Why is your Bored?

What my friend Vanessa always says.

Hey, hey, hey, hello! Hey, hey, hey, I'm gonna do a different opposite day. Hey, hey, hey, it's— today is— oh, what a, what a day! What a day!

It's a beautiful day.

It's beautiful.

It is a beautiful day. It's a very beautiful day. Yeah, so today, lovely people, we're going to talk about, um, why is your board— or is your board bored? Yes, it happens, doesn't it?

It does. Even when you're first starting it, they could be bored, or they could be boring.

Oh, boring. That's true. That might be your fault if they're boring.

I know, but you know, you— it does sometimes. Sometimes you say, okay, I'm excited. You got your nonprofit, like, I'm excited. And but then you hear you have to have a board of directors, so you run out and you, you get some people to be on your board, and you're like These people aren't doing anything, they're so boring and they don't want to do anything, and how do I, you know? And there's so many reasons why. Yeah, boards are like that. Yeah, that's what we're going to talk about today. Why is your board bored or boring?

Yeah, I want to, I want to just say, you know, Vanessa knows this, so you guys will get to know this about me. I always like to start from the beginning to help give you some, um concept as to why this, or what is it, context as to why, you know, we're talking about boards. So when you complete your paperwork to start your nonprofit, you have to complete it with 3 names: uh, President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer. Those 3 names must go in your application. And a lot of times, like, you know, Vanessa said, people just pick random people, or, you know, or they'll get people who, you know, they can say, you know, I actually talked to them, they said that they would do it, and they put their names on the list. Very rarely do those people whose names you put down in the 12th hour to get your paperwork done, very rarely do they ever step up to the plate and actually participate in your board. So what Vanessa and I do here at the Nonprofit Founders Club, um, well, at the Nonprofit Founders Club— so I have to keep in mind this is the Nonprofit DIY podcast But at the Founders Club, what we do when we teach you how to— well, not teach you, but when we walk you through starting your nonprofit, we actually encourage you to have your first board meeting before you finish the class. So that way you've called these people, you've made sure you can use their name and address, they've agreed to do certain things. Take them up on their word, get it started. Yeah.

Yes. And one of the things— so, um, and one of the things you want to do is before you do it is be kind of clear on what it is that you're going to be doing. Sometimes as a founder, we're like, hey, I got this idea and I want to help this person and this person, and you have all these ideas about what you want to do. And then sometimes when you're choosing your board members, are you inviting people to serve on your board and to help you build it you can overwhelm them with all these things that you want to do, and they're like, oh wait, that's way too much for me. So yeah, really sit back and think about the core thing that you really want to do. Even though we know our organization, we see this big vision for our organization, you want to sometimes just start small and then let the board be able to grow and see your vision and talk with you about and be a part of your vision, versus you taking everything and saying, this is what I'm going to do and I want you to come and serve on my board, and yada yada. Right? So there's so much to when you're first engaging your people to serve on your board. But once you get them engaged and once you say, okay, they've committed— Antonessa, what do we do now? So I got these people, we're committed, and we're having our first board meeting. Tell me what I should do so that they don't seem like they're bored and that they're not helping to— going to help me build the organization. What do I do?

Yeah, um, so I have a couple of suggestions. The very first thing you want to do is you want to establish clear roles. So, you know, typically, uh, a board will start with the president, and the president is usually the founder— at least it should be—

usually the founder. Don't put any responsibility on somebody that— for it to be the founder, because you really don't want to throw that huge responsibility on someone who doesn't really know your vision, your goals, your plans, and what it is you want to do.

