The 4 most essential board committees

• Date: 01 January 2021
• Published date: 01 January 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.31197

4 Board & Administrator

DOI 10.1002/ban © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC • All rights reserved

continued from page 1

turn them off to serving on the board entirely.

On the other hand, there is such a thing as not

enough committees. All organizations, regardless

of their size and where they are in their organiza-

tional life cycle, should have an executive commit-

tee, a finance committee, a fund development com-

mittee and a governance committee (See below).

Other committees, such as program, market-

ing, auditing or investment committees, should

be established as necessary, depending on the

organization’s needs. But boards should keep in

mind the responsibilities and time commitments

their members already have on their plates before

adding new committees. And they should keep in

mind that board members are not the only source

of committee members—nonboard supporters can

also usually serve on committees. These support-

ers of the nonprofit can deepen their engagement

through serving on a committee, and that often

doubles as an introduction to board service itself.

For more information

Kari Anderson is the founder of Incite! Consult-

ing Group, a Wyoming-based consultancy engaged

in board education, executive director coaching,

and succession planning, among other services.

She can be reached at (844) 946-2483 or kari@

inciteconsultinggroup.com. ■

The 4 most essential board committees

The start of a new year offers nonprofit boards

a timely opportunity to decide whether to add or

eliminate committees. According to Kari Anderson

of Incite! Consulting Group, adding new commit-

tees or eliminating existing ones may be necessary

depending on where the nonprofit is in its develop-

ment. But no matter the size of a nonprofit, how

long it’s been established or what its programming

is, it should have, at a minimum, the following

board committees:

• The finance committee. The core functions

of the finance committee include overseeing the

nonprofit’s financial planning for the near and

long term, overseeing the organizational assets

and investments, developing the organization’s

fiscal policies and related bylaws, and ensuring

the broader board understands the general finan-

cial condition of the organization. Board members

with a background in accounting might be the

obvious choices for this committee, but members

from a wide variety of business sectors may also

be interested—and just as well suited.

• The development committee. This com-

mittee—also called the fundraising commit-

tee—is equally important to small nonprofits as

it is to large, well-established ones, because no

matter the size, all of them need funding of one

sort or another to operate. To that end, Ander-

son said, the development committee helps the

board chairperson, executive director and any

fundraising or development staff craft the organi-

zation’s overall fund development strategy. Board

members with backgrounds in fundraising are

obvious choices for this committee, but any mem-

bers with large social circles and expansive con-

nections to corporate or institutional resources—

and especially if they are socially adept and have

good people skills—can serve on this committee.

• The governance committee. Another cru-

cially important component, no matter the non-

profit, is the governance committee, Anderson

said. Its core responsibilities touch on board

recruitment, engagement and development, and

these days, one of its more important duties is

to ensure the board is diverse—in terms of race,

nationality, gender, age and viewpoint, among

other factors. Members serving on this committee

should themselves be diverse in their backgrounds

and experiences—and be knowledgeable about the

organization, the board, and group dynamics.

• The executive committee. Finally, every

nonprofit should have an executive committee

made up of the senior leaders of the board and

organization—the executive director and the

board chair and other elected officers—that is

authorized to make decisions on behalf of the

full board. Serving on this committee is neces-

sarily limited to a select few, so there isn’t as

much opportunity to shake up the committee

membership. ■