Building Stronger Ties With a Nonprofit’s Trustees: Tips From Charity Leaders

Meet regularly, one-on-one, with each board member. To assess board members’ roles, ask them what excites them most about the mission, suggests Marta Miranda, chief executive of the Center for Women and Families, which helps domestic-violence and sexual-assault victims in Kentucky and Indiana. “People’s lives change,” she notes. “If board members are no longer engaged, they need to move on, because it affects the group.”

Ask for more than just money. Call on board members for their knowledge, background, and contacts as well, says Carol Ackerson, chief financial and operations officer for the Girl Scouts’ Arizona Cactus-Pine Council, in Phoenix.

“If board members only see themselves as fundraisers, they won’t see themselves as an integral part of the organization, and they need to be,” says Ms. Ackerson. “Some of our board members are not wealthy, but they know the schools, understand media relations, or have contacts in the legislature.”

Give trustees tasks they want to do. “Don’t assume that they want to do the same kind of work in their volunteer time as their regular jobs,” advises Ms. Miranda.

Share the spotlight. Rather than the executive director or chief executive automatically accepting speaking invitations, offer them first to board members, says Sue Buchholtz, chief executive of Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries, in Haughton, La. Ask them to go along with staff members to a presentation or a meeting with the news media to discuss a success story.

When relationship problems arise, call in help. If a board member starts posing questions that border on disrespect or lack of historical knowledge about the organization, some intervention may be called for.

But intervene gracefully, advises Jack Levine, founder of the 4Generations Institute, a management consultancy in Tallahassee, Fla. Introduce the trustee to a past chairman or knowledgeable board members, so they can learn more about the charity’s history or purpose.

And also listen with an open mind, he says. The trustee may pose important questions and bring a fresh perspective that could make the organization more relevant.

Get acquainted outside of the boardroom. Mr. Levine suggests that informal dinner parties at the homes of board members can help trustees and charity staff members bond.

“It’s just another personal touch to make things work,” Mr. Levine says.