Yep. So you have, uh, so it's usually the president founder, the vice president, and then the secretary treasurer. And then if you're fortunate enough, you can have a separate secretary, a separate treasurer, and have board members. You know, I think a lot of people think board members stop when you get to the, you know, you fill those office positions. But no, in your bylaws you probably said you're going to have, you know, no more than 5 board members. So that'll include those officers and other people. So you're going to want to, uh, to establish clear roles. So what is it that I'm supposed to do? We've all worked in some kind of job and some kind of capacity. And what's the first thing we get? We get a job description. So those board members should have that. And then I even think it's important, you know, number 2, to develop some onboarding process. Uh, most— if you, if you work with us at the Nonprofit Founders Club, I'm even going to encourage you to have a an interviewing process. You know, like, you don't just say, you know, go out and pick random, uh, random Randy to say, hey, come join my board. But you actually interview people so that way you know when you've selected someone— not just you, but when the board has selected someone— that person shouldn't be boring and, uh, shouldn't, uh, you know, come with other expectations. But no, you've all vetted that person and, uh, have done your due diligence. So, yes, um, so then you have an onboarding process.

Oh, sorry.

No, no, you go ahead.

Yes, and you want to make sure— and so when you, when you get that person, you want to make sure that it's just not— it's not, not your good— your relative, right? Right. You get them on board and And then think about it, when you're setting— you as a founder, I'm gonna talk about the founder. You talk about the board, I'm talking about the founder. You as the founder, again, you want to have clear roles and responsibilities. So you don't want to just go and just go online and find some roles and responsibilities without reviewing, looking at them, you know, um, really ensuring that it's meeting with what it is that your board will be comprised of. And then as you're interviewing them you want to make— you got to realize is that the board of directors, because this is your ultimate goal, and I believe this is the ultimate goal for most people who found their organizations, for them to work in the organization day to day and then they to be the CEO. So what you have to remember when you're interviewing these people's— the people's— the people and prospective board members is that they're going to be your boss.

Exactly.

Board members technically hire the CEO and executive director. So when you're interviewing these people, you want to make sure it's like they're like bedfellows. So you want to be like, who are these people? Who are these bedfellows that I'm having with? Because even though we say this is my nonprofit I started, it's not. It's a community organization. So you want to be careful of who you decide you want to be on your board of directors and who you want to supervise, and that you could take directions from them when they go, because they're going to give you direction because that's their, that's their business. And that's what they're supposed to do. They're not supposed to run the day-to-day operations of the organization, but they are there to oversee the CEO.

Yes, yes. Also, the onboarding process just helps to establish, um, some clarity around procedures, um, helps to just re-establish bylaws, which are very important. And, and I don't think we say this enough, but every single thing you do, you should also be repeating your mission statement, um, throughout. So board members can— that's a part of the onboarding, that they're overwhelmed, inundated by this mission statement.

Yes, yes, absolutely. Mission— because the mission statement, most people think it's just a piece of paper that you just have these beautiful words and you stick on the wall. Your mission statement is what guides your board of directors, it guides your nonprofit, it guides your staff, it lets the community know what direction you're going in. So it's like a guide as you're doing your organization. So when they see that mission, they're like, ah, this is what we're working towards. So you definitely, definitely want to have that, um, visible and have it imprinted in their mind. Look and tell your boy— have your board members be able to— and you to be able to say it and be able to recite it as a founder. Yeah. And, and founders, I'm gonna tell you, it's really important. Again, I'm gonna reiterate this, is when you're doing your onboarding process, know your onboarding process. Know it all before you get in front— don't get in front of them and be like, um, and I know we just did this in the, in the Founders Club. I know they gave us templates, so I'm just gonna look at these. Wait, hold on a minute, hold on a minute, because I got these templates and the Nonprofit Founders Club, I got the templates. So this is what we do. So, um, yeah, put your name right here. Okay, hold up. Okay, so you really want to be able to know it so your board has confidence in you because you're the leader. So you want to— you want to be able to let them know that you are the leader, and so you know what you know when you step up to start talking with them.

Okay, exactly. I agree with you 100%. And then I'll just add this last, uh, thing that I think is important. Is provide regular updates. So don't just— I mean, it drives me crazy when I sit on a board and we have established that every other month we're going to have a board meeting. And, you know, and it's also been clear because the bylaws state, you know, in 2 weeks before, there'll be a reminder of that meeting, and a week before, a reminder of the meeting. And the reminders don't come out, you forget because it's not your everyday thing. And, uh, then next thing you know, somebody's writing or calling you and apologizing because they forgot that there was supposed to be a meeting today. So have regular updates. Give your board regular updates. Have your Schedule board meetings, talk about what's on your agenda.

