The Mission Creeper and other scary board members

When there's something strange
...on your nonprofit board
...who ya gonna call?
Board Busters! 

If only…right?

But seriously, there are some board members that just bring you down, and you need to recognize it and bust them as fast as you can.

Just who are these board spooks? And what do you do with them?

The Mission Creeper 

You know the one. The board member who says s/he believes in your mission, but keeps trying to get your organization to do something else. You're a small theater company barely able to employ one full-time staff, and they want you to start an after school program. You work on policy issues, and they think you need to start providing direct services. They maybe aren’t all wrong, maybe it is an area you might consider in a few years, but they’re on it like a dog on a bone and won’t stop moving your mission sideways instead of forward.

Board Buster Solution: 

There are two problems that give rise to the dreaded mission creeper. 

Sometimes, it's just a lack of understanding of your mission and your resources. Maybe their idea isn’t a bad idea, you just don’t have the resources and there are more mission-critical priorities. Sit down one-on-one with your mission creeper. Explain your organizational priorities and why you have to stick to them. 

The other problem could be that this board member lacks affinity to your organization. This happens all too often with the “we need warm bodies” method of board recruitment. The board member feels a responsibility for your organization, but your mission isn't their passion, so they are trying to get excited about your mission. Here the solution is again a one-on-one to discuss your mission, why they said yes to joining the board, and maybe an honest parting of ways. 

The Amazing Disappearing Board Member

This board member is front and center in board meetings, agrees to take on responsibilities, promises to help on particular efforts, then…poof…when you need them, they are nowhere to be found. This board member is an active hindrance to the board because you know other people would take their tasks if they understood the problem. And worse, you end up doing their job so other board members genuinely think this member is contributing. 

Board Buster Solution: 

In advance of your next board meeting, track this board member down and ask them to meet you a bit before the meeting (however long you think the conversation will take). Have a list ready of things they haven't followed through on, and tell them you wish to have a candid conversation about why things haven't happened.

Be willing to take some of the blame (for example, you didn't provide necessary information for task completion and they simply didn’t tell you they were waiting on it). If there are kinks in communication, work them out, but then talk to the board member about how their volunteering for tasks they have not completed has hurt the organization (in concrete terms; give examples).

If the issue is over commitment (as it so often is in my experience), talk to them about what amount of time they can realistically commit to your organization and ask them not to take on more than that. You probably know better how long things will take, so you also need to take responsibility for making sure you don’t allow them to volunteer for more than that.

The Incredible Invisible Board Member 

Even more frustrating than the Amazing Disappearing Board Member is the invisible board member. This is the person who joined the board and you haven't seen much of them since. They miss just one meeting shy of being kicked off the board. They never come to events. Maybe they had a real skill that earned them a spot on your board, but you've never benefited from their expertise. 

Board Buster Solution: 

This is one I feel very strongly you have to nip in the bud. If you tolerate it with one board member, it slowly infects the rest of the board and sets a standard for all future new board members. Like the disappearing board member, have a frank and honest conversation. Ask what is keeping them from coming to meetings: are the meetings at bad times? Is the location too far away? Can they not find childcare? See if there are real issues you can help solve, and then do your best to solve them if the effort required is worth it to retain this board member.

But then probe deeper, in my experience the invisible board member is overcommitted to other organizations (they’re on three other boards) or other obligations (taxing job, family commitments, etc), and they like your organization but can't make the time for it. Balance being gracious and thanking them for their desire to support your organization, but ask if they might consider rejoining later when they have the time. 

The Board Bogey Person

This board member has an issue or two that are non-starters. Maybe it's a program that they love, but just isn't producing results for your organization. You want to cut it, but as it's this board member’s pet project, you keep it on life support just to keep them happy. Or perhaps it's an institutional issue that they just can't get over or won’t help with (let me guess, it’s fundraising!). Whatever their issue is, they make the hard conversations and decisions harder because they dominate board conversations to turn them in the direction they choose, or they pitch a temper tantrum of epic proportions. Like with a toddler, it’s just easier to let them get their way. 

Board buster Solution: 

There's a two prong strategy here that you need to employ. On the one hand, you need to have a conversation with the board member to discuss the issue. It may be painful, it may be hard, but your organization’s resources are limited and you can't have one person dictating their use. If there is a board member (or better yet a board chair) that can reason with this person, bring him/her in as well. But have a conversation and focus it on your organization's resources and impact. “I know you love this program, and we do too, but at the moment it's only serving X people with a cost of $X. Our other programs serve Y people with a cost of $Y. So you see, this is about serving the most people with our resources. When we have more resources, we might consider reviving the program.”

Or maybe “I hear your reservations about being asked to fundraise, but as our organization is (running a deficit/trying to grow/in the middle of a capital campaign/losing grant funding/etc), we really need to pull out all the stops. We can offer you training and support on fundraising areas you are uncomfortable with, like solicitations. But we really need you to participate in this effort. We can’t make exceptions for you and not others.” 

It's hard to take the wind out of the sails of the board bogey person alone. This recently happened to me. As the fundraising chair of a nonprofit, I was rallying board members to help with the year-end campaign, and one board member didn't think fundraising was a core function of the board (despite the fact that the meeting prior, we’d actually re-written the board member job description and voted to include fundraising as a core task). This board member dominated the conversation, and by the end had me and the rest of the board convinced that nobody wanted to fundraise. After the meeting, I emailed each individual board member, asking what they could do to help with the year-end appeal. To my surprise, everyone (except the board bogey person) wanted to help, they just didn't want to speak up in the meeting since they thought themselves the dissenting opinion. Once we realized we were the majority, we were able to shut down the rant by voicing our enthusiasm for the campaign and instead had a productive discussion of people’s individual fundraising plans and needs for training.

The Toxic Swamp Thing

This is the worst of all board monsters. The Toxic Swamp Thing makes every board member and staff member miserable. It's their way or the highway on everything. Maybe you've even had other board members quit because of this board member. Whatever form your board Swamp Thing takes, they are a bully and you need them off the board. Period.

Board Buster Solution: 

When I've dealt with this board member before, I've always turned to this article from Joan Garry. Since I can't say it better than she has, check out the article. My one piece of advice: dealing with a Toxic Swamp board member is priority number one until they are off of your board. And I do mean OFF the board. There's no fixing it, there's no wait and see, by the time you realize you've got a Toxic Swamp Thing on your board, you’ll see that the collateral damage is already piling up.