What are the best practices for board rotation and succession planning in nonprofits?

Start with an emergency succession plan both for the chair and for the CEO, as Bruce Sherman suggested in a 2011 article in Directors & Boards magazine. That is, anticipate specifically to whom you will turn immediately if either the board chair or the CEO gets hit by the proverbial bus. After the board has completed this difficult discussion of emergency succession, it will be in a far better position to deliberate on longer term succession issues in the C-suite.

In succession planning it’s imperative to look for valid experience aligned to the CURRENT needs of your board. Are you building out experience and age diversity? Are you assuming that young people don’t bring value to boards (FYI millennials are often More experienced with tech and innovation because they grew up with technological change!) Boards need fresh ideas in succession to remain relevant and aligned to the current state of affairs and changing industries. Rotation deftly ensures that tenure is not the only arbiter of board member value

I like to keep it simple. Just have a plan. And stick to it. This problem arises when: A) board has no succession or rotation plan, or B) It has a plan and does not follow it (or makes wild exceptions that render it useless). Follow a plan, any plan, and you are already most of the way there.

It is important to build a diverse board and to assure you have voices represented from the communities your nonprofit serves.

Every Board Meeting should follow principle of BE HERE NOW. Who cannot be in present moment quorum with empathy for ESG or CSR activities should voluntarily move out to bring in New team member with new synergy generating capacity. Leaders living in past laurels or not leaving in present will not do good for themselves or other deserving new board member.

6 year term limits have become problematic to promoting stability and experience. Many board members won’t stay on for the maximum (very common in today’s environment), so only a subset are likely to gain the experience of 6 years. Forcing the small number of experienced members off so early since this subset are the ones that model board culture and pass on institutional memory. It also forces boards to move someone into key officer roles quickly and then robs the board of their experience after serving as chair or treasurer. In an environment where it is becoming more difficult to recruit and retain volunteer leaders, don’t rush them off. In today’s environment, 10-12 years makes more sense.

At the nonprofit organization where i was a board member we strived to achieve a balanced of incoming board members with those that were on their second term and the outgoing board ones. We also made sure there were had diversity of skills. This system worked very well. Incoming board members were invited to participate in a few meetings before they took office

Agree! Ten years is too long for any board member to serve. Ensure that your rotation policy is in line with your succession planning. For example, if your Treasurer will term out soon, make sure you have another CFO or qualified numbers person to fill the spot. Preferably someone who has worked with the Treasure, thus ensuring a smooth transition. For other rotations, do we still need the skill/knowledge or expertise on the board that the soon-to-retire board member was brought on board originally for? Times change, so always think about what new skills/talent/expertise is needed.

As a leader, the best power to have is to give up power. Having been on several national nonprofit boards, including Giving USA, The Fundraising Effectiveness Project, and locally with Warrington Youth Baseball and Save Kids Castle (yep.. it's a real 8 story wooden kids playground castle in Doylestown, PA, long story there but we did it!), You must have board limits because otherwise new talent and leadership are not motivated to get involved. As a leader, the best power to have is to give up power. As a leader, if you really believe in the movement, it will not only move without you, you get to see the people you like succeed. That's why successful board governance works.

I don’t believe in term limits for serving as a general rule. There is value in the passion and historical knowledge that can come from a veteran member. That said, remaining on the board just because your on it isn’t healthy practice. There should be a set term every so many years (6 years works well) where the agency, co-members, etc justify by argument and vote that the member should continue to serve. This will weed out the stagnate place holders. Secondly, leadership appointments and chair positions should be voted on every two years by members and after two consecutive 2-year terms the member should take a two year hiatus from leadership positions. This rotates power and safeguards from power alliances that defend themselves.

Too many nonprofit leaders approach board recruitment and rotation from a supplicant mindset (which honestly is how the whole sector was established). As such, they are timid in their asks and overly grateful that someone will give their time (or even, gasp, their money) to the cause. Instead, I encourage NGOs to begin any board development effort with an abundance mindset and a posture that invitation to to serve on a board is a privilege and uniquely powerful opportunity to support people doing change work full-time, while they pursue their work and life. The terms of joining (giving requirements, committee assignments, etc) should be clear from the outset and members should be so excited to join they would not dream of falling short.

Many not-for-profit organizations are looking for great, strong, committed leadership skills, a well-rounded personality, sometimes subject matter experience, etc. More often than not, the terms are sobering: significant volunteer time commitment, no payment, little or no recognition outside the organization´s immediate vicinity. Expecting people to do it only for "The Cause" may work in regional or local dimensions, but running a national or international not-for-profit is a different story.

