Misfire: Where Nonprofits and Boards Go Wrong—and How to Fix It
Pop Quiz. Three Questions. Choose from two possible answers: a) partnership or b) governance.
What motivates individuals to join nonprofit boards?
What's the most impactful role that nonprofit boards can play?
What's the most holistic way that boards can advance a nonprofit's mission?
Most nonprofit leaders, and I suspect most board members, would instinctively choose a) for all three.
So, why do nonprofits struggle with "board engagement?" Why do boards fixate on governance? Why is it so hard for nonprofits and boards to collaborate in positive ways?
The reasons are legion. Skyrocketing compliance and disclosure requirements. A data-driven culture that places increased demands on reporting. Growing risk management concerns. The list goes on.
But all of this is really a means toward an end, not an end in itself. It's about survival, not collaboration that helps your nonprofit to thrive.
To thrive, you need to go back to the beginning: Why did these individuals choose to join your board in the first place?
Pop Quiz. Final Question. Choose all that apply.
4. What motivates individuals to join nonprofit boards?
a) They care about your mission—deeply, on a personal level.
b) They want to help strengthen your work and increase your impact.
c) They're eager to champion the value you bring to your community.
d) All of the above.
More often than not, most respondents will choose d).
At their core, nonprofit boards are really about individuals, human connection, and community—people seeking opportunities to apply their skills, knowledge, and expertise to a cause they care about in meaningful ways, for the greater good.
The oversight, accountability, and compliance issues associated with today's governance are certainly part of board work. They're the "checks and balances" that only boards can truly provide. But they're not the raison d'être of any nonprofit board or the chief motivation for anyone to join.
John Carver, father of modern nonprofit board theory, shares a surprisingly fresh way of thinking about all of this in his dated but still relevantBoards that Make A Difference(1990).
"Governing boards do not exist in nature. They are social constructs, which is to say that their purpose is what we say it is...The purpose of board governance is to ensure, usually on behalf of others, that an organization achieves what it should achieve while avoiding those behaviors and situations that should be avoided."
In its purest form, nonprofit governance is a way of defining active partnership. The Greek origin of the word governance lies with the idea "to steer." In other words, it's less about power, policies, and policing, more about helping the crew to navigate so it gets where it needs to go.
