"Put your advisory board to work" is the title of a June 2009 Entrepreneur Magazine article that provided me with some interesting thoughts for nonprofits who have on occasion dabbled in this strange world of advisory boards.
First, to be clear, I do not think it a good idea to call an advisory anything a "board". There is one board in a nonprofit - the governing board and calling any other structure a board can get confusing, especially for the non-governing boards.
That said, the author of this article begins with reviewing that "typically, advisory board membership involved lending credibility to a startup in return for a slice of equity." Clearly with nonprofits, there's no equity to be had. But the "lending credibility" concept still has merit and I believe that a well composed advisory group may indeed add credibility to the organization.
After reviewing the pros/cons of offering incentives and obligations to attract and retain the "right" advisors, the author concludes:
Don't waste equity on uproductive advisors. Don't waste time on people who won't return your phone calls. Focus on advisors who can help you with your short-term priorities. You can even take the extra step of creating short-term contracts with advisors with specific deliverables, much like a typical consultant agreement. If they perform, renew the contract. If not, let it fizzle out.
I believe the learning here is that the nonprofit should benefit from its advisors and of course, the advisors should benefit from the affiliation with the nonprofit. Of course the trick is being strategic and clear about the mutual benefits. But, both can gain from a relationship - the job of the nonprofit manager is to understand and execute this principal effectively. Otherwise, don't bother with advisory "boards".
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