The Importance of Nonprofit Board Leadership: A Guide to Creating a Highly Successful Nonprofit Board

This book is about the importance of board leadership and how to create a highly successful nonprofit board. It is intended for the millions of people like you who volunteer their time as a member of a nonprofit organization board of trustees or directors, the CEOs who lead those organizations, and anyone who is inspired to serve their community as a nonprofit executive or board member in the future. Regardless of the mission of your organization or your role within it, you have made a commitment to have a positive impact on society locally, nationally, or globally.

My goal is to provide you with a proven roadmap to improve your board’s performance. The recommendations in this book are based on decades of nonprofit board governance experience. When implemented, these strategies will help lead your organization toward greater effectiveness and impact. The benefits of serving as a board or executive leader of a highly successful nonprofit can be personal as well, for it is highly gratifying to know that you are bringing real value to the community.

Throughout the book, I will pose questions intended primarily for board discussion. I strongly suggest including at least one key question on every board meeting agenda, as a way to educate and engage your members on how to become a highly successful nonprofit board.

I believe it is important for everyone to be aware that nonprofit organizations are vital to our country’s societal and economic well-being. They provide a wide range of services that are crucial to the public good including education, the arts, healthcare, social services, environmental protection, access to food and affordable housing, faith-based organizations, and more. Every nonprofit in its way provides the community with needed support, often transforming beliefs and hopes into action.

Nonprofit organizations vary significantly in size and scope, from small local charities to large international organizations. Seventy-six percent of nonprofits have annual revenues below ＄100,000 while 4% have annual revenues between ＄1M and ＄5M. The remaining 20% of our nonprofits have revenues above ＄5M while less than 0.2% have annual revenues of billions of dollars.

Unfortunately, only around 50% of nonprofits are successful in our country. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, about 30% of nonprofits will cease to exist in 10 years-and some experts predict the failure rate will be much higher.

The truth is that is not enough to have a worthy cause or a passionate team. The biggest hurdle to success is executive leaders who lack the contemporary competencies and experience necessary to steer their organization toward success, and board members who have not had adequate training on nonprofit board governance and knowledge of what is required from them for their organization to be successful. Just because someone is a successful business executive, community leader, or prominent citizen in your community does not necessarily mean that they are prepared to become a good nonprofit board member. And even a nonprofit CEO who had success in the roles they held prior to becoming a chief executive can benefit from leadership education, coaching, and support to propel their board and leadership team forward.

With knowledge about what is needed to become a great nonprofit board and a deeper understanding of the nature of board leadership, every nonprofit can achieve a higher level of performance.

As you work your way through this book, you will discover many opportunities to ask yourself whether or not your board is on the path to becoming highly successful. I hope you will consider using all that is offered in these pages to raise your organization’s aspirations, and impact, to bring even greater value to those you serve.