And we could— as a founder, I'm gonna go back to the founder part because you have founder here, you have a board member here, right? And so that's the other one. So as— and then there is so much to do. Oh my gosh, we all know there's so much to do when you're, when you're running a nonprofit organization, let alone getting off the ground. But there's so many tech tools to today that we didn't have back in the day when I started my nonprofit. Use those tech tools. Sit down and you can go for the whole year and say, you know what, boy, we're going to plan our, our meetings for the whole year. And then get back, do an autoresponder in your emails and send them out. Autoresponders— hey, don't forget we're having a board meeting. A board meeting is coming up in 3 days, you know. And just let— just keep it in mind. And guess what? You don't have to do anything unless something changes. If the board meeting changes, then you just have to go and make that change. But otherwise, honey, I'm gonna tell you all to set it on autopilot.

Yeah. And also, I'm gonna even add to that, Vanessa, and say that might be a nice way to engage the secretary of the organization. Have the board secretary, you know, like, you do it in the board meeting establishing the dates that you'll meet, and then have the board secretary do the follow-up and, and set up the autoresponders and, and send those out.

So yeah, if you get a secretary that will do it.

If you get a secretary that will do it, that's absolutely right.

Yeah, one of the things that, one of the things that we find, and you're going to find, you're going to get a board of directors and they're not going to do nothing but show, but barely show up to meeting. They're going to be going, coming into me like, and you know, that's what we're going to talk about probably next, our next podcast, because this Talking about the board of directors, we're probably going to talk about this. It's going to be a good 3-week, month talk because there is so much in the board of directors. You know, they're coming into the board meeting, it's like, and they barely want to be there, and they're just like, oh, why do I have to come to this meeting, right? And then you as the founder, you're like, I'm so frustrated. I got these people, they said they were going to help me, and they don't even show up, and I can't even get the secretary to send out when our next meeting is, right?

I think that what would be kind of good to talk about this next few minutes is what you should not expect from your board.

Mm-hmm.

Yes. So you have this board, they're bored and boring. When your board is bored, your board is also boring. Mm-hmm. So what shouldn't you expect? From them.

Yeah.

And these may be good things to let them know. I don't expect it, but I'm encouraging you to do it. And the very first one at the very top is fundraising.

Yes.

So sorry. So here's my thought on fundraising. Fundraising is not fun at all. And so when you have to go out and you have to make cold calls or You know, a lot of boards will say, hey, send us a list of all your, your best friends who we can, you know, solicit money from. Uh, none of that is, is fun. Or even if you do the prepping your best friends to say, hey, I'm in this board, and somebody's going to reach out to you, but it's just not fun.

And don't expect them to do it, but don't expect the board members to do it by themselves. A lot of people get their board members, they're like, hey, we're having a fundraiser, I want you to go and I want you to do cake and I want you to do this. Don't expect that of your board. They are not going to fundraise on their own.

No, and that's what I was going to say. So you have to put fun back in fundraising. And trust me, Vanessa and I have tons of ideas, and when we get to it, we're going to share. We don't hold anything back, but this one we're going to hold back until we get to fundraising, and then we're going to tell you how to put fun back in to, um, to fundraising. Another one, another thing that you don't want to do is you don't want to micromanage your board. No one wants to be micromanaged anyway. So I, I'll never forget, I had a—

oh, oh, oh, keep talking, go ahead.

I'll never forget, I had a, um, I had a teacher once tell me, um, she said, uh, what did she say? She said it this way, she said, um, you know, she was giving me marital advice. And I've been married now, happily married now, for over 20 years, so it must have worked. But she said, don't nag your husband. You tell your husband what you need, and then you leave it alone, you know, and you let it go. And so, um, we had this, uh, so we have this rule in our house Like when it's time to take out the trash, I don't say a word. I just put trash in the trash can and then you just wait and see if the trash goes out. And if the trash doesn't go out, hey, not my— you know, like not for me to nag him about it, you know. Maybe he had a reason. And if you know my husband, if the trash doesn't go out, he had a reason.

