During a crisis, it’s critical to make sure your nonprofit’s board is fully engaged.
A crisis is not an excuse for a board to ignore its governance responsibilities. A crisis is also not an excuse for a nonprofit to ignore its board.
Avoid the mistake of excluding your board members because you think they’re too busy. Another mistake is thinking you’re too busy and dealing with the board is a distraction.
The fiduciary responsibility and legal obligation vested with boards requires their involvement in organization oversight. In a crisis, it is imperative boards are executing those responsibilities.
Nonprofit leaders should not be attempting to deal with a crisis alone. The pressures of extremely difficult situations affect good judgement and decision making. Board members can offer much needed insight and serve as a personal life-line as well.
Crisis is time for increased board engagement, not less.
Here are three actions to keep your board members engaged during a crisis.
Communicate
Recognize effective communication is essential.
Communication should be consistent and concise.
Keeping board members informed with constant communication that allows them to be apprised of any new issues, actions being taken, and status of organizational operations will help them feel involved and connected. Effective crisis communication also creates transparency and builds trust.
The board should be kept informed on financial status, staff changes, additional service demands, and alterations to programming and events.
Let them know how you and your team are personally coping with the challenge at hand.
Make sure your board is first in your communication chain so they’re not surprised with news they may hear elsewhere. On major decisions solicit board input before taking action.
Treat Your Board as a High-Value Asset
Treating your board as a high-value asset means understanding you have a valuable resource that is not to be wasted.
Charles Darwin said, “The species that survives is the one most able to adapt.” Your board can be the resource that helps the organization adapt and survive.
Board members can be an asset who are able to help work through situations or identify solutions. Raise the level of engagement by asking your board to take on a more strategic role.
Involve your board with a re-visit to the current strategic plan. Determine what priorities may have shifted and identify new priorities that should be added.
Visualize the faces of your board members. Who has talents and experiences you’re not taking advantage of?
Crisis can be a time for benefiting from innovation. Consider this advice from Benjamin Franklin, “Out of adversity comes opportunity,” Indeed, it may seem counter intuitive but crisis caused disruption and uncertainty can create opportunity and your board can provide innovative thinking that leads to new opportunities.
Keep Your Board Motivated
Utilize board meetings for collaborative problem solving. Board meetings with facilitated critical conversation are excellent engagement tools. Energized meetings where individuals feel their time spent was worthwhile will motivate them to elevate their engagement.
Show you care. Don’t forget the board members are also coping with their own personal and business issues. Constantly express appreciation for the work being done.
In a crisis you can’t control the circumstances but you can control your ability for responding from a position of resilience by keeping your board engaged.
What does your organization do to ensure board engagement in a crisis?