As Chair of the Committee on Trustees, you have worked with your fellow Board members to complete the Board’s profile, identifying the skills and experience needed to bring the next stage of the school’s strategic plan to fruition. Now it’s time to determine who can best fill those roles.
Schools often focus on cultivating new Trustees. It’s essential to keep reaching out and bringing a fresh perspective to the Board.
However, don’t overlook a major pool of talent. Sometimes the best person for the job is an experienced Board member—either a current Trustee who is eligible for another term or a person who has served the Board well in the past. Their experience will further the accomplishment of the strategic plan.
Benefits of Recruiting Experienced Trustees
The benefits of working with experienced Trustees include:
- awareness of the fundamental obligations Board members have to serve the school as Trustees, sponsors, ambassadors, and consultants;
- a clear understanding of Board “memory”—the “how we do things and why” of Board structure, function, and methods of operation;
- the knowledge that the Board’s role is to ensure the school’s viability, so they refrain from venturing beyond those specific responsibilties and do not become involved with day-to-day operations;
- a keen sense of the school’s strengths and effective ways to express them, due to their work with the school at the governance level;
- experience with the kinds of challenges Boards face and the knowledge that immediate resolution may not always be feasible; and
- a demonstrated dedication to the school, reliability, and the willingness to work as part of the team.
Analyze the current group of Trustees, identifying each one’s specific talents and noting the year he or she is scheduled to leave the Board. Review and update information on past members. Based on projections of your school’s needs, whose skills do you need to keep? Who might fill the gaps left by departing members?
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You cultivate prospective new members carefully. Do the same with these re-recruits. In fact, you will use many similar recruitment strategies. These usually include the following.
- Select a cultivator who is a compatible match and a major player—a Committee on Trustees member to recruit the Board President—who is capable of persuading the candidate to say “yes.”
- A Board officer is another possibility, particularly if the potential member’s qualifications make an assignment to a specific Board-level committee obvious. For example, the Board Treasurer would cultivate a candidate set for appointment to the finance committee.
- Listen carefully to the prospects. What do they value about their past service to the Board? Where do they have skills, expertise, and financial resources? What do they see for the school’s future?
The efforts you make to bond and recognize Trustees during their term also supports your re-recruitment efforts.
- Promote the importance of the Board’s leadership. List members’ names on school stationery, profile them in the school newsletter and on the website, and publish summaries of action taken during meetings.
- Board service takes time away from the Trustee’s family. Demonstrate the school’s gratitude, perhaps by sending birthday and holiday cards or holding a special reception for spouses.
- Recognize and honor all Trustees as they complete their terms.
When re-recruiting a current Trustee, keep in mind that volunteers that take on leadership roles often deepen their commitment in terms of time, talent, and treasure. Offer a committee assignment that relates to the individual’s interests or job skills. If the person has nonprofit experience, for example, give the Trustee a leadership role in development activities.
When re-recruiting former Board members, first identify the veteran Trustee’s current interests and skills, which may have changed since the person’s previous Board service. Invite the person to major school events, and plan social contacts with current Board members and the School Head.
When inviting the prospect to serve again, part of the cultivator’s task is to develop a feel for when to approach the person about rejoining the Board. How pressing are the school’s needs? How interested and motivated is the prospect?
When issuing the invitation, the cultivator must fully explain how the prospect’s skills and experience will strengthen the Board, and how the person can contribute to the school’s continued success. For prospective Trustees, service on the Board is attractive when they have a clear sense of what is effective and feel there are specific areas where they can make a difference.
In creating a profiled Board, your Committee on Trustees seeks the best talent available. Include current and previous Trustees in the mix as you determine who can best fill the roles required to move your strategic plan forward.
