How do you stay connected with your Board of Directors and committees?

MikaylaComesMikaylaComes Posts: 15 ✭✭✭
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edited April 2022 in Governance & Boards

What strategies do you use to keep your Board connected and engaged with your important philanthropic work?

Some questions from today's Coffee Talk to think about:

  • What are your policies and procedures for your Board of Directors and Committees?
  • How do you recruit and bring on new members?
  • How do you structure committees and what responsibilities come with that membership?
  • Do you have any events or special things you do to engage your Board Members?


Comments

  • KateClavijoKateClavijo Posts: 18 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2022

    Hi @MikaylaComes, There is a lot to cover in this request. I am happy to share what I can. I have found grant application review in GLM and site visits to be one of the best ways to engage board members. If you want to share ideas, please reach out and we can set up a call. Kate

  • Hi @KateClavijo! Mikayla's questions are some that were discussed during last week's Coffee Talk. We're using this space in Compass to keep that conversation going! We'd love to hear your experience on any one of these topics if you're willing to share, and hopefully others will chime in as well.

    Kara

    Community Manager

    Kara Adams, M.Ed., CAE (she/her/hers)|Community Manager|kara.adams@foundant.com

    Headquartered: Bozeman, MT| Remote Location: Chicago, IL | Direct: 312-802-1374 |www.foundant.com|

  • SharonTillmanSharonTillman Posts: 3
    5 Likes First Comment Photogenic

    I wasn't able to join the discussion live and just finished listening to the recording. One of my roles with the Community Foundation of Carroll County (MD) is board liaison. I'm looking for a secure and (hopefully) easy way to share documents and information with a board that trends older and less tech savvy. Google docs is currently not an option as our board president will not use their products.

    Someone mentioned Boardable, which I will definitely check out. There was also a comment that some are using Foundant's grants or scholarship modules, which I would love to hear more about. (This is our first year using SLM so any insight would be great.) Are there other organizational tools you are using to give board members access to documents, allow committees to communicate, etc that is secure and not too terribly hard for people to learn?

    Thanks for the help!

    Sharon

    Sharon Tillman

    Communications Director

    Community Foundation of Carroll County, MD

  • MaryEllenCenzalliMaryEllenCenzalli Posts: 19 ✭✭✭
    5 Likes First Compass Anniversary First Comment Summit 2024
    edited June 2022

    Hi @LauraMalone,

    We started asking Board Members and Committee members to make thank-you calls to our donors. We send them a list of donors and a script. It is a great way to get them engaged. You can also encourage them to talk to the donors and learn more about why they gave.

    Hope this is helpful.

    Have a great day

    Mary Ellen

  • KentWeimerKentWeimer Posts: 121 ✭✭✭
    First Compass Anniversary Beer Expert First Comment First Answer

    We have a mission moment at the beginning of each board meeting. A content expert will talk about a specific program our foundation is funding. This has been well received.

  • KentWeimerKentWeimer Posts: 121 ✭✭✭
    First Compass Anniversary Beer Expert First Comment First Answer

    @SharonTillman a national board I served on used OnBoard. it was a great portal to share information, documents, calendars, etc. There was lots of built in security. For example, only some people were given permission to see certain things,. There were folders set up for each committee. It made our board meetings much smoother. The distribution of documents was so much easier. Rather than sending large zip files for the board packet, everything was just loaded on to the platform.

  • CarissaGumpCarissaGump Posts: 9 ✭✭
    First Compass Anniversary Photogenic First Comment 5-Year Anniversary

    Our Board Members have all engaged in writing Thank You notes to donors. At the beginning of the year I send out stamps, envelopes and cards to each Board member. Then every month I send a list of names to the Board Member along with address for a thank you to be sent. They are provided a template to follow. This Thank You is in addition to the donor receipt (immediate), donor email from Executive Director (24-48 Hours), and Thank You Post Card (4 weeks).

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