Board Development for Nonprofits

Being “on the same page” is another way of saying “aligned.” Alignment is foundational to any system, including the organizational system that makes up a board and an executive leadership team.

To achieve alignment, there have to be at least two things to align. 20th century governance focused on one thing: defining the role of the board. 21st century governance, on the other hand, acknowledges that we need to identify unique and alignable roles for both the board and the executive team.

Aligned Influence defines those roles and the consulting practices necessary to “operationalize” governance so that these critically important entities can work together toward their common goals.

Fundraising is a talent that most organizations recruit a development director to lead. It’s also common for board members to be well-connected leaders in the communities in which their organizations serve.

That said, Aligned Influence defines one of the three roles of the board as “enabling”. To enable is to utilize the board members' sphere of influence to advocate for the work of the organization and, through that advocacy, to help make any fundraising efforts of the development director more successful.

Let board members do what they do best and the development director do what they do best.

The Aligned Influence model identifies three roles for the board (to direct, protect and enable) and three roles for the executive (to lead, manage and accomplish).

We often hear executives tell us that they are "burnt out" because they are driving all six roles.

Boards need to do the work to understand what it means to direct, protect and enable, as well as what the organization – and their roles – looks like when these three functions are being carried out correctly.

This is accomplished through intentional organizational development that includes engaging both the board and the executive team.

This is the most common mistake that many organizations make. They acknowledge that organizational development is critically important, but there are more urgent things that demand their attention.

The urgent will always take priority over the important until you decide that the important is too important to put off any longer. In fact, many of the urgent things are driven by not having addressed the important things.

Stop looking for the “quick-fix” and commit to the hard work of good organizational development in aligning the roles of the board and the executive team.

We are so glad that you have reached that golden moment when everything is working well. But what happens when one or two of those board members change next year? Or if you suddenly lose your current executive director?

Times of health are the perfect time to invest in the organizational development that will “lock in” that golden moment regardless of who the executive is or who is on the board. NOW is always the best time to invest in your future.