Pela natureza da organização ser sem fins lucrativos, o que implica em trabalho pro bono de seus conselheiros, por vezes seus Conselhos de Administração são tímidos em cobrar um funcionamento similar aos Conselhos de organizações empresariais. Frequência e qualidade de contribuição, agregação de competências diversas e acompanhamento diligente das metas e objetivos são igualmente importantes em Conselhos de Administração de organizações sem fins lucrativos.

Focus on the 3 T's in this order, Talent, Treasure, and Time. Never have a board member with only one, even Treasure. The worst is just time. Yikes.

Pour recruter et intégrer efficacement de nouveaux membres au conseil d'administration, commencez par une analyse précise et détaillée des besoins du conseil pour en cerner toute ses spécificités. Ensuite, établissez des critères de recrutement clairs, axés sur la diversité des compétences, l'expérience pertinente et le potentiel de réseau. Utilisez divers canaux pour attirer des candidats qualifiés, puis menez un processus de sélection transparent et rigoureux. Une fois les membres choisis, un programme d'orientation approfondi est essentiel, incluant la présentation des objectifs et des procédures de l'organisation. Envisager l'attribution de mentors ou de coachs peut également faciliter une intégration réussie au sein du conseil.

Effective governance requires guarding against groupthink. Board rotation & succession planning play crucial roles in this regard, and the idea of change remains on the table, countering tendencies to maintain the status quo. A skilled Board Chair demonstrates both committed leadership and readiness for change, actively promoting rotation as a natural aspect of board dynamics. Encouraging members to seek strategic additions to the board is as vital as attracting donors. However, rigid term limits can pose challenges by prematurely rotating experienced members who serve as cultural models and custodians of institutional memory. An ideal approach may involve phased rotation, fostering stability and preserving valuable knowledge.

En tant que président de l'ASDEVA, je recommanderais d'abord d'évaluer les compétences et les besoins du conseil pour définir les critères de sélection de successeurs. Impliquez le conseil dans l'identification des talents internes et externes, en favorisant la diversité des compétences et des perspectives. Créez un programme de mentorat pour préparer les candidats, en se concentrant sur le transfert de connaissances et l'expérience pratique. Enfin, assurez une transition en douceur en établissant un calendrier clair et en communiquant ouvertement sur le processus à toutes les parties prenantes internes, mais aussi externes.

Review your by-laws, maximum 2 terms at 3-4 years per term and ideally rotation should be done in 1/3s. 1/3 rotate of, 1/3 new, 1/3 stays. This should create stability and limit the loss of knowledge. Work either an hour external board developer to audit all recruitment processes for best practices of diversity across markers.

A good board Board Chair, like all leaders, models both committed presence and impermanence/non-attachment. A board is a leadership group designed for rotation; it is a feature, not a bug. The Chair has to language and signal and celebrate that constantly. Members should be just as encouraged to find great strategic additions to the board as they are to find donors.

Pour surmonter les défis et les pièges courant dans la rotation de conseil d'administration et la planification de la relève, il est crucial de : 1. Établir une culture de confiance et d'ouverture : Promouvoir le respect mutuel et l'ouverture entre les membres pour faciliter la transition. 2. Inclure les membres dans le processus : Encourager la participation et le feedback des membres actuels pour renforcer l'engagement et le consensus. 3. Reconnaître chaque étape clé : Valoriser les membres sortants et accueillir les nouveaux contribue à maintenir la motivation et l'appartenance. 4. Assurer une communication continue : Fournir des conseils réguliers et un soutien aux membres pour minimiser les perturbations et les confusions.

It is best to hire a professional firm to evaluate the board and the CEO. You can hire a firm with the expertise, the data, and the ability to present the results in a most respectful way. It can get tricky - and sometimes personal - telling other board members they are not meeting their fiduciary responsibilities. The firm will have best practices to share and can hold the board & CEO accountable, and few egos will get dinged along the way.

Group think is always a threat to effective corporate governance. Board rotation and succession planning helps to keep the idea of change on the table even if group think may sometimes rationalize maintaining the status quo. Non-profits can suffer from founder syndrome to the detriment of long-term growth and sustainability.

Board Rotation and Succession Planning is a must activity in any non profit organisation as this adds capable innovative minds to explore the opportunities they gave to earlier board as suggestions. Rest once implemented we will know this board members individual leadership quality in real world.