Nonprofit organizations contribute around $1.5 trillion to the U.S. economy each year, making them a powerful driver of both economic and social impact. Yet many of their boards aren’t performing to their full potential, often struggling to bring clarity, structure and agility to their operations.
To explore this challenge, we recently hosted a webinar on “How to modernize governance on nonprofit boards”, featuring Henry Saxon, Managing Principal at Saxon Advisors LLC, and Jeff Breslin, President and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore.
Here are their five practical tips for making nonprofit board decision-making more effective.
1. Train new board members on your culture
It’s easy to assume that experienced business leaders instinctively know how to govern. But in reality, every organization develops its own culture, which informs how decisions are framed, how staff and directors interact and how accountability is enforced. New board members must be inducted into that culture.
“Just because someone knows the basics of being a strong board member, that doesn’t mean they know how it operates in your organization,” advised Jeff. “So don’t take that for granted. Train to the culture you have created.”
Boards that root decisions in mission and community tend to thrive. Those that tolerate “groupthink”, or rely on unspoken norms, risk making decisions that look efficient on paper but don’t work in practice.
2. Make decisions based on diverse perspectives
Many boards see decision-making as a matter of majority rule. But the outcome is only as strong as the process that produces it.
“What I’m more concerned about is the quality of the deliberations to even get to the decision,” said Henry. “If you don’t have diversity of thought, experience and perspective, and everybody is looking at the problem through the same lens, it really doesn’t matter how decisions are made.”
The best boards engineer diversity into the decision-making process, looking for not only demographic breadth, but a mix of professional expertise, community insight and lived experience.
Sharing information ahead of meetings is a good way to encourage members to think independently. “If board members get material only at the meeting, groupthink sets in quickly,” Jeff explained. “But if they receive it in advance, they can bring their own perspectives to the table.”
3. Use meetings as strategic assets
Board meetings often become rituals of compliance. Reports are read, items are ticked off and participants leave feeling busy but uninspired. But the time dedicated to these meetings should be treated as a scarce resource.
“Board meetings are an opportunity to use that collective talent and brainpower to work on the problems, challenges and opportunities that matter most in your organization,” said Henry. “Figure out how you can make the most of your board’s time, rather than just checking boxes and having them listen to a bunch of uninspiring reports.”
Effective boards have clear, straightforward structures to their meetings, which create room for substantive discussion. Digital tools like Ideals Board can make this effortless, helping you seamlessly build agendas, share pre-reading material and capture voting metrics.
4. Modernize your technology
If culture and clarity provide the human architecture for board success, technology supplies the scaffolding. Whether by automatically generating meeting minutes or searching thousands of documents in seconds, digital tools make meetings far more efficient.
The pandemic briefly forced progress in this area, but long-term investment in digital governance has lagged. Most boards remain at an early stage of digital maturity, and many directors remain wary of new platforms.
To encourage adoption, it’s important to demonstrate the value these technologies bring. “Sometimes you have to show a tool in a board meeting so people can see how it makes life easier,” Jeff advised. “They will eventually come along if they understand the value.”
5. Pursue transformation incrementally
The challenge of digital transformation can feel daunting, but it doesn’t always need to involve a complete overhaul. It’s about constantly finding small opportunities to improve.
“If you go back four to six quarters and you’re still doing things the same way, you owe it to yourself to ask: can we optimize this?” said Henry.
Incremental progress, made consistently, builds capability over time. “It can be as simple as moving from a spreadsheet to a system, or getting two systems to talk to each other,” suggests Jeff.
Boost board engagement with Ideals Board
Governance works best when serious decision-making is matched by the energy and enthusiasm of your board members. But keeping them focused and engaged is one of the biggest challenges you’ll face.
One of the best ways to boost your board’s performance is by using a digital tool like Ideals Board. By streamlining administrative tasks and tracking engagement, it gives members more space to contribute meaningfully to discussions.
This isn’t just about making meetings more efficient. It’s also about making them more enjoyable, so members feel a sense of belonging and purpose. As Jeff put it: “Make sure your board has fun. Make them feel like they’re part of something big, because they are.”