In the past six months, the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Council of Foundations hosted sessions at their national conferences on the importance and urgency of diversity.  Benefits include consideration of a greater range of opinions and background at the highest level of decision-making, greater visibility to potential markets and affirmation to existing ones.  Very few organizations today serve  a near-homogenous constituency and in many instances, the board composition is the last to reflect that.

Power to diversify the board is held by the organization’s compensation and nominating committees.  If these committees identify diversity as a priority, then it becomes a matter of follow through.   The will and leadership of the board chair and executive director carry the day as well, for they too have the power to guide actions and generate interest for board openings.

If instead, your board meetings feature dry excuses for the pale pool, here are a few retorts.

We can’t find people with the depth of experience required by our board.

Boards exist to complement and steer professionals.  High performing board members can apply experience from life lessons, education and former careers that bring new meaning to “depth of experience.” Plenty of valuable experience remains untapped for the greater purpose.

We can’t tell from their applications or resumes whether they represent a diverse perspective.

There are ways to embed questions in the application that enables the applicant to self-identify his/her background or interest regarding diverse markets, constituencies or other challenges.

We already have one on the board, so we kind of think we’re good.

Having more than two members from a community transcends marginalization of the voice and perspective any individual brings to the board.  This rule of thumb is applicable with larger boards and because it raises the specter of “quotas” should be replaced with appropriate organizational data detailing diversity goals or trends in stakeholders, sales, and planning.

We tried.  We really did.

“Try harder,” was the call to action at the Council of Foundations session.  Is the opportunity to serve championed in publications and websites frequented by your diverse constituencies?  Does the organization feature board members and tell the stories of their impact or reason for serving? Has the board and staff covered the spectrum of stakeholders inviting applicants from all walks to submit their credentials and letters of interest?

Today organizations need to be strategic with every opportunity. Why would you choose to pass up such an important one as board composition?

Other good resources:

Recruiting and vetting nonprofit board members (BridgeStar)

BoardSource reference materials (member & non-members)

The Overnight Website Challenge brings together professional web developers with Minnesota non-profits to design and create a new website for the non-profit organization in 24 hours.  This is an amazing opportunity for non-profits to get over 200 hours of web development done for free and for the developers to get additional experience while having fun.  The challenge has a huge impact on everyone involved because it helps build community and gets more young professionals involved.

The reason I am writing about this event on these pages is that it completely exemplifies the type of out of the box thinking that we hope to trigger in our readers.  This event creates new opportunitiesto get people involved in their community while building both leadership and professional skills.  We always need to keep thinking of new ways to engage people and also share the great work non-profits are undertaking throughout the community.

This year’s event takes place March 20 – 21, 2010 and is actually the 3rd time this challenge has been run.  The format of the challenge starts with individuals coming together to form teams of ten and then these teams are paired up with a non-profit organizations.  Then, on the appointed day, everyone gathers and has 24 hours to design and build the website before the judges come around to determine who wins the competition.

Looking back at some of the past successes you can easily tell the competition is fierce and everyone is trying to win.  One of the organization that benefitted from the challenge last year was Students Today Leaders Forever (a truly amazing non-profit!).  Take a look at the recap which including a look at what the original site looked like and then what the team developed — http://blog.nerdery.com/2009/04/students-today-leaders-forever-like-jet-fuel-at-overnight-website-challenge/

The deadline for this year is approaching very quickly or has already past depending on when you are reading this post.  Even if you missed the challenge this year please share this story and links with non-profits that you know, maybe they will be able to get involved next year!  I applaud the work of Sierra Bravo and all of the volunteer who take time to make a true difference for these non-profits.  May this year’s challenge be even more amazing and I look forward to many more years of challenges to come.

DEADLINE: Non-Profits need to sign up by January 8th & Volunteers need to form teams by January 18th.

Founded more than 20 years ago and based in Minneapolis, Youth Frontiers (YF) has dedicated its staff to create more positive school communities. Through school-based retreats that help young people realize the importance of living a life of character, Youth Frontiers is transforming the day-to-day experience in schools across America so that schools – and therefore students – can thrive. Very Cool.

In the course of my consulting work, I have come across a variety of organizations—some committed to cause and some committed to cash. Youth Frontiers is deeply committed to their cause. Truly being a mission-driven organization is unique, in my experience, and therefore worth a prolonged gaze.

This past summer, I presented a session on Managing from the Middle to the Minnesota Council for Non-Profits. In that discussion, I shared the following quote “That is so cool that you work in a non-profit, I should do that someday” and asked how many people had heard something similar. Of the 100 people, I would say close to 90 raised their hands. Non-profit work is so cool and so important, so how do you get started? Joe Cavanaugh, YF founder and CEO, had this to say about getting his non-profit started: “From a young age, I was taught to give my time and talent back to the community. It’s about “tikkun olam”–the Jewish concept meaning, “to repair the world.” If you have an idea towards this end, that will help an individual or a community, surround yourself with a smart and supportive Board of Directors, knock out a sustainable business model, and hire a service-oriented staff that are passionate about your mission.”

Maybe you can’t start your own non-profit today or tomorrow, but you can sure find a Twin Cities organization that has a mission addressing something you want to support. For additional information about area non-profits, take a look at the Charities Review Council website and their list of reviewed agencies: http://www.smartgivers.org/GivingGuide.html

In the meanwhile, thanks to Joe and the staff at Youth Frontiers for caring about our kids and the schools they visit every day. Which area non-profit is your favorite and why?