CEOs From Large NY Area Nonprofits Discuss Board Needs; Believe Balancing Skills with Money Are Critical To Success

MONTROSE, NY -- October 4, 2007 -- It is not enough for board members to bring just skills, or just money to the table in today’s competitive nonprofit world, according to 12 CEOs of large New York Area nonprofit organizations that gathered recently to share insights and discuss issues of mutual interest.

The group, consisting of the chief executive officers from the ASPCA, Covenant House, Doctors Without Borders, Planned Parenthood, March of Dimes, Girl Scouts, Catholic Medical Mission Board, American Jewish Committee, United States Fund for UNICEF, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Institute of International Education and Jewish National Fund agreed that board members must be intimate with what was happening in the field to be effective in policy making.  They indicated that large charitable organizations need board members who know what is happening on the ground in the political, humanitarian and crisis arenas that their organizations serve. Just having money doesn’t necessarily qualify a board member to contribute (to the governance process) at all, they said. Yet, a demonstrated ability to deliver dollars to the organization was also noted as an important component of board service, for most, but not all organizations attending.

Several of the CEOs said they have “advisors” with large dollar potential, but it’s hard to find them something meaningful to do when fundraising is driven by the development staff.

The CEO Forum, an ongoing gathering of leading nonprofit CEOs, was facilitated by The Institute for Nonprofit Excellence and hosted on September 11 at Covenant House by Sister Patricia A. Cruise, President & Chief Executive Officer.  In welcoming the group, Sister Cruise said, “We all have a shared purpose to better serve humanity and we all face similar challenges in the nonprofit arena.”

She added that she is hopeful that the attending CEO’s and others from the New York Metro Area can build relationships and connect in ways that are mutually beneficial.  She added that the challenge is figuring out how these organizations can cooperate rather than compete (for resources).

William Bennington of MBS Associates and the Institute for Nonprofit Excellence opened the Forum with a presentation on Trends in Philanthropy.

The discussion that followed focused on the importance of a grass roots appeal and campaign. Key conclusions included:
o    Large nonprofits need to spend more time developing the grass roots gift – not just for the money but for the social impact of the attention it puts on the cause.
o    There remains an inverse relationship between the size of an annual gift and sizeable bequests – small annual givers tend to make the best bequests.
o    Some under-solicited populations should receive more attention:
o    19% of families on welfare give an average of $72 to charity annually
o    Church attendees are the best givers to all causes
o    One CEO said that there were two key roles for them as CEOs
o    To be Chief Vision Officers: to clearly define and express the vision for the boards and staff and public
o    With too many nonprofits all going after the same people/money/resources, collaboration should be a consideration.  For example, organizing and leveraging our collective size to be more efficient with common expense lines (computers, health care, etc.).

Mal Schwartz, President of MBS Associates, then moderated a discussion focusing on the pros and cons of recruiting board members with “Money” or “Subject Matter Expertise” and current trends in nonprofit governance.

Several of the attendees indicated that their boards have already adopted the Sarbanes-Oxley requirements that apply to for profit corporations and the consensus was “what’s not to like about the new requirements?”  The consensus among the group was that Sarbanes-Oxley is a good thing for nonprofit governance.

Several of the attendees indicated they have already put Sarbanes-Oxley in front of their board and have given them a chance to get comfortable with the requirements and in general get ahead of the curve. Most said they have already adopted one or more of the provisions.

The discussion then turned to Board Composition.

One CEO said in cases where Board Committees resembled senior staff departments too closely, board committees were disbanded to ensure that board committees weren’t doing what our senior VPs were doing.  Others agreed that fewer board committees is better than too many.

Most of the attending organizations look for prospects who can bring needed skills to the board and if they have money or access to others who do, that is a bonus.  

One CEO said “about 20% of my time” is spent on board matters and that estimate received near unanimous agreement around the table.

The question of board giving was raised and a sampling of policies from Forum CEOs included:
o    We have a plan charted for each board member, which includes a $75,000 give/get from each member.  Other responses included: $25,000 give or get; $10,000 give or get; give a minimum of $10,000, but must get/deliver total $100,000.

o    Lots of “pro bono get”. Some of our board members give us what amounts to our entire legal service: legal committee of scores of lawyers, marketing committee of a team of marketing professionals, etc.

The group also agreed that it is important to get people at the table from various fields of experience – to get the board out of their “comfort zone” of easy areas like fund raising and legal and marketing issues – to make them deal with the hard mission work aspects of the business.

Mal Brett. Schwartz, President of MBS Associates, explained that his company has partnered with the Institute for Nonprofit Excellence to reach out to New York area nonprofits in a unique way that addresses a common concern of top executives of organizations in this category.

The Institute for Nonprofit Excellence (INPEx), in partnership with MBS Associates, launched the CEO Forums in the New York Area this spring to bring the top administrative officers of large New York area nonprofit organizations together to discuss issues and topics of mutual interest.  CEO’s of nonprofits with budgets above $40 million annually are invited to contact Mal Schwartz at MBS Associates if they are interested in an invitation to a future CEO Forum. Schwartz may be reached via e-mail at \n This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it


Schwartz explained that the two organizations have dedicated their businesses to building nonprofit capacity and supporting nonprofit excellence for two decades.  INPEx, which has provided free training to more than 25,000 leaders from upwards of 5,500 nonprofits worldwide since 1989, focuses on capacity building through “best practices” in board development, strategic planning, and fundraising.  MBS Associates, a cause-marketing agency, has specialized since 1981 in helping large nonprofits benefit from strategic planning and ongoing management by objective disciplines while also linking large commercial companies with nonprofits in mutually beneficial cause-related grass roots marketing program relationships.

“The Institute for Nonprofit Excellence was founded by grant-makers on the premise that well-managed charitable organizations would be more attractive investments for philanthropists and more effective in managing the resources entrusted to them – a combination that would ensure growth in clients served and quality of programs. Among the companies and Foundations underwriting the work of the Institutes are (or have been) Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina which has sponsored INPEx training sessions for the past six years in that state. A group of community Foundations in Eastern Pennsylvania has sponsored the Institutes in that region for several years.  Scott Paper Company, ARCO Chemical Company, Bell of Pennsylvania (now Verizon), The Templeton Foundation, The Huston Foundation, and The Charities Aid Foundation in England sponsored earlier Institutes.  

“The Institutes have held eight two-day sessions in the New York area in the past decade covering about 200 small to medium sized nonprofits. We are now looking to introduce the Institute training concept in the New York region to large nonprofits and as a first step, we have created the CEO Forum, the first of which was held in April, 2007,” Schwartz said.

Contact:

Mal Schwartz, President
MBS Associates
Phone: 914-737-1954 x103  Fax: 914-737-5703
\n This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
2125 Albany Post Road
Montrose, NY 10548
www.mbsa.info

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