A strong board team that works together is crucial for non-profit organisations to be successful in their mission. Collaboration can be a difficult task for many boards. This article provides some key tips on how to build and cultivate a productive collaborative board team.
Inform new members clearly about their roles and responsibilities. It is essential to define the roles of each member in the relationship and remove any ambiguity. This will ensure that the members actively participate in board meetings, arrive prepared to discussions and fully agree with the organization’s vision and goals. It’s also important to explain the financial expectations of both new and existing members. This will facilitate a healthy debate and will help in managing expectations.
Nonprofits are limited in resources, staff and skills to accomplish everything they wish to accomplish. Collaboration with other nonprofits can allow them to reach a greater public and achieve greater impact. Nonprofits must be careful when choosing the projects for which they wish to collaborate and ensure that everyone is benefitting. This will help to achieve positive results and create win-win scenarios.
In the case above, Family Focus and CYC were capable of leveraging their individual resources to provide more services. Both organizations were able to increase their reach and assist more families without increasing their budgets. It also allowed CYC and Family Focus to refer new clients. The collaboration resulted an increase in families being served and a larger social impact than either of the organizations could have made on their on their own.