[22864] in APO-L
[APO-L] Nonprofit Board (Re: [APO-L] Thoughts about the future of APO)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ken Hunter)
Wed Aug 14 09:15:23 2002
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 08:15:19 -0500
Reply-To: Ken Hunter <kwh_apo@HOTMAIL.COM>
From: Ken Hunter <kwh_apo@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Mr. Busby's idea is a good one. It is probably the best response to my
initial quandry. However, I did want to point out the following with regard
to nonprofit boards, based on my work experience.
Nonprofit boards are going through a period of reform, as they try to
improve their ability to contribute to the organizations that they lead.
These reforms also apply to the board membership, along with issues of
governance and policy development. WIth regard to membership, Boards are
being encouraged to be more selective in who they choose to recruit. They
are encouraged by the modern literature to cast their net towards
experienced businessmen and women who have expertise in a particular field
(management, PR, finance, etc.).
It used to be that nonprofit boards were comprised of members from mostly
two groups: 1.) The clients the nonprofit served, and 2.) The volunteers who
served the nonprofit and its clients. Today, that picture is changing
towards a board comprised of professional leaders who are supposed to
contribute directly to the nonprofit. Naturally, their ability to help the
nonprofit raise money, recruit volunteers, gain media exposure, and so on
helps the nonprofit's staff and volunteer elements with their job of
assisting the clients and performing the organization's mission.
This change in board membership composition could make Mr. Busby's proposal
more difficult to accomplish. The reforms are not being instituted by
everyone, especially small nonprofits oriented towards helping a single
community or part of a city. I would imagine that if a nonprofit has a
budget of less than $100,000, or only 1 or 2 paid staff members, they likely
are not grand enough of a scale to be concerned with recruiting business
brass for their board.
I am not saying that the reforms are the right thing or the wrong thing.
They have succeeded in helping some organizations really focus on their
mission and produce better results. The opposite has likely happened, as
well.
To return to Mr. Busby's idea, if chapters are interested in putting a
Brother on a nonprofit board, I offer two suggestions. First, seek out
small charities that you do projects with, those that may only have one or
two paid staff and an annual budget under $100,000. They would be more
likely to agree to the request, and they are more likely to appreciate the
help to a greater degree. Second, if you want to work with a larger
charity, propose establishing a "board intership" program.
Board interships are coordinated today with professional organizations such
as Young Leaders (we had one where I used to work). They are not in the
same rotation as the rest of the Board, and they may not have the same
rights (ours got to vote, but not all of them do). They do share in the
work load and get to learn a great deal about nonprofit management, board
governance, leadership, and other skills essential to fulfilling board
duties.
A chapter could request that a nonprofit establish an APO intership on its
board. Each intern would serve on the board for a year and play an active
role. The intern would be selected by the board from a list of nominees
submitted by the chapter. Both sides could develop the requirements for
consideration (officer experience, year in school, etc.). During their
internship, the lucky Brother would be responsible for regularly reporting
on the organization's activities, and he or she would serve as the prime
liason between the chapter and the nonprofit.
The intership concept may be our best way to establish a key leadership
opportunity for our members, improve our relations with the nonprofit
community, gain noteriety, and provide an incentive not found in other
college organizations (unless they copy it from us). We should start
looking into this in the near future.
In Leadership, Friendship, and Service,
Kenneth Hunter
Alum, Tau Epsilon Chapter, Tennessee Technological University
Section 70 Secretary/Treasurer
Former Communications Coordinator, Center for Nonprofit Management,
Nashville, TN (http://www.cnm.org/)
>From: "J. Busby" <jcb2181@TEXASONLINE.NET>
>Reply-To: "J. Busby" <jcb2181@TEXASONLINE.NET>
>To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: [APO-L] Thoughts about the future of APO
>Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 11:37:54 -0500
>
>Here are a couple of more thoughts for strengthen the future of APO.
>
>The idea is this:
>
>If our chapters are primary resources for volunteers for several community
>based organizations... why don't we exhibit our Leadership side and ask to
>be on the Executive Boards or the Executive Committees of these
>organizations?
