Don't lose development staff talent over a cheap board

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30601
• Date: 01 January 2018
• Published date: 01 January 2018

4 Board & Administrator

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

continued from page 1

the meeting. In the end, the board president dis-

cussed it with the CEO, and they decided that the

CEO should look into some training materials from

their state association.”

This administrator later learned that the De-

cember meeting was the final one for the board

chair. “So, if this issue becomes a problem again,

it won’t be his problem,” he said. “He is a very

easygoing guy and just likes to keep the peace.

In his defense, he made the point that he doesn’t

think this board member will engage in this be-

havior again because his position on the specific

project was rejected by the full board.”

What is the Wisconsin administrator’s takeaway

from this board member’s surprise misbehavior?

“Once again, this demonstrates to me that CEOs

have to be proactive in helping governance mem-

bers to understand their role,” he said. ■

Don’t lose development staff talent

over a cheap board

In the LinkedIn article “The Non Profit Achieve-

ment Gap: Seven Ways Small and Medium Nonprof-

its Stunt Their Own Fundraising,” Armando Zu-

maya, chief development officer at the USS Hornet

Museum, said boards can be too cost-conscious

when it comes to retaining good development talent.

“I knew a development officer several years

back who had been at a medium sized nonprofit

for three years,” Zumaya writes. “She literally

had doubled the budget in that time, brought in

their first major donors. Her boss who knew little

about fundraising was of course thrilled and had

strengthened the program, hired more staff. Yet

this development officer couldn’t get a raise or

health insurance!

“At a Board meeting they gave her a plaque thank-

ing her for her service!! She quit [months] later and

found greener pastures. The cost of her departure

was immense but somehow nobody saw that coming?

“This isn’t just a sad story, it’s a common story:

The unwritten idea that money spent on fundrais-

ing and fundraisers is wasteful overhead and must

be kept down.”

If you have trouble retaining development tal-

ent, find out why, Zumaya said. “Call up your

previous development officers who no longer draw

a paycheck from you and ask them. Look for a

theme. You could be paying too little, asking too

much or have poor leadership,” he said.

For more information, go to http://goo.gl/ipcf2q. ■

Ramp up board recruiting efforts

If you are frustrated by trying to find members

who care about your organization’s work, here are

several ideas to reinvigorate your board recruiting:

1. Approach local colleges and universi-

ties. A professor with a genuine interest in your

work would be a great catch as a board member,

but that professor can also be a link to others in

the academic community who are knowledgeable

about your issues.

2. Perform a corporate review. Take a strate-

gic look at various local and national corporations

with local operations and research their missions

and needs. Then, approach their community af-

fairs office or human resources department and

seek a link between the corporation and your mis-

sion. Stress that you want to develop a mutually

beneficial relationship that connects what you do

with the company’s interests and goals.

3. Contact the legislative aides of politi-

cians. Do this with local and state-level politi-

cians. Politicians are lobbied all the time and their

aides know who is interested in what. Ask the

aides who in the community is interested in the is-

sues that your organization is interested in.

4. Contact media representatives. The media

are regularly approached by groups with concerns

about specific issues. The media know who is

up on the issues, and who is knowledgeable and

concerned. Those are the people you want on your

board and the media can connect you to them. ■