So Yeah, yes, absolutely, absolutely. So you don't, you don't want to, um, expect your board to go out and do it on their own, you know, even though you have expectations of them. Boards, boards are not there to do certain things, and, and they'll raise money with you. You actually ask them to engage them with you, but do not expect them to go on and come up with ideas because they're not. And the reason why we're saying don't expect it because We don't want to set you up for anger, heartache, frustration. These board members, they don't want to do anything. One thing I always— and I always would tell— I had to keep reminding myself is that I wanted to start this organization. I wanted this baby. And so, and since Antoinette used an analogy of a family, I'm going to use an analogy of a family. Sometimes in the family, one person wants a baby and the other one really doesn't, okay? And so the one who really wants the baby they go in and they have their baby, and they are the primary responsibility, their caretaker of that baby. They're the one that's nurturing that baby, that's loving their baby, that's raising their baby. But even though the other partner is like, hey, I will, I will do what I can to help, you know, but I still got my life. You— this is what you wanted, the baby, more than I did, right? I still want to go on. I still want to hang out with my, my friends. I still want to get my, my— do my— get my hair done. Whether I'm not, you know, whatever it is I want to do, I still want to do these things. You want to go out and do these— you do these things with this baby. That's— you're the primary caregiver. And so that's how it is with the nonprofit. You are the primary caregiver. You may get a little support, right? And do you have— should you expect it? Yeah, you should expect a little support, but don't expect them to be the primary caregiver because this is your baby. Yeah, or you brought this baby home to your family, you're like, look, family, I have this new baby. And they're like, oh wow, I got a new niece, I got a new nephew. But you don't expect them to be the one that's going to be taking care of— be the primary caregiver. And another thing that do not expect and do not allow— this is what I'm gonna say— do not expect and do not allow your board to do the next thing we want to talk about real quick, Antoinette. And what is the next thing? Do not allow them to—

that's not the job. Oh, so sorry, say it again.

Um, what we do not allow them to is to micromanage staff. Yes, your board of directors is not— you— your board of directors do not manage staff. They manage— they oversee the CEO, executive director, which is your job to oversee staff when you get the staff, when you hire staff. But your board members should not be micromanaging staff, right? Managing any staff except for the CEO. And I'm just overseeing it.

And, and what I was saying earlier also is you also don't micromanage your board. No, but yes, don't micromanage. Boards have absolutely no responsibility for the staff, but they are responsible for the actions of the CEO, but not for the staff. Yeah, the boards manage the CEO, but you also don't want to micro— you don't want to micromanage anyone. You don't like being micromanaged, and others don't like being micromanaged either. So do not do that. That's a big red X.

Yeah, and to be honest, I'm going to be— I'm going to be honest and transparent right now, is that to get to boards. Boards should— as a board member, they should be responsible for a lot of things in the organization, but they're not going to be. Just this, this is just my scene. Of course there's boards out there who are very functional, who are very engaged in their organizations, but you find a lot of these— you find two things. You find one, the ones that are so engaged in the organization that they eventually take over the organization and push you, the founder, out of the organization. Then you find those who say, yes, I will serve on the board, and that's all they do is they serve— they serve on the board, but they don't really do as much on the board. And for me, I always had to weigh the cost. Which one did I prefer? Did I prefer the one that was going to work so hard and do so much and push me out, my visions, my goals, my dreams, and me out? Or because they, they, they— if— or am I— do I want the ones that's going to— because you really get two, really. Very seldom you get, you get the third one in the middle that's going to, you know, really support you and, and have your back and not wants to oust you. And then you have the ones that says, okay, I will do these things, but it's a fine line. And you can get those members that will do those things, but if you are expecting them to do these things as a board, as a CEO and a founder, you're going to be so disappointed. So what we want to do is we want to set you up so you don't be disappointed. You know, if you're just starting your nonprofit, let's not come in and say, oh, I'm starting this nonprofit, I'm going to get this board of directors, and they're going to do everything, they're going to help me get this baby off the ground, and they're going to just work side by side with me. The only thing I want to remind you is that this— you wanted to do this, and you're going to be doing 99% of the work yourself. And once you get it off the ground and they see, oh, what, this, this is a nice organization, this is cool, then maybe I may want to then volunteer and be an active board member, really be active, because they can see the vision, they can see the organization doing something. But if you expect them to come in and just off the ground and do all this stuff for your vision, your dream, and you have nothing to show but a piece of paper— possibly you may have submitted your 501, you may not have, but you have a piece of paper that says you, you have a 501, but you're really technically not a 501 because you don't have anything— don't expect a lot from them because If they wanted to start an organization from the ground up, they would have. But once you get your baby up off the ground a little bit, you got the toddler, they all go, she's so cute, she's a toddler, I'll babysit, right? Then they may want to come in and you'll get more help. But in the beginning, don't, don't have such high expectations for your board. And don't— I, I was working with one person who said it was a privilege for them to be able to serve on your board, and they're going to give me money because it's a privilege. I'm like, well, what privilege is it? And this person was just so adamant that these people were going to come on her board and they were going to give her money because it was, it was such a privilege for them to do it. What do you do? They weren't doing anything yet. They barely had their 501, and it's like, don't expect that from your board.

