Continuing education key to board member engagement

• Date: 01 January 2018
• Published date: 01 January 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30599

2 Board & Administrator

DOI 10.1002/ban © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

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From the Board Doctor

Continuing education key

to board member engagement

One of the findings from the

BoardSource report “Leading with

Intent 2017” speaks directly to

the importance of board educa-

tion and the big role this plays

when engaging board members

with the organization.

“Strong understanding of pro-

grams relates to stronger engage-

ment, strategy, and external lead-

ership — including fundraising,”

according to the report. “Board

education happens both in struc-

tured and unstructured ways,

and may include some or all of

the following:

“Comprehensive orientation for

new board members that includes

both an orientation to their role

as a board member and to the

organization and its work.

“Focused educational sessions

or moments as a part of regular

board meetings that help culti-

vate a deep understanding of the

organization’s mission, programs,

and impact.

“Ongoing education and reflec-

tion about the board’s role and

how best to leverage its full lead-

ership potential.

“Thoughtful preparation of

board materials to provide con-

text and background to support

effective engagement, delibera-

tion, and decision making with-

out miring board members in

unnecessary or irrelevant detail.”

For more information, go to

https://leadingwithintent.org/.

Editor’s note: One fact of work-

ing with board members the CEO

should acknowledge is that by

the time a board member’s term

concludes, he or she is just really

getting to know the nonprofit.

I’ve long advocated the CEO set

aside 15 minutes at each board

meeting for board “training.” It’s

in your best interest to work with

the chair to schedule this.

It’s the wise administrator who

understands this fact of life and

attempts to rectify it by providing

regular board education at meet-

ings on the issues the nonprofit

faces and good governance be-

havior. An annual board training

calendar can be your friend here.

How do you create an annual

board training calendar?

Send board members a memo

that asks them to identify three

or four suggested topics for board

education. The beauty of this idea

is that it’s geared to your board’s

wants and needs. From board

members’ suggestions, compile

a list of topics and send this list

back to them, asking them to

prioritize it.

Use this prioritized list to

come up with your annual train-

ing calendar. Then set aside 15

minutes at each board meeting

for board development. You will

find a Board Development Memo

elsewhere in this issue.

Sincerely,

Jeff Stratton, Editor

515.963.7972;

jeff_stratton@msn.com ■