Why Does a Nonprofit Board Need Young People?
Post by Dania Toscano Miwa
I do a lot of board recruiting. A LOT.
One of the most common questions I get from those already on the board in question is “Why do I want a college student or young professional on the board? What value does he/she bring?”
While it’s true that most young professionals cannot write a 5 digit check to an organization, is money really the only thing of value we gain from our Board of Directors?
Assuming a nonprofit organization has the right young individual for board service, it can be a mutually beneficial experience. The right candidate has to be a person who has a deep passion for the mission of the organization. I would never advocate putting a twenty-something on a board just because he/she fills a demographic hole. The individual MUST believe in the organization mission, or it doesn’t matter how old he/she is, it won’t be a good fit.
Those dedicated young professionals who really love an organization have oodles of value. It’s often up to the board’s leadership to know how to channel this talent productively. For example, many young professionals have large online networks and know how to build them, something many nonprofit organizations are trying to do.
Organizations should be wary, however, of putting someone on a board who is disinterested in utilizing their networks, regardless of age. If someone truly loves an organization, they would want to share their thoughts and feelings about the organization with their peers and networks, highlighting the accomplishments of the group.
I don’t mean to suggest that once someone joins a board of directors, board membership gives him/her carte blanche to solicit all of his/her friends and family for a donation. Instead, it means that when you join a board, you ask yourself, “Who do I know that would be interested in this organization?” “Do they already know about it and can I facilitate a deeper relationship?” “How do I appropriately inform my networks about this organization that I feel so strongly about?”
Young professionals are often very savvy at online marketing and social media strategies. Even if they are not willing or able to run the online presence for an organization, they are usually willing to teach someone else how to do so.
Additionally, younger people tend to be more generous with both time and money than the boomer generation (based on disposable income). Many young people are more willing to give up time to an organization, which many groups will tell you can sometimes be more valuable than money.
Age diversity can bring a richness to a conversation that may be otherwise flat. For example, one of the boards I was on was comprised of mostly people 50 and over. They often did not think about how to approach people in their 20’s and 30’s with their education and related programming. I found myself often jumping in to say, “What about young families? What about college students.”
Aside from offering a different perspective, this next generation of donors are learning and immersed in philanthropic giving. Most of my peers were raised with a mindset of giving, and have expressed interest in contributing to the community and to organizations. Board service has never occurred to them, but it should. (This is one of my personal missions, and a post all unto itself.)
Many organizations are also struggling with an aging donor population and an aging base of consumers. Adding upcoming generations to volunteer boards is an important tactic. This is a good way of identifying and cultivating new friends and donors from a broader demographic range.
While it may not work for every organization, the vast majority would benefit from new insight.
Now is the time for nonprofit organizations to reconsider their nominating policies and practices, and to consider the importance of new voices. These new voices have a great deal to say about the future of the nonprofit sector.
For more about successfully recruiting young professionals feel free to contact me at dania(@)toscanoadvisors.com
Copyright 2011, The Good Counsel, division of Toscano Advisors, LLC. May be duplicated with citation.
Agreed! In addition to new perspectives, and this may be somewhat crass so forgive me, the older generations won’t be able to serve organizations forever. Orgs will benefit from bringing on young supporters now to allow for a smooth passing of the torch as older supporters are forced to end their service. Check out Convio’s Next Generation of American Giving for more. (And in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m a Convio employee.) http://www.convio.com/signup/next-generation/next-generation-resources.html
I agree that age diversity is important for any board. I have to give the biggest “huzzah” to the comment about networking. There are so many people who are able to give a check, but are reluctant to enlist their friends and professional connections. I think generosity with those kinds of resources are just as valuable as a check, particularly to an organization that is having trouble engaging the next generation of donors and participants.
Great post! I think you’re spot on and there’s a lot to be said about what the younger work force has to offer. I think there’s a certain stigma that comes along with the word “board”. Automatically the image of a bunch of old men sitting around a lavish executives table making decisions for an organization they no longer fully understand tends to come to mind.
