Facilitating a Board Retreat

Article by Herb Rubenstein

Introduction

Board retreats for nonprofits can either be transformational events that propel a nonprofit toward greatness, or a wasted opportunity. Forward-looking nonprofits often hire an outside facilitator to help guide the board retreat and help make it a success. This article provides some guidance both to nonprofit organizations and consultants on the best way to utilize the services of a facilitator to promote lasting success from the board retreat.

The Context

Nonprofit boards run the gamut from friends of the Executive Director to people selected based on their talent, competencies, drive, and long-held support of the mission of the organization. While the cardinal rule for nonprofit boards is NIFO, “nose in fingers out,” often boards of directors must play a crucial role in directing the Executive Director and senior management in such areas as strategic planning, human resource policies, government relations, formation of strategic alliances, public relations, identification of potential donors and funding sources, setting policies for and monitoring of the quality of operations and constituent services, and financial management.

In essence, as Richard Male, a nonprofit expert states, there are three generic kinds of nonprofit Boards –

• Working Boards

• Wisdom Boards

• Wealth Boards

Initially, most nonprofit boards are “working boards.” The nonprofit may be new or very small, and it does not have the staff to do everything it would like to do. Therefore, board members volunteer and pitch in on a regular basis alongside the staff in making events happen, providing constituent services, and even writing grant proposals.

After the nonprofit board grows in size and has a reasonably competent staff, the board often transforms into a “wisdom board.” The board does less volunteering at the staff level and provides more legal, accounting, strategic planning, and other forms of guidance for the organization. At some point, the nonprofit matures to the level where it has hired excellent accounting firms, law firms, consulting firms, has great staff, and the role of the board transforms again into a “wealth board.” In this instance, the role of the board is to be missionaries for the organization, raise awareness about the organization in the right circles, and to raise money for the organization.

On occasion, a board can include members who are “working board” members, “wisdom board members,” and “wealth board members.” Every board retreat facilitator must, in advance of the board retreat, precisely know the role of the board for the nonprofit, and must know the role of each board member. Preferably, the board facilitator has met each of the board members personally before the board retreat. However, with larger boards, this might not be possible.

The Steps to Being A Great Board Retreat Facilitator

In addition to knowing the role of the board and the board members, the facilitator must know the nonprofit itself, its goals and mission, its history, its challenges, its finances, it’s desired future and opportunities to expand, and the personal dynamics of the board of directors and the senior staff. Getting to know some of the senior staff and their views before a board retreat would be an excellent step for a board facilitator but is often beyond the scope of the allowable budget for the board facilitator.

After learning about the organization and the board prior to the board retreat, the board facilitator should be directly involved in helping set the agenda, the timeline, and the goals for the board retreat. In addition, a board retreat’s success or failure often depends on successful and diligent follow-through after the board meeting. A facilitator should assist the board even plan the follow-up activities the board and staff should undertake to make the execution of the ideas and plans developed at the board meeting be successful.

The Role of the Facilitator

The facilitator’s role at the board meeting is to bring out the best in every participant. The job is to promote conversation, assist the board stick to the agenda and timeline, and to keep track of all action items and ideas that warrant post board retreat attention. The facilitator should also insure that the board has a secretary or someone who will take thorough and accurate minutes of the meeting.

While the facilitator may suggest that a person take the lead on a particular idea or area of interest after the board retreat, this is the job of the Chair of the board and the committee chairs. Ultimately, the facilitator should be a catalyst to excellent board communication, action planning, and promote a robust conversation among board members.

The “Post Board Retreat Role”

While this role may vary in size depending on the nonprofit’s budget and the scope of the facilitator’s contract, at a minimum the facilitator should attend one follow up meeting to the board retreat to help insure that all of the follow up activities decided upon at the board retreat are receiving sufficient and timely attention. The facilitator should also write a report to the Board summarizing her or his observations, findings, and recommendations for the board of directors and the nonprofit organization as a whole.Conclusion

Conclusion

The time of every board member is valuable and board retreats, even by all-volunteer boards, are meetings where people invest substantial amounts of time and energy. They must be carefully planned, flawlessly executed, and rigorously followed up to ensure success. This article represents a concise, but thorough, description of the role of a professional facilitator for board retreats.

While the investment necessary for a board retreat facilitator to help a board retreat produce excellent results for the nonprofit is substantial, the benefits to the nonprofit of this professionalism should greatly outweigh the costs. Ultimately, a board retreat facilitator can become an indispensable part of a successful board retreat.