Yeah, yeah.

I know I went on a rampage right there.

I'm sorry. Oh no, no, no, no, I, I don't have anything to add to that. Oh yeah, you know, I'm thinking that, um, Well, we'll say one more thing not to expect from your board, and then I think we should save the fun conversation for next week. Okay, so one more thing not to expect from your board, or one thing that you really shouldn't do, um, don't make decisions in isolation. So you're, you know, and actually you shouldn't be making decisions. The board members shouldn't be making any decisions, and I'm speaking for the founder side, and the founders shouldn't be making any—

you ain't speaking for the founders on my side. I'm the founder, I'm gonna make all kinds of decisions.

Not without your board.

No, well, you know, I make decisions and I bring them back to the board and we discuss them, but this is just me and how I run my organization. I ran mine for so many years, I would sit and I would say, okay, these are the things I do, because as you're running an organization The— what the board has done, even though they hire the CEO, that you have the autonomy— you have the autonomy, you have the responsibility of making some decisions. Oh, it's like managers make some decisions. So you have to make— you have to make decisions, bring back to the board and say, these are the things that we're doing, these are the things that I—

I'm so sorry, I want to just clarify, I am definitely not talking about how the CEO manages the organization.

Okay, okay.

I'm talking about like You know, like a board member can't just go out and decide like, okay, I'm going to submit this grant for, you know, this $50 million over here at Chrysler if it wasn't discussed by the board and agreed that that was the way that they wanted to go. Or I'm going to, you know, like I'm going to go to the CEO and tell the CEO I don't like the way she's, you know, doing things without it being a discussion among the board. So I think sometimes too, and board members may not know this, but you have a cookout and you've invited all the board members to the cookout, and that's been— that's great. And all of a sudden you're all standing around the grill and then you say, you know, hey Bob, do you like the way that the organization is running? XYZ. No, no, let's talk to Jill. Let's bring Jill in on this conversation. Hey Jill, what do you— that's a no-no. That's a no-no.

That's a—

that's making a decision in isolation, meaning that it's outside of an official board meeting. So that's— I'm so sorry, Vanessa.

So, you know, as a founder, it's like, hold up, wait a minute.

Absolutely right. But so see, in that respect, you're not operating actually as the founder, you're operating as the CEO.

Yes.

As the founder, you're, you're the founder when you're the head of the board.

The president is like, hey, look, yes, this is, you know, as a president. Yeah. And those again goes back to our setting our expectations, our rules, our rules, you know, setting our standards. And then one of the things that we do is there's a thing called Robert's Rule of Order, right? And the Robert's Rule of Order— if you guys don't know what Robert's Rule of Order is, take a look at it. It's just that it could be long, but it's just how boards should operate. And someone just came up with this Robert's Rule of Order, it's been sticking. The government likes it, you know, the IRS likes it, the Robert's Rule of Order. So look at the Robert's Rule of Order. So what we want to do is— we— I love this because, um, we call this Nonprofit DIY. And why we call it Nonprofit DIY is because you're going to be doing it yourself. You may have some board members doing it. And I love Antoinette and my dynamic because I'm a founder of a nonprofit and Antoinette has served on boards of a nonprofit. So you all get this dynamic of the two of us together. So sometimes it'd be like, no, I don't think so. And it's like, yeah, this is at the board. I'm like, well, forget it.

