Nonprofit Board Size Does Matter

Nonprofit Board Size Does Matter

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

How big should nonprofit boards become? How big should charitable foundation boards be?

In a recent article in New York Times, "Study ties Charity’s Board Size to Losses in Madoff Scandal by Step," Stephanie Strom reported on an analysis by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy that showed that a majority of the more than 100 foundations that lost 30% or more of their assets to the Madoff scandal had four or fewer board members.

Aaron Dorfman, executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy said: “There’s one startlingly simple conclusion here: to avoid falling prey to the next Bernie Madoff who comes along, foundations would be wise to increase the size and diversity of their boards.”

150 foundations were impacted by this scandal.

The Council on Foundations found the median size of foundations is 11. The Association of Small Foundations found that they had a median size of 5 board members.

I bring this up because as a major gift officer I advice nonprofits to have large boards. Each board member should be a major gift donor and they generally know 5 to 10 more. The more board members the larger the fundraising network and the more money you will raise.

However, I get pushback as people want small, corporate style, efficient boards. Look what happened to those small board foundations, efficient decisions, quick decisions weren't necessarily wise decisions.

This size issue has implications for large boards with small, powerful executive committees of 4 or 5 people who make all of the decisions. Watching large boards make decisions may be messy, make take time, but it builds ownership in the final decision by all board members (which usually means they will give more money to “their” organization) and better decisions are made.

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