Just how much time do individuals give in their service as board members? Of course there is no simple answer which likely ranges from depends to "oh, I don't know". I would pose from my experience and regularly questioning board members that the average annual amount of time is about 30-40 hours but even this really does depend on a variety of factors that include in particular, the board's stage of development and correlated demands.
A recently released study by the Association of Governing Boards, the college and university folks, indicated that "those on corporate boards report spending nearly two and a half times as many hours on board work as do their counterparts on higher ed boards." But, the authors of the study note: "higher ed board members have equal fiduciary responsibilities and are facing a swiftly changing market."
Well, yeah! And while the study offers some other very interesting and compelling insights that I believe might be reflective of members serving throughout the nonprofit sector, this one element, how much time is given to serve, underscores for me where the whole construct of nonprofit governance is seriously flawed. Yes, flawed I offer! Unlike in Corporate Boards, those serving on nonprofit boards are unpaid - their incentive is passion for the mission as well as the socio-political connections, and maybe even some desire to influence outcomes (kind-of connected to mission passion.
So, the idea that members outside of the infancy stage, might give huge amounts of time to governing: maybe unrealistic? Or so it appears. What to do? This is one topic we should all take up and sooner than later.