Best practices for volunteer board training

George was excited to be appointed to a nonprofit board. He’d been a volunteer for the organization, and he believed strongly in its mission. He put his name forward to the board chair in part because of his volunteer experience. He also was experienced in fundraising and had many connections to the community. That mix of skills would help the organization meet its goals and the board chair gladly appointed him.

George knew so much about the organization that he figured he’d quickly learn what he needed to be a good board director. Unfortunately, his expectations were dashed at his first meeting, where he found himself out of his depth.

As prepared as most board members believe they are, their first board meeting can be a rude awakening for the work that lies ahead of them. While understanding the organization’s mission is important, new board directors need to understand board governance.

It’s the organization’s responsibility to provide them with governance training to prepare them to serve effectively, Not only will new board directors get a lot out of governance training, but existing board directors also will benefit from continued education as well. Regular participation in governance training will optimize the impact of all board directors, increase board engagement and enhance their overall experience of board service.

The importance of governance training for nonprofit boards

It’s crucial for board members to know all that their responsibilities entail. Nonprofit board directors bring a variety of skills to their board service. However, without the knowledge of how boards do their work, their skills and talents won’t make a difference.

Board directors must be trained in how boards make decisions. Governance training also helps equip members with the skills and knowledge necessary to make informed and effective decisions.

Board members must also understand their legal and ethical responsibilities. Training on their fiduciary responsibilities, and other legal and ethical requirements, helps ensure that they and their organization comply with laws and regulations. This training helps the board maintain transparency and accountability.

Training on their fiduciary responsibilities should include information about risk management. Board members should understand how to identify and manage potential risks. With risk management training, they will be better able to protect the organization’s assets and reputation. Risk management allows the board and the organization to be proactive rather than reactive to challenges.

As Cheretta Cherkley, Executive Director, Association for Positive Behavior Support, points out, “It’s extremely important for continuous and collective learning opportunities that help to deepen board members’ understanding of the organization, the environment in which your nonprofit operates, their roles and responsibilities. When you have better understanding of those things, it allows more effectiveness and provides greater value to the organization.”

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Essential governance training topics for boards

Both new and veteran board members need ongoing training to keep on top of their responsibilities to their organization. The following topics for training will provide some ideas to help leaders and board administrators develop a comprehensive training program:

Board member job descriptions

It can be helpful to put board member job descriptions in writing. Written job descriptions and board service agreements will help trustees to understand their role. Additionally, a session talking through their roles and responsibilities will help consolidate their understanding of how the board operates and what they are expected to do as a board member.

Expectations for financial giving

Many board directors agree to serve on a nonprofit board but may not know that they’re expected to make a financial donation to the organization. Best practices for nonprofit governance include board members giving of their own money to demonstrate their commitment to the organization. This also demonstrates to grantors and large donors that the board is fully invested in its duties.

Board orientation

Every new board director should have the benefit of a thorough board orientation. Veteran directors can serve as mentors for new members to answer their questions and keep them engaged.

Communicating the mission of the organization

Board directors are ambassadors who are vital in spreading the word to recruit donors and supporters. It’s helpful for them to learn how to explain the organization’s work in a few minutes, so talking them through key messages can assist as well as developing their own ‘elevator speech’ should they need it.

Fundraising strategies

Fundraising isn’t a job that most people relish. When board directors learn more about effective strategies and ideas for fundraising, they get excited about the possibilities and opportunities to raise money to help their organization further its mission.

Review of Robert’s Rules

Most nonprofit boards use Robert’s Rules of Order as the parliamentary procedure for facilitating board meetings. It’s crucial for board directors to understand the proper rules and order for motions. Due to the complexity of the rules, it’s also important for them to learn how to locate parliamentary rules for every situation they encounter on the board. Providing them with a cheatsheet of Robert’s Rules can be handy for new board members.

Board self-evaluations

Boards commonly conduct an annual evaluation of the executive director. Best practices also encourage board directors to evaluate their individual performances, as well as the collective performance of the board. Self-evaluations provide an opportunity to address issues like the frequency and length of board meetings, board director skills, recruiting and board member preparation. Written or online surveys are common ways to conduct board self-evaluations. Talking through how your organization does self-evaluations is a useful part of training.

Networking with community business professionals

Community professionals like lawyers, bankers, accountants and insurance professionals don’t always want to take on the extra responsibility of serving on a nonprofit board, but they may be willing to serve as a pro bono consultant. The penalties for legal mistakes will cost money and impact the organization’s  reputation. Board members should be trained on how to identify the type of expertise they need and how to find affordable or free sources of professional assistance.

Developing effective agendas

Directors need to know how they will be expected to prepare  for board meetings including being familiar with the agenda and board materials. Show them where these can be found and how they can prepare effectively.

Good governance will be the end result of training efforts

When you invest in the time to comprehensively train your board members, you will see better governance for your organization, increased engagement of board members and a more cohesive board meeting its goals.

As fundraising for nonprofits is so competitive, donors and grantors will naturally reward those organizations pursuing good governance practices.

Technology supporting board training

Comprehensive board training may seem like an enormous undertaking, but technology can help board administrators to organize and easily find all necessary information for training sessions.

The BoardEffect board management system is a valuable tool for documenting and storing policies and protocols for training.

• Documents can be stored securely in the Resource Library, either for small group or single member training sessions.
• Board members can use annotation features as they go through training to make notes, as well as on key documents when preparing for board meetings.
• Collaborative workroom spaces can help support training during onboarding and on an ongoing basis.
• Surveys can be used for self-evaluations and throughout your board member’s lifecycle to gather feedback and better plan training requirements.

Request a demo today to see how we can support your board training.