Today I’m thinking about nonprofit boards, new executive directors (ED), and sustainability.
Given how few nonprofits (especially small nonprofits) have written sustainability plans and several current clients I’m working with, let’s talk about it.
Starting with the board
I have a project I am working on with a relatively small board of directors (11 members) in the United States. Two board members have been with the nonprofit for more than 10 years. Other board members have served between 1-3 years.
One of the services Human Repair Workshop (HRW) is providing for this organization is board development and another is supporting the ED and board with bylaw updates.
The bylaws haven’t been updated in over a decade and the board chair realized in the June meeting that he hasn’t been facilitating in alignment with the bylaws (oops).
The first two things we are doing with this board and ED are
- Co-creating a sustainability plan for the organization with the board and Executive Director AND
- Updating those bylaws. Only then will we progress to board development trainings.
The order of operations is intentional and important. The training needs a foundation, and the organization needs written practices that can outlast any one person.
Every board member will hear the same thing. Sessions will be co-facilitated between Human Repair Workshop’s team and the Executive Director (and, sometimes, the board president) because I want them to have ownership so that even after the contract ends they have what they need to succeed.
- Succession Plan (extremely critical)
- Updated bylaws (and a written process to assess and update annually)
- Board development (including artifacts and recordings that can be shared by the ED/board chair as they onboard new board members)
The order of operations is intentional and important. The training needs a foundation, and the organization needs written practices that can outlast any one person.
What happens when knowledge leaves
Another example is support HRW provides for an NGO CEO who started just 2 months ago.
He was handed 2 one-sided sheets of paper for onboarding. That’s it. He was told not to contact the previous CEO (who had been with the org for 10+ years) under any circumstances. And only to reach out to the interim CEO before him. She had been there less than a year as a gap-filler. So much lost knowledge!
He was feeling pretty despairing and so we talked about it: what needs to be true so you can move forward? What needs to happen so that when you move on from this position the next CEO isn’t left in the situation you walked into?
Those questions shift the work from surviving a difficult transition to building something the organization can carry forward.
He’s fortunate because at least the organization’s finances are clear and consistent. At least his board is communicative with him, for all that they haven’t had a lot of concrete information to share.
So together we are putting the infrastructure in place so that he has what he needs and so the organization doesn’t ever put someone in those circumstances again.
Questions from the field
- What needs to be true so you can move forward?
- What needs to happen so that when you move on from this position the next CEO isn’t left in the situation you walked into?
Repair that lasts
These two organizations are in different situations, but the underlying need is the same: infrastructure that protects people, preserves knowledge, and supports continuity.
HRW’s primary work is infrastructure. Lots of consultants work in this realm. However, I haven’t seen anyone else leading with repair the way we intrinsically do.
Additionally, we are always inviting our clients in, not just the leader of the organization, or the board president, but everyone being impacted. We balance practical solutions with equitable inclusive practice.
The “magic sauce” is how we empower every client to sustain the practices we model and preach long after our contracts end.