I'm like, who needs founders?

I founded this organization and this is just the way that it is, right? Because this is the way that it really is. And so then, then Antoinette is letting you know this is the way that it should be. And then so, so you're going to get this really wonderful dynamic. But what I want to encourage is why we call this Nonprofit DIY, because even though you have this board, you're going to be doing 99.9% of the stuff by yourself. And when I say that, it's even doing the board stuff by yourself. You're going to be— you're going to come up with the minutes sometimes, and the meetings. I'm not even gonna lie, I can come up with the agenda I would come up with what's happening on the organization, and then I would end up writing the minutes after the meeting and sending it down. You're going to be doing it, but you do have this captive audience. So if you have the people that you're, you're like, um, how do I get them to move? Why are they bored? Why are they boring? We're going to tell you some of the things in the upcoming days and weeks of what the things that you can do and why you can make it easier for yourself and how you can make it easier for them. And as you make it easier for them how they will stay, and how you could probably get them moving a little bit more in the direction you want to move them in. But you want to keep a balance of keeping your board and keeping yourself insane while you're working in insanity.

Yeah. So I just want to say, I hope that this was helpful. And then just to wrap up, uh, there we gave you kind of like 3 things that board members you, you, uh, that you should do. And one was you should set clear expectations. Uh, you should also, um, develop some kind of onboarding process when you bring your boards on. Provide regular scheduled updates for your board members. And then we talked about 3 things that you should not expect your board to do, and that's fundraising on their own, Um, micromanage staff, that's an absolute no-no. And make decisions in isolation, that's an absolute no-no.

So—

oh, I'm sorry.

No, go ahead.

Oh no, so I was going to say, so those were the 3 things that we talked about.

Yes, and those, and those are just 3 minor things. There's so much to the board and the founders dynamic. So we're going— this is something that we're going to be talking about because this is laying the foundation of your nonprofit. Yeah. And sometimes we just throw things out there and it's like, okay, they've thrown it out here and it's, it's so much that you can't do. So we're going to really be pounding on this, um, for a while because this is a very, very important topic.

So next week we're going to talk about, um, how to maybe unboard your boring— how to unboard your boring, uh, Bored. That is hilarious. Anyway, I'm no good at the titles. Vanessa comes up with the really catchy titles. I'm here for content. Um, but we're, but we're going to talk about, you know, maybe some fun things you can do to not only bring that board together but also to break that boring bored kind of feeling among your board.

And then as the founder, you're not getting bored with them. It's like, oh, these people get on my nerves. They're so boring. Oh, I got to meet with them again.

Gag me. So we have some really good stuff for you coming up. So stay tuned.

Yes. And if there's anything that you want to talk about, anything that you want to know, Um, please join us over at our Nonprofit Empowerment Group. So go to facebook.com/group/nonprofitempowerment and you will find us over there. Pop in some questions that you would love to hear us talk about and elaborate on, and we will get to your questions. And then we're doing this live, so if you have any questions while we're going to be doing this live, you can come in. And I gotta figure out how to work this chat thing, um, when we go online. I haven't figured that part out yet. I see people popping in and people there, and I don't know how to get them to chat. So if anybody's out there and they use Restream, you know how this tool works, please let me know. Yeah, in the Nonprofit Empowerment Group. So this is Vanessa Lindsay with the Nonprofit Founders Club, and Antoinette Artiz. Antoinette Artiz has a dynamic virtual assistance business. And so as we go back to the board, there's just one thing I want to say. Antoinette has her own business. And so for her to agree to be on other organizations' board of directors— she serves on other organizations' board of directors— you cannot expect her to run her business and then come and run your business day to day too. So that's all for us, and we will see you next week. This is a Nonprofit Founders Club DIY podcast, um, where we talk about all things that you're gonna be doing it yourself on. All right, talk to you later.