In a recent Forbes Nonprofit Council article advocating that nonprofit organizations refer to themselves instead as for-purpose organizations, one suggestion toward helping making this happen focused on the board as follows:
1. Reconfigure Your Board
Traditionally, nonprofit boards recruit people from within their sphere of expertise. If you're an environmental organization, you stack the board with scientists, researchers and educators with similar points of view, creating a kind of echo chamber. Mix up the composition of your board to include a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Recruiting board members who have a business mindset and talent that complements others on the board can lead to fresh ideas about reaching and engaging new donors and creating long-lasting corporate partnerships.
Really I say, this is the suggestion that will make this name change come true assuming I found the recommendation valid at all? Reconfigure meaning diversify who's sitting there? I just don't think this is the ingredient that affects a name change unless the author was basically saying that in general nonprofit board members aren't inherently creative types which may have some validity but hey, so what?
Yes, diversity particularly toward reflecting the interests, needs, wants and voices of those who benefit from the work of the nonprofit for sure needs to happens. This is not my quibble. And maybe the board needs to engage in more conversation about how much referring to the organization as a nonprofit might be helpful but is this where members should be putting their attention? Of all the conversations that should indeed be "had" there are far better matter on which to focus. Ptooey to this I say! But if you think the public needs to rethink the nature of nonprofits beginning with the nomenclature, I say call the Independent Sector - this is on their plate.