Building Advisory Councils: The Path to Advancement of the Nonprofit Organization

June 5, 2021 0 Comments

Frustrated that your board members lack zeal for the cause and don’t want to raise funds?

If you are the CEO or a member of the board, your nonprofit needs you to drive that board forward. It is time to develop the board. Objective…

What if certain extenuating circumstances suggest that a direct approach to the board of directors is not a good idea at this time? Try the advisory boards.

Advisory councils are a great way to recharge your juices in the leadership and advancement experience of a nonprofit organization. Here are some reasons why:

  • Recruits who may not (yet) qualify for board membership.
  • Expand opportunities to attract new talent, prospects, and involvement to the organization, people who are honored by the appointment and eager to contribute.
  • Attract additional leadership to the organization without threatening current board members – that is, you don’t need to be forced to invite one to leave in order to invite another to join. And, if there is a problem on the board of directors, you can avoid it by choosing to fight that battle another day.
  • It involves leaders who want to serve but do not want to assume fiscal responsibility (just the board of directors) of the nonprofit organization.
  • They appeal to potential members who are often overly committed but still want to participate, which is why they like the limited number of typical council meetings per year.
  • Helps focus members, thus increasing the odds of success, through “single purpose” advice. If your council exists to “give or take”, the members who accept an appointment have already committed to participate financially.
  • Provides an opportunity to increase diversity among influencers in the organization.
  • Serves as a farm team to develop board leadership and other organizational opportunities.
  • Represents the organization or one of its departments, combining the expertise or professional interests of the board members in the best way.

There are more reasons why advisory councils can be your panacea for leadership or advancement. Add your own experiences to the list.

Perhaps your nonprofit organization reserves the authority to appoint councils and / or members to the board of directors. This may be appropriate, depending on the history and needs of your organization. But you may want to speed up the creation of advisory councils and the recruitment / appointment of members by developing a short advisory council plan and then asking the board of directors to pass a resolution authorizing the CEO to develop advisory councils and enlist members later, as required by the organization. You can also use the blueprint as a job description to orient new council members.

Here’s an example of what an advisory council project might entail:

Mission: Advise the CEO on matters related to leadership in the organization and the community.

Advice: Experience, knowledge, strategic thinking, innovative ideas, networking, trend analysis, encouragement, vision projection, leadership, advocacy, mentoring, support, opportunities, and community contributions.

Membership: Members will be appointed for their leadership, experience, wisdom, and connections, which they can use to build the organization’s effectiveness and reputation. They should be people of good character whose lives and work, by association, will be a credit to others and to the organization. Members will be appointed by the Executive Director.

Terms: Members will serve without terms (or may develop terms) as long as the CEO and board member deem the service to be mutually beneficial.

Members must faithfully attend meetings and agree to financially support the organization on an annual or project basis.

Meetings: Councils will normally meet four times a year in meetings called by the Executive Director. Special meetings may be called from time to time.

Authority: Councils serve in an advisory capacity with the consent of the Board of Directors. The recommendations of the advisory council will not have legal or binding authority over the organization, but will likely influence the course of the organization’s development.

One last thought should make a cardinal rule: the worst thing you can do is appoint advisory council members and then not use them (converse, convene, listen, engage, etc.). Putting people on board that goes nowhere wastes their time and disrespects their talents. If you fool them once, you won’t fool them twice.

Advisory councils are a wonderfully flexible and potentially high-impact tool. Skillfully employed by a CEO or board, advisory councils can act as a bleach shock to the organization’s group of leaders. They can help clear things up so that once again you can see where you are going and how to get there.

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