The Chronicle: 1/6/2005: Trustee Selection Often Based on Personal Links, Study Finds

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From the issue dated January 6, 2005

Trustee Selection Often Based on Personal Links, Study Finds

By Cassie J. Moore

Most nonprofit organizations recruit trustees based on friendship or other personal connection to the organization's leadership, according to a new study by Bridgestar, an arm of the Boston consulting organization Bridgespan that helps charities recruit senior managers and board members.

The survey, conducted in the fall, asked nonprofit board members and executive directors how they picked their organizations' trustees. Participants were also asked which skills they sought in board members, and if they had used any new methods to find them. Of the 457 respondents, 56 percent were board members themselves, and 44 percent were executive directors.

Personal networks of existing board members were the most common recruitment tool cited by those polled -- 427 said they used that approach, while 344 said they based recruitment on nominations made by their organizations' executive directors.

Asked whether their organizations had a strategic plan, 341 respondents said they did, and 294 of those people said their board recruitment was tied to that plan.

Most nonprofit groups focus on fund-raising ability when recruiting new board members. Many respondents, 335, said they seek people who can solicit gifts from individuals.

In addition, 274 respondents said they wanted new board members who could garner foundation and corporate gifts; 215 said they wanted members who could oversee their organizations' programs; and 204 said they wanted members who could provide financial oversight. (Respondents were encouraged to pick multiple responses to the questions about what skills they sought.)

Copies of the report on the Bridgestar Survey on Governance Practices can be downloaded from the Bridgestar Web site, http://www.bridgestar.org. Registration is required to view the survey.

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