June 2007
Understanding Key Operating Practices that Will Affect Your Experiences with a Non-Profit Organization
Recently one of our colleagues asked for advice in handling her new position as chair of the membership committee for a local community service organization. She had been appointed by the president to become chair even though she had never served on the committee, which consisted of the previous chair and two members who had served on the committee for the past three years.
Her concern was how to get feedback on documentation of committee practices and procedures that she had put together. The chair of the organization's board had asked each committee to prepare written guidelines, and our colleague had created this document because there were none for the membership committee. But after e-mailing this document to each of the committee members, she still had not heard back from them after two weeks. She was frustrated and didn't know what she should do.
In reading this vignette, you probably saw several red flags and may have been reminded of something you have personally experienced.
When serving on a board or otherwise working with non-profit organizations, there are a few key distinctions you can make that will help you better understand how to work with the people in the organization:
1. Are there paid staff members? If not, how and by whom are the key operational functions of the organization managed?
2. Is the organization volunteer- or staff-driven? If there is an executive director, is the organization executive director- or board-driven?
3. Is the board a working board, an advisory board, a fundraising board, a trophy board, or simply a token board?
4. Are there formal policies and procedures for board governance and committees?
The answers to these questions will make a significant difference in how you need to interact with and participate in a non-profit organization. If you go in with assumptions from how you run your business or how things were done in the last non-profit you served, you could find yourself pretty miserable and dissatisfied with your experience.
Had my colleague asked the questions we have offered, she might not have found herself in her current predicament. In particular, our colleague believed it is natural for all organizations to have written policies and procedures; but that has not been the culture of this organization. The past committee chair was probably saying to himself, "What's the big deal? If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
By recognizing that she is in a volunteer-driven organization with a working board, no staff support, and no formal policies and procedures, our colleague could have started her role as chair differently. She could have asked for the board president to meet with her and the outgoing committee chair to discuss her appointment and the changes that he wanted to implement. At that meeting a shared understanding of their roles, responsibilities, expected outcomes, and accountability could have been developed along with the cooperation of the former committee chair.
In this situation, it was the board chair who was asking for changes in the organization; and he needed to lead the charge by creating a shared vision and agreement from everyone involved.
With a little pre-knowledge, situations like this one can be prevented or managed more easily.