Friday, August 27, 2010

Advisory Boards

I have always felt that it is a good idea for human service organizations—particularly those in the business of transforming lives—to have an advisory board.

An article from Blue Avocado examines the different forms advisory boards can take.

An excerpt.

“The board of directors of a nonprofit organization is its legal, governing body. In contrast, an advisory board does not have any formal legal responsibilities. Rather, an advisory board is convened by the organization to give advice and support.

“Probably the most common experience nonprofits have with advisory boards is that they invite people successfully onto such a board, and then fail to have that board accomplish much of anything. So it's worth a few minutes to consider the options for doing it right, and even whether to do it at all.

“There are four common types of nonprofit advisory boards, illustrated in the following examples:

• Fundraising: Organization W wants to invite prospective donors onto some kind of official body, but it doesn't think these individuals would be good board members. In some cases the individuals probably don't have the time or interest, and others are not seen as being appropriate (for a variety of reasons) for the board. By creating an advisory board, W hopes to engage donors in a little advice-giving and a lot of donating and fundraising.

• Programmatic: Organization X, in contrast, has a board comprised mostly of wealthy board members who see their role as primarily one of fundraising. But most of the board members are not well connected to the low-income client population, nor are they experts in AIDS -- the work of the organization. As a result, X convened an advisory board composed of low-income clients, social workers, and medical personnel. The advisory board meets four times a year to give input, to react to ideas from staff, and to make suggestions. Several staff and board members attend each meeting. For example, the last advisory board meeting focused on developing a policy around case management for dual-diagnosed clients. X has also convened a Youth Advisory Board. Other advisory groups might include a Disabled Access Advisory Task Force or a Latino Community Advisory Council.

• Letterhead: Organization Y wants to use the names of prestigious friends on its letterhead but doesn't expect or demand any other involvement. The "Advisory Council" exists only as a heading under which these names can be listed; it's helpful to Y and it's easy for individuals to lend their names as supporters to a nonprofit they admire and like.

• Fiscally sponsored: Organization Z is an artists co-op that doesn't have its own 501(c)(3) status, but works under the fiscal sponsorship of another organization. As a result of not having incorporated separately, Z cannot legally have a board of directors. Its advisory committee acts in many of the same roles that a board of directors does but doesn't have the same legal responsibilities. If Z decides to incorporate separately, the advisory committee members will form its board of directors.”