We Review

“Think of the worst board member you’ve ever known, and remember that someone actually recruited him.”

From the Introduction of Board Recruitment & Orientation:
A Step-by-Step, Common Sense Guide.

Review by: Stephen C. Nill, J.D. CEO,
CharityChannel October 12, 2001

When a book aims to be a practical and immediately useful workbook, I am a particularly tough customer — especially with books dealing with any aspect of the all-important nonprofit board.

A truly useful book is one that is willing to guide us along a straight, down-to-earth path, even if that means debunking such entrenched dogma as "recruit board members for their wealth" and "let the CEO recruit the board." Hildy Gottlieb has not only written such a book, she has tackled one of the most neglected areas in today's nonprofit world: board recruitment. Bravo!

From the issue dated Thursday, March 21, 2002 NEW BOOKS Assembling an Effective Board By Katy Marquardt Board Recruitment & Orientation: A Step-by-Step, Common Sense Guide by Hildy Gottlieb Nonprofit board members often complain that meetings are boring and too long, that their board micromanages, and that one person usually dominates discussion in board meetings, writes Hildy Gottlieb, co-founder of Help 4 NonProfits and Tribes, a consulting company in Tucson. A strong recruitment and orientation program, she says, can help alleviate these recurring problems and is key to creating a more functional and effective board. Board Recruitment & Orientation: A Step-by-Step, Common Sense Guide shows boards how to recruit and train new members by breaking the process down into five steps: establishing qualifications, creating written descriptions of the duties of a board member, identifying prospective trustees, creating an application and screening applicants, and preparing the new board member to govern. The book includes worksheets, tips, and information in a basic, straightforward format. In a chapter on defining what characteristics board members must have, Ms. Gottlieb suggests that nonprofit managers ask themselves: "If our organization was 100 percent funded and money were no option, what would we look for in a board member?" Following chapters suggest how to develop criteria on what would be "nice" in a board, as well as what wouldn't be acceptable "in a million years." Publisher: Renaissance Press

Gottlieb starts with a simple premise — that the recruitment process is the oft-neglected key to building a powerful and dynamic board. She challenges us to "[t]hink of the worst board member [we've] ever known, and remember that someone actually recruited him." Hmm. The worst board member I've ever known is now the object of a law suit by the nonprofit organization on whose board he served. I know because I'm serving as legal counsel. Come to think of it, whoever recruited him could certainly have benefited from this book, had it not come out only this week. Timing is everything, isn't it?

Look. I'm busy. You're busy. This workbook wastes no time, thankfully. It establishes the five-step process and efficiently marches through each one:

Step 1: Establishing Qualifications

Step 2: Board Member Job Description

Step 3: Identifying Prospects

Step 4: Application Process

Step 5: Preparing the New Board Member to Govern

The book gets us to work with pencil and paper by providing a worksheet to brainstorm the characteristics that board members must have. I like that. It is, after all, a WORKbook. But we're not left without guidance; Gottlieb gets us started with examples such as "[w]illingness to commit time for board meetings, committee meetings, planning sessions, special events," and "[w]illingness AND ability to add their expertise, time, resources when the need arises — not already committed."

Before you say "duh, why do I need a book to tell me that?" it's amazing how many boards are populated by individuals who don't show up, or, when they do, provide little or nothing of real value, or, worse, actually work against the interests of the organization. This workbook shows how to avoid such board members and, further, how to identify and recruit the kind of board members that really move the organization forward. When it comes to board member recruitment, even the most basic points are too often overlooked, with dire consequences for the organization.

The book is not, however, a surface treatment. Gottlieb uses her considerable 10+ years as a nonprofit consultant, and that of her consulting-practice partner Dimitri Petropolis, to drill down into the details when necessary. She strikes just the right balance between too little and too much. To keep things interesting, Gottlieb uses stories, checklists, forms and charts throughout. Don't just take my word for it. Gottlieb provides the entire first chapter of her workbook for free on her web site at
http://www.help4nonprofits.com/BoardRecruitingBookChapter.htm. See for yourself.

Nor is it timid. Gottlieb debunks plenty of entrenched dogma about the board-member recruitment process — even the idea of recruiting a board member because of wealth. Her willingness to supplant dogma with what her experience has taught is one reason this book is an important contribution to the nonprofit sector. I intend to cite it repeatedly in CharityChannel discussions whenever I see tired old dogma being asserted when what we need are experienced practitioners to tell it like it is. Gottlieb tells it like it is, fearlessly.

Priced at $17.95, there is no reason why this workbook should not be in the hands of every board or staff member who is responsible for recruiting. In fact, I'm going to make a gift of several copies to some of my nonprofit clients. The book can be ordered online at http://www.help4nonprofits.com/BoardRecruitingBook.htm.

easy, straight-forward workbook everyone seems to enjoy, May 5, 2003

This is a quick-read, fun to implement and deeply effective workbook - one which busy board members (and at least one executive director I know) seem to love. This workbook will be useful for anyone putting together any group of people to accomplish a task (yes, it works for committees too).

I loved the section asking three questions about criteria on who you want to serve: must have's, wouldn't it be nice to have's and the never in a million years category.

The workbook is fun to use (great conversation starter) and wastes no time. It's built for the real world - practical, effective - and indispensible. I may have to order another because it's so difficult to get back my copy when I lend it to
someone (which I often do)!

What a joy to spend money on a product which has such a tremendous return-on-investment. I haven't implemented every
chapter as yet, but I plan to - and can't wait to see the results!

THE ONE BOARD DEVELOPMENT BOOK EVERY CHARITY SHOULD OWN!, April 6, 2002

Think of the worst board members you've ever known, and remember that someone actually recruited them." No tool better addresses this problem than Hildy Gottlieb's simple and powerful workbook, "Board Recruitment & Orientation: A Step-by-Step, Common Sense Guide." It is one of the very few publications that I recommend be on the bookshelf of every nonprofit as using it can and will transform your charity.

Research studies completed over the last several years have proven beyond a doubt that the strength and quality of a nonprofit's board bear a direct correlation to the effectiveness of the organization itself. Yet most charities still put less real effort into assessing and defining their leadership needs than they do into determining the type of copier or computer they should buy.

Unlike other manuals and texts on board development, Gottlieb's guide presents an extraordinarily simple-to-follow recipe for putting together a powerfully effective and dynamic governance team. Best of all, it is written and structured in such a way that even the busiest executive director or board trustee can quickly glean its message and take action steps to begin transforming their board today.

Recruiting the right people and preparing them well for the job ahead are the keys to building and empowering a dynamic leadership team. "Board Recruitment & Orientation" covers the fundamentals of establishing that team. The workbook is also full of sample documents and forms, including a model "Letter of Commitment" to be signed by directors, that make its instructions simple to implement. And, best of all, it is priced at a level that every charity and nonprofit consultant can afford.

I give this book my highest recommendation!