The never ending scramble to identify, recruit and integrate individuals who will serve on nonprofit boards continues throughout the world. Recruitment might, for many nonprofit boards, appear to be the most difficult task taken by those who serve as the fiduciary guardians for the public (although equal in size to hiring an executive). And, at least for this moment in history, the task of identifying and attracting individuals for service who have more of a stake in the results of a nonprofit's mission has risen to the top of criteria for recruitment.
"Onboarding Champions: The Seven Recruiting Principles of Highly Effective Nonprofit Boards" by James Mueller is a newly released book focuses on two subjects: nonprofit board recruitment and onboarding (you know, bringing newbies into the fold - the generally sorely forgotten or underperformed function by nonprofit boards). Mr. Mueller is a sharp writer who is concise and thoughtful and particularly easy to read with concepts equally easy to digest. In Onboarding Champions, Mr. Mueller proposes that there are seven essential practices that will produce desired results presuming that the board has indeed determined what are those desired results. I would concur with Mr. Mueller's conclusion that determining the results is indeed the task that, well, produces results.
So, the seven principles? culture, character, competence, connections, composition, continuity and collaboration. Nice alliteration, no? Simple to remember, not really; boards will want to create a checklist or simply turn to the end of the book where a helpful assessment "tool" is offered taking each of these principles, offering a range of options (essentially) what each is if not, somewhat, and fully practiced and then providing questions to consider about what is discovered assuming the board answering the questions is honest. This tool is mightily helpful in understanding the concepts proposed in the book and lend easily toward application. This assessment tool, again, singularly focused on recruitment and onboarding, not necessarily, all of governance, is helpful and I would pose that Mr. Mueller's contribution to the field might best be captured with the release of a laminated 4x8 card that contains the same information or even better a deck of 7 laminated 2x4 cards plus a question card.
I do have two quibbles with this offering to the sector. First, referring to board members as "champions" is a little too cheerleader-esq for me. Sure, nonprofit board members may indeed, in their career as nonprofit board members, take-on the mantle of championing the mission but do they deserve a medal and title for this volunteer effort? Likely not. Yes, nonprofit board members have stepped up to fill a gap which the public has chosen to sideline or where there is not enough financial incentive for the corporate sector to take-up but in this case I would pose that many, many, many folks deserve the label and medal and do a whole lot more to earn it than do volunteer board members. But I suppose the title is more about lifting up this service than much else. Given the times, I would have been happier to see something like "Nonprofit Board Recruitment: Getting it Correct". Nope, not "sexy" but precise.
My other quibble and again, starting with the title: the language of "highly effective" is used to offer that highly effective boards embrace these principles. And what exactly are "highly effective boards"? Is highly effective up to the board to define. And while I recognize that Jim Collins (Good to Great) does indeed pose that "getting the right people on the bus" is an essential element toward success (versus effectiveness), there is in the use of this language something missing. I would have most appreciated at least a chapter dedicated to interpreting what exactly constitutes "highly effective" and then makes the link to the role of recruitment and onboarding. But perhaps that's the next book.
Yes, boards should buy a copy and pass it around, at minimum to the Governance Committee and if not the whole book - at least the assessment although a deeper understanding of what is highlighted in the tool will be provided by reading the whole book.