I think you stated it best in terms of newer marketing endeavors, which absolutely include social media. This is a great way to attract people towards your organization, involve them, and hopefully turn them into potential donors. I think the overall concept of ROI is changing to reflect some these more social efforts. The donation of someones time and efforts can be just as beneficial as a written check and I think the younger generation tends to understand that. I’ve definitely volunteered for events that I wound up donating the meager amounts I could to at the end of my volunteer shift. Right there the organization returned an investment in both my volunteered labor and funds. People these days want to be close to the organizations they help to provide for. With money tight, they tend to want to see the results. Bringing them in to be part of events is the way to do it. They may only volunteer one time, but they’ll be FAR more likely to donate in the future.
Lastly, I’ve seen quite a few really poor attempts from organizations to get me to donate lately, and it becomes quite obvious quite quickly, that the ideas being put together are being put together by people that don’t understand the market they’re working in. Dated mail-pieces that come with a sheet of pre-printed address labels are hardly an effective bating tool in an era of mostly digitized communications. They’re a costly waste of money that almost certainly costs more than the revenue it brings in. In summation, some of the older dudes/ladies need to start taking note and stock in some of the younger dudes/ladies; they’re organizations will thank them for it in the long run.
Excellent points Keane. Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments. You know, I’m sure a few boards I know would love to have you “on board”. -Dania
Well if that’s the case, be sure to point them in my direction! 🙂
Will do!
You nailed it. The only problem I see is most nonprofits do not do well with figuring out a board strategy beyond looking for well connected, high net worth, and big titles in companies. They need to be a little more operational centric in their strategy, planning then execution.
That’s why you hire Toscano Advisors, that’s what we do!
One of the most important responsibilities of a nonprofit board is to take the long view, and plan for the future capacity not only of the organization to fulfill its mission, but for the nonprofit sector as a whole to thrive. What better way to do this than to start developing the next generation of nonprofit leaders, by giving them the opportunity to serve on a board now?
You know the fact that a nonprofit needs reason or justification as to why they should have a young professional on its board is, my friends, a problem in and of itself. You can take this same issue and replace young professional with African/African-American, Latino and other underrepresented group, and it’s still the same issue. And it’s not a lack of people issue either.
This is going to be one of those things that the sector looks back on 20-30 years from now and wonder: that’s one of the places we went wrong? We need to be more forward thinking and innovative with our capacity strategies.
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At first people are hesitant to buy into the having young professionals as board members of an organisation. But as someone who right out of college who had the opportunity to join the board of a nonprofit church camp I grew I going to. I have been able to provide a wealth of knowledge to the older board members. While at the same time they have been able to serve as mentors. To develop the next generation of nonprofit leaders we do need to get more organizations to give young professionals the opportunity to serve on a board now. I find this much easier done by small nonprofits. But larger ones especially that affiliates of national nonprofits. Don’t seem to take the time when going about nominating new board members to think of people who young professional. Instead they seek out well established professionals with well known names in there respective communities.
This is wonderful. As a young professional working in fund development for a non-profit, I have been very interested in a joining a Board. I believe it would be mutually beneficial. I love engaging people and creating bridges between generations, funders, developers, and more. This encourages me more to seek out Boards of organizations that I passionately support and hope to be a part of one in the near future!
[…] Why Does a Nonprofit Board Need Young People? Post by Dania Toscano Miwa I do a lot of board recruiting. A LOT. One of the most common questions I get from those already on the board in question is "Why do I want a college student or y… (writing a follow up piece to this. Source: thegoodcounsel.com […]
I don’t agree that young people are more willing to give time and money. And many boomers are very comfortable with social media. I’d be careful about age stereotypes, even while I couldn’t agree more that boards should be looking at young and diverse members of our community to round out their boards.
I think this is a very interesting topic and as a soon-to-be college grad who is looking to get involved in a nonprofit organization it is very promising to see a nonprofit hiring young professionals onto their board. I agree that young and diverse people should be brought onto nonprofit boards in order to make “passing the torch” an easier feat. I also agree that social networking is the new way to market, among other things, and young people have much experience with this. However, I don’t feel that ONLY young people can bring that sort of thing to the table. Many older people have more experience than the younger generation in other important aspects of nonprofit organizations and even social networking, so I don’t think only young people could bring this sort of knowledge to the board.
I agree Christy, and I’m not suggesting that experienced people don’t bring these skills, instead what I’m arguing for is more age diversity on boards. Most boards currently are people 55+ with very few younger people represented, I would like to see that change especially as the 55+ group gets ready to pass the torch. Thanks for your comments -Dania
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