>
>Now I know that several Alumni (myself included) are on different boards of
>different organizations and I know that most if not all of our National
>Board Members are on the boards of Local, Regional and National
>Organizations.. but how is that translated to the Chapter Experience?
>
>
>How many chapters even think to ask for a position on the local food bank
>executive committee or board? On the local habitat board? or the boards of
>the organizations the chapter has a long and good history with.
>
>How to implement this is a bit tricky, but from my experience I think it
>would be welcomed by these boards, and would introduce the chapter to the
>"movers-and-shakers" in the community.
>
>First off, the chapters need to research the structure and powers of the
>boards they would benefit from being on. Boards with elected members or
>boards with terms greater then a year may be thought to be on for a
>student... HOWEVER there are some options.
>
>1) if the board can't accept a member for a semester by semester term, or
>if
>the positions are elected or appointed by some entity... ask about Advisory
>or Honorary membership on the board.
>
>2) if you get some kind of slot on the board, make sure the organization
>knows it's an APO position and that the Chapter or the Chapter Executive
>Committee gets to appoint the student to that position and that the member
>may change on a semester by semester basis.
>
>3) if you're going to get an APO slot on a board (either full, advisory or
>honorary) fulfill the chapters commitment to participate on that board.
>
>
>If the chapter can get a position on the board, who should fill the
>position?
>
>First off, I do not think it should be the President of the Chapter or the
>Service VP (or chair or whatever your chapter call them). I know that many
>chapters have a chairman or a leader who coordinates most of the projects
>with that organization. I would suggest appointing that person to that
>board.
>
>I personally think the President and other top officers should be working
>the administration of the university and the project chairs and project
>leaders should be gaining leadership experience not only in the realm of
>project coordination, but as members of advisory boards for the
>organizations they coordinate projects for.
>
>
>WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
>
>1) Networking. A lot of times the work of a chapter for an organization is
>shielded from strong community allies by Executive Directors for
>Organizations. Executive Directors love chapters and give them praises,
>but
>their bosses (the boards) don't always see the Chapters. The boards are
>generally populated by Local Government Officials, Wealthy Citizens,
>Philanthropists, and Community Activists. Additionally, these people LIVE
>in the community and have lived in the community for years and can be an
>ANCHOR for a chapter in the sea of college life and university politics.
>
>2) Influence. Colleges and Communities have a unique relationships that at
>times seem separate and at other times highly intertwined. Oddly enough,
>the leaders on most community organization boards also have ties to campus
>administration in ways that are not always obvious. These non-obvious ties
>can sometimes foster relationships with Administrators that transcend the
>bureaucracy and make it easier for the chapters to "have the ear" of the
>administration.
>
>3) Expanded Leadership Opportunity. Having an opportunity for a
>non-officer
>to serve on the board can be a great leadership experience. Not everyone
>can be chapter president or serve on the E-Board of a chapter.... so this
>is
>a good way to expand the leadership opportunities for these students.
>Additionally, the boards I have been on love the opportunity to educate new
>leaders in the goings on of their organizations.
>
>4) Skills for the Future. Serving on different community boards is an
>asset
>to your life after college. Besides the networking and leadership
>opportunities similar to those gained in college, there is noting like
>being
>involved in these organizations to make a person a MEMBER of that
>community,
>not just a person living there.
>
>DRAWBACKS?
>
>Sure there are some drawbacks...
>
>1) there is the commitment from the chapter to faithfully execute the
>obligations to the boards they serve on.
>
>2) Chapters run the risk of their service program being monopolized by the
>organizations they serve as board members of... (this could be good or bad,
>depending)
>
>3) Local Politics. You just have to live with it... you can't avoid it in
>American Society.
>
>4) The bigger the town the college is in (Houston, D/FW, N.Y.C., Washington
>D.C., etc.) the more difficult this task can be. I didn't say impossible,
>but the bigger the town the more #3 plays into the picture and the harder
>it
>is to serve on a board in general.
>
>
>-James Busby
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
