Weavers Guild of Minnesota Executive Director, Beth Bowman was a speaker on a panel titled “Maximizing your Board” for a statewide theatre conference hosted by the Minnesota Theatre Alliance held at Hamline University on October 8, 2017. Beth was joined with other nonprofit sector leaders including John Bennett, Senior VP Commercial Services & Non Profit Banking and Michael Robins,  Founder and Executive Producing Director of the Illusion Theater for a lively 501c3 governance discussion. The panel was moderated by Gregory Smith, Manager of The Fitzgerald. There were about 25 attendees for the breakout session and many of them were new to the Weavers Guild of Minnesota so it was a valuable cross-discipline non profit sector experience.

“Maximizing your Board” panel content included:

Board makeup—How to “cast” your board?

  • Boards vary in size but most were around 15-20
  • One board had more around 30 members and found that reach/net to be very valuable
  • Month meet monthly or every other month (bi-monthly)
  • A board matrix can be helpful
  • Term limits are necessary; review bylaws regularly

Board Recruitment—being strategic in who and how you recruit?

  • Recruitment is like “speed dating”, relationship building, do we like each other? Can we work together? Is it a good fit?
  • Ask past board members for recruitment ideas

The D word—Diversity—Why is it so haaaaard?

  • Boards are no more diverse than they were 2 years ago
  • 25% of boards are 100% white
  • Be realistic, authentic and “not thirsty”
  • Aspirations are good, does the work reflect diversity?
  • Reflect communities served

Skill sets—Optimizing and recruiting the talent to make your board successful

  • It was suggested that every board needs 5 people:
    • a banker
    • a CPA
    • an insurance agent
    • a financial planner
    • an attorney
  • Leadership skills are important

Roles and Responsibilities—How do you keep a board focused and engaged?

Mission—The role of the mission

Strategic Plan—Keeping your eye on the prize

  • Use it regularly as a check in

Fear of the F word—Fundraising

  • Most believed that having a fixed dollar amount recruitment was not successful and to instead emphasize 100% participation

Committees, Committees, Committees—How many is too many?

  • Is the traditional model of Executive, Governance, Finance, Development, Marketing, Fundraising, Personnel, outdated and there are better ways to accomplish board work?
    • Recommended three main committees: Internal, external and Executive/Governance
  • Ad Hoc committee structure—accomplish a specific goal and then cease to exist
  • Four committee structure—Internal, External, Executive, Governance

The triumvirate—Relationship between the Executive Director, Board Chair and the Board

  • Open communication, trust, transparency, boundaries are important
  • Don’t forget the social aspect of service

Regardless of practice/focus/programming, these are recurring themes that all non profit organizations have to consider. A reminder, all WGM board of directors meetings are open to WGM members per our bylaws. If you have questions, comments or suggestions about WGM board relations, please feel free to reach out to Beth Bowman, WGM’s Executive Director via email or set up a meeting with Beth here>

In the meantime, check out Beth’s favorite blog about non profits here!