Think back to when you were a teenager, and your parents trusted you with some freedom. It’s like when they leave you home alone for the weekend—nobody is there watching over you like a hawk.
Not having a nonprofit board would be kind of like that. How many of you out there have actually had this thought cross your mind: “Do we really need a board?”
Come on now, you don’t have to feel guilty. If you’re on the staff side of an organization, I can almost guarantee you’ve thought it. Or, at least now you have. It sounds tempting to not have a board, right?
But it’s a two-way street; keep in mind that it’s not always an easy job for the board of directors to work with nonprofit staff. Anne Wallestad, CEO of BoardSource, explored that specific question for the Huffington Post in her article, “Are Nonprofit Boards Really Necessary?”
In the article, Wallestad highlighted the reasons she said were crucial for nonprofit boards to exist.
“Without boards, the social sector would falter in ways that would irrevocably harm us, and would ultimately lead to our demise—maybe not instantly, but eventually,” Wallestad wrote.
Among those reasons for eventual demise, she cited the lack of public trust that would occur without boards overseeing nonprofits. Also, Wallestad said boards are necessary to provide leadership support and start the proccess for a change when leaders in nonprofit organizations aren’t measuring up.
Be sure to check out Wallestad’s full article on the Huffington Post. Also, weigh in—do you think nonprofit boards are necessary? Why or why not?
