Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit expert to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice. We welcome your comments and feedback.

Nonprofit boards have a wide array of functions and responsibilities, which begs the question, which are the most important? What functions are critical for success? In this study, Dr. Chao Guo and I researched what nonprofit executives describe as the most important roles of the board. Understanding what executives prioritize helps board members engage in practices that can help their organization succeed.

We surveyed 121 community foundation executives from across the United States. These individuals provided almost 400 comments, which were organized into 13 roles. This report summarizes the top seven activities that executives need from their board members.
 

Most Important Roles of the Board

*Percentages total more than 100 because respondents discussed more than one important role

Fund Development

• Fund development involves facilitating and negotiating optimal relationships that support the growth of assets.
• Executives believe that board members are useful in “opening doors” and identifying wealthy individuals who may be interested in working with the organization.
• Executives of small-sized organizations were more likely to discuss this role, as compared to larger organizations.

Strategy and Planning

• This is described as the board’s role in helping to set the direction for the organization.
• This emphasizes the fact that the board should engage in creating strategy, not only watch over strategic decisions that are being made by staff members.

Financial Oversight

• Financial oversight includes developing and monitoring budgets and investments.
• Organizations where the executives held more power, measured by longer tenure, were less likely to mention financial monitoring activities.

Public Relations

• Executives stated that they would like their board members to act as ambassadors for the organizations — increasing their visibility and legitimacy in the community.
• Executives from larger, statewide organizations were more likely to specify this as an important role.

Board Member Vitality

• This refers to the level of commitment and engagement provided by the board. The board needs to be highly capable and informed about the key constituents and the community.
• Executives with moderately sized boards were more likely to talk about the need for more engagement by board members.

Policy Oversight

• Policy oversight refers to the control function of the board, to provide guidance and oversight for the organization.
• Executives in increasingly complex operating contexts were more likely to seek the board’s role in policy oversight.

Relationship to Executive

• Executives appreciated the regular and informal guidance provided by board members about their own performance. This can be conducted through formal and informal evaluations.
• Executives from local organizations were more likely to prioritize about this role.

Key Points

Ultimately, executives look to their board to help them gain access to resources, maintain legitimacy, and improve public awareness of their organization, while providing active oversight and guidance. This is a tall order, and many executives believed the board was only modestly successful in these areas. Executives often lamented that board members needed to assume more “leadership” for the organization and become more “engaged” in their responsibilities.

It is difficult for volunteer board members to assume these responsibilities, and yet when boards work as partners with staff, the organization and the community benefit. We also found that institutional and organizational forces help explain tendencies of executives to prioritize different roles, and consequently, it is important to consider the priorities for each organization when determining how the board can be most beneficial.

William A. Brown is an associate professor in the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University. His research focuses on nonprofit governance, strategy, and organizational effectiveness.

Sources:
[1] William A. Brown and Chao Guo. "Exploring the Key Roles for Nonprofit Boards." Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. Volume 39, pages 536-546, 2010.

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