The most common pain point we’re hearing about from the nonprofit community is how to increase board engagement. Despite good intentions, some board members are struggling to make in-person meetings work with their back-to-the office schedules, others turn off their video and multi-task during board meetings, and yet others have a hard time following-through with assigned tasks. In a world where there is never enough time, and we all have competing priorities, the need to focus on what is essential has never seemed more important.

So, the question isn’t just how do we engage our board, but how do we engage our board in its most essential functions? At Hedges, we have found the key to engaging board members in the ways they’re needed most comes through effective training and setting clear expectations. If board members don’t know their responsibilities or how to execute those responsibilities, then successfully engaging as a board member will be quite the challenge.

When we onboard new staff, we are mindful of making sure that expectations are clearly communicated and that staff are adequately trained to meet those expectations. The same should be true for board members of our organizations. Based on our experience in educating board members through our work with nonprofit organizations and in our Lead with Purpose Board Training Series, we find the following three items to be at the core of successful nonprofit board education:

Prioritize board training and onboarding. Prioritizing board training and onboarding is as important as prioritizing the training and onboarding of your staff members.