

Nothing is more important to the health and sustainability of your organization than getting highly qualified, engaged, skilled, enthusiastic people to serve on your board. Imagine all that your board and organization could accomplish with “the right people on the bus,” as Good to Great author Jim Collins says.

But the job of building a board is about more than just filling slots. It is about being strategic in the way a board looks at its composition related to its responsibilities. Getting the right mix of people requires careful attention to the board recruitment process.

Where do you start? How do you keep everyone engaged and focused throughout what should be an ongoing process of identifying and cultivating potential candidates? And equally difficult, where do you go to find these new board members?

Recruiting a Stronger Board: A BoardSource Toolkit will help you answer these and other questions, no matter where your board is in its recruitment process. The information is designed to help your board sharpen its focus in key areas of recruitment, including

defining the recruitment roles of the board, the governance committee, and the chief executive
identifying potential candidates
cultivating potential candidates
nominating and electing new board members
ensuring a diverse and inclusive board

You’ll find proven advice and practical tips, along with questions to stimulate board discussion around important recruitment topics. The 38 tools address the size of the board, using technology to find potential board members, what materials to share with potential board members, how to ensure diversity in all its forms (including how to involve Generation X and Y in board service), and many more issues about board recruitment. The toolkit also provides samples of a board matrix worksheet, board candidate rating form, and board member letter of agreement.

The toolkit is based on resources in BoardSource’s vast library of governance, material that has shown hundreds of thousands of nonprofit board members and other leaders how to develop sound governance practices. In fact, BoardSource has 20 years of unparalleled experience helping nonprofits tackle challenging situations. In addition to our publications and online resources, our consulting team of governance experts is ready to assist your board and may be reached via e-mail (consulting@boardsource.org) or by calling 877-892-6293.

As you navigate your board through the recruitment process, we hope you will continue to look to us for guidance.

Linda Crompton

President & CEO BoardSource

This is the Introduction from Recruiting a Stronger Board: A BoardSource Toolkit.

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