Administrators tell me all the time that communication with the board is essential. In practical terms, what does good communication or constant communication mean to you? How do you achieve that? How do you know when you’ve achieved good communication?
OUR RESPONSE
That’s actually a good discussion for each board to have and to answer on their own. The responses is going to be relevant for each nonprofit — some need more communication than others.
The lifecycle stage of a nonprofit will play a determining factor. For example, newer nonprofits will require more communication in order to establish rapport between members and to determine what role the board will actually play, and to explore the margins of their power.
WIth growing organizations, boards may look at issues of growth and may start forming commitees to facilitate more frequent communications among smaller groups of people in order to drive progress.
And, as I am sure you know, in some mature organizations, board members rarely speak to each other outside of quarterly meetings and merely rubber stamp initiatives, and so the goal there would be on determining what will excite board members to interact with each other – such as launching new organizational initiatives that require board support.
It’s up to the Board President to set the expectation and tone of how much communication is required to run the organization effectively. A starting point would be getting the board to understand their responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is managing their organization’s brand. This article that I wrote describes the board’s involvement and key points of communication during the process. I think you may find it informative and may quote from it for your article, with attribution: The Board’s Role in Stewarding Your Brand
Howard Adam Levy, is Principal of Red Rooster Group, a New York based graphic design firm that creates effective brands, websites and marketing campaigns for nonprofits to increase their visibility, fundraising and communications effectiveness. Contact us at info@redroostergroup.com.
