​One of the biggest mysteries for nonprofit founders is about the Board of Directors.  How do you find the right people?  Is it ok to start with friends and family?  How many do I need and when? What do I even do with them?

First, we need to clarify the purpose of the board of directors. 

1. The Board of Directors is a required by the IRS to qualify a business/nonprofit to be eligible for tax-exempt, charitable status. 
2. The board governs the nonprofit.  They have legal responsibilities to make informed decisions, act in the charity’s best interest, obey the laws, and maintain the mission.
3. The board provides legitimacy and credibility. 
4. The board supports the Executive Director.
5. The Board serves and promotes the nonprofit.

​Formally speaking, the Board of Directors has three legal responsibilities and 10 traditional roles/duties.  These things are essential but there is an even bigger picture why your Board of Directors is critical to your success.  

Let’s imagine that Sunshine Senior Services is a program for the elderly community focusing on improving the lives of people with dementia and their families.  We’ll occasionally use this fictional nonprofit start-up as an example in this blog series. 

One of the things you must have to make your start-up charity successful is alignment between your mission and your programs.    

Charities serve the public good.  They provide a service or serve to create change.  The mission of an organization should make clear what kind of results or improvements the charity will provide.  Is the organization improving health, providing an education, or making people safe?  Is it preventing an unhealthy behavior?
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The missions on which charities focus are usually complex.  Eradicating hunger, reducing the number of people in poverty, and reducing the dropout rate are massive tasks, and any one organization by itself may not quickly produce a noticeable change across a large community.  Having clear alignment will help show where you intend to make an impact and may even show that you’ve “moved the needle” in a significant way at some point. 

​Part one of the “Must Read Series for Nonprofit Founder” talked about the governing structure of a charity and the Board of Directors.   Now we’ll look at ways that charities are different from for-profit businesses and how starting a charity is more complex.

• It is expected charities will supersede the originating founder and Board of Directors.  If there is not a long-term need for an organization, then the proposed services should be taken up by an existing charity.
• The Board of Directors is legally responsible to make decisions in the best interest in the long-term sustainability of the organization.  

​I was speaking with a start-up founder this week and it was if I experienced de’ ja vu.  Ken was telling me about the advice he was getting and in my head I was shouting, “Don’t listen to them!  Every experience is different!  They aren’t an expert and don’t know what they’re talking about!” 

There’s something about milestone moments in our lives that invite people with advice to come out of the woodwork. Whether it’s having a child, buying a house, or making a major employment or business decision, everyone wants to share their story and share with you some helpful “tips.”

​“Somebody told me I just need a couple of people on the board to help me get started.”

“I want my friends on the Board because we are comfortable with each other and care about the cause.”
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 If you are starting a charity and have had these thoughts you are not alone.  In fact, most charities start with a founder and their friends, even though it’s not the recommended best practice.

The board of directors serves many roles.  In a perfect world, charities would be founded by a group of like-minded people who through research and consensus create the mission, vision, and bylaws, then find an executive director to carry out the mission. 

This is not usually the case.  More often, one person identifies a problem in need of a solution.  They define a mission and put together a Board of friends and family with some degree of interest or support.  The founder often has limited experience in nonprofit management.  With limited access to affordable nonprofit start-up training, they figure things out through internet searches and intuition. 

I appreciate the charitable sector.  Have you ever taken a moment and thought about the value that social impact organizations bring to our communities and how they enhance our world?  I have, and here are several things that I love about the people and the work that they do.  
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