Recruiting strong boards

Strong boards are essential to fulfilling our mission of ensuring long-term community support. Strategy, intentional planning and a focused commitment on recruitment and retention are critical to ensure effective and diverse leadership.

Recruiting and retaining strong and committed board members is one of the key elements of the Criteria for Success, which guides affiliate work. Boards should review their membership annually. Determine who will be rotating off the board and ensure that board representation is inclusive in terms of geography, demographics, race and experiences. Ask who is not at the board table that needs to be.

Take these steps to develop a pipeline of candidates for your board:

Review your Community Needs Assessment for demographic information about your county that can guide your recruitment approach. Also consider the most pressing issues in your community and whether you need to recruit for expertise in that area.
Identify the skills, perspectives, talents, connections and information needed for your board to accomplish its goals.
Prioritize candidates that meet the metrics you identify.

There are places that you can turn to for help in finding strong candidates:

The NC Rural Center’s Leadership Alumni Database has information about leaders in your county who have completed the Homegrown Leaders and Rural Economic Development Institute programs.
Your local Chamber of Commerce, educational offices, faith-based leaders, or other community organizations might have suggestions based on your recruiting needs or they can help spread the word.
Other local or statewide leadership programs such as Leadership North Carolina may have alumni in your region.
Every community has people who seem to be involved at every level. Don’t be afraid to reach out to them if they fit your recruitment strategy. If they are overburdened with commitments, ask them who else you should ask.
Reach out to nonprofit leaders, municipal representatives, teachers health, care workers and more to gauge their interest or for recommendations.

Materials to support you

As you identify potential board members, initiate a conversation with them, either in person or through email. Our team has developed an updated board recruitment packet to help you connect with potential affiliate board members and talk about your affiliate. Whether you are connecting with them digitally or in person, please reach out to your Community Leadership Officer and request a recruitment packet.

Included in our packets are:

An introduction letter from the affiliate board president
Information about NCCF and your affiliate
The roles and responsibilities of an affiliate board member and information about our year-long orientation program
An explanation of the Power of Endowment
Your CLO’s business card

If you have questions or need a packet, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your CLO for assistance.