"Following Boards"

• Strong, founding leader
• Small, relatively passive but supportive Board
• Little board role in fundraising

"Leading Boards"

• Strong, active founding volunteers
• Small, homogeneous, task–oriented
• Major role in fundraising
• No staff; delay in hiring staff

• Increasing fundraising expectations on Board members
• Board help needed by leader as organization grows
• Board reluctant to change role
• Tasks & assignments increase
• Staff hired
• Continuing Board "interference"
• Board struggles with new role
• Board/staff perplexed and frustrated

• Board assumes
• responsibility
• governance
• More balanced relationship of Board and staff
• Executive responsible for operations
• Board becomes larger
• Board becomes more diverse
• Planning becomes more important
• Takes more of the executive's time
• Board development lags organizational development

• Increasing self–awareness of importance of the board
• As organization grows, demands on board increase
• Greater responsibility for fundraising
• Board size increases
• Greater delegation to stronger & independent committees
• Board itself provides much of the impetus for change
• Board & staff visions for new Board are mutually & intentionally developed

• Capacity to give or get
• More prestigious
• More attractive to "movers and shakers"
• Accepts fundraising as major focus
• Delegates governance to executive or management committee
• Auxiliary & Advisory groups created
• Organization has demonstrated its "staying power"
• Board held accountable for their own goals, targets & expectations
• Little involvement in actual operation of organization
• Difficult to maintain meaningful relationships with Board members