RECRUITING FOR SUCCESS
- Meg E. Cotter Mazzola,
- Joseph L. Pontacolon,
- Angel Claudio,
- Javier A. Salguero,
- Marcelles James,
- Robert Yawson
Abstract
Nonprofits play an essential role in society. To realize their important
missions, nonprofits rely on strong and committed leaders at both the
organization level as well as the governance level. Nonprofits are
obligated to have an active board of directors to operate. This reliance
places the organization in a vulnerable position where they must recruit
and engage with external stakeholders and identify individuals with the
combination of talent needed to succeed as well as the passion for
supporting the organization's vision. Knowing that board members have a
long lasting impact on their organizations, this paper looks at the
varying models of governance and the implications for choosing one model
over another. Determining the best structure for a governance model
represents one component to setting an organization up for success.
Equally, if not more important, is ensuring that the board of directors
is composed of motivated and committed individuals who are steadfast in
their efforts to support the mission of the organization. In order to
find the best people for the role, an organization must understand what
drives and motivates an individual to serve on a board. The topic of
motivation as it relates to governance boards, and how existing boards
can use the motivating factors to recruit and retain board members is
explored. Finally, we explore the value of diverse board composition and
whether certain criteria of diversity carry more weight in terms of
impact than others.