board membership

Introductions – Provide basic information on SF Shakes, and determine prospect’s interest in Board membership and SF Shakes

• Basic Board Responsibilities
• Overview of Festival Programs
• Board of Directors, Staff, Resident & Teaching Artists
• Sample Board Profile

Preliminary Phase – Determine prospect’s viability as a Board Candidate

• Attend at least two Festival program events, and become familiar with all programs
• Meet at least two Board members, on two separate occasions
• Receive and review:
  • Prior year’s Board minutes
  • Summary of prioryear’s programs
  • Antiracism and accountability updates
  • Current financials and prior year audit
  • Current committee lists
• Meet with Executive Director (can be in conjunction with meetings with Board members)
• Complete and deliver a Board Profile (to be circulated to full Board for review)

Secondary Phase – Determine Board Candidate’s Strategic Fit with Board’s Goals

• During an in-person meeting, the candidate and Board member review and discuss:
  • How the candidate would support the organization in the 1st year
  • Determine what committee the candidate might join
  • Board Calendar, discuss time commitment (including commitment to all-day November retreat)
• Visit and tour Festival offices
• Attend portion of Board meeting as a guest

Invitation – Board considers inviting Candidate to Join SF Shakes Board of Directors

• Board votes to invite candidate to join the Board
• Board determines which member will extend the invitation, this member calls, speaks directly to candidate, explains why inviting to join, asks if any questions or reservations
• Board member report invitation responses to full Board and Executive Director
• Board member extends welcome to new Board member via group email
• Staff follows up with new Board member to determine logistics

On-Boarding – New Board members become active members of SF Shakes Board of Directors

• Board members meet with new board members prior to next Board meeting
• New Board members join committees
• Current and new Board members join staff for events and programming

While there is no prescribed length of time, the typical board recruitment process takes place over two to three months.

Alice T. Lastname
Company address
Home address
Phone
Email addresses

Passion for SFShakes Mission
Alice’s passion for the mission of SFShakes stems from her love of acting when she was a child in Pleasanton. It’s important to Alice that SFShakes provides family and youth arts activities in her hometown, and that the Festival’s focus is on community-building and youth development.

Business Leadership
Alice is interested in sharing her financial and accounting skills with SFShakes as a prospective member of the Finance Committee. Alice has extensive experience providing closely-held businesses and nonprofit organizations with a personalized and focused approach to their operations. Alice brings experience in providing audit and consulting services to industries including distribution, manufacturing, services, retail, charitable community services, the fine arts, private schools, and a wide range of member organizations. As a recent alumnus of Burr Pilger & Mayer LLP’s nonprofit services group in San Francisco, Alice served as the project lead for organizations such as the San Francisco Opera, Gallo Center for the Arts, and the Bernard Osher Foundation. Alice left Burr Pilger & Mayer LLP in 2007 to start her own nonprofit services practice with the San Ramon accounting firm of Brown & Cold.

Alice has performed volunteer services for such organizations as Hill County Conservancy, Austin State Hospital Volunteer Services Council, Junior Achievement, Meals on Wheels, and served on the Executive Committee of Girls Empowerment Network of Austin (GENAustin). Alice has also lectured on issues surrounding public accounting and nonprofit entities for organizations such as the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, Burr Pilger & Mayer’s Nonprofit Roundtable Series, Saint Mary’s College of California, and San Francisco State University.

Community Leadership
Alice lives in the Shadow Cliffs development of Pleasanton with her husband Jack and her son and daughter (four and five years old respectively.) Her husband is a shareholder with the same firm, in the area of tax accountancy. Alice grew up in Pleasanton, and acted while attending Amador Valley High School. Alice has recently relocated her family back to Pleasanton from the Austin, Texas area, where her extended family now resides. Alice is connected to the local community, including the local rotary and schools, and is getting more connected with families of school-aged children.

Demographic Characteristics
Alice is 37 and is interested in focusing her board service at SFShakes in the Tri-Valley region.

Financial Commitment
Alice sees her initial personal financial commitment as an annual $5000 donor. Alice understands the importance of fundraising and community advocacy and the central role board members play in these activities. Alice sees no conflict in connecting her professional contacts with SFShakes, and is developing an action plan to introduce 15 new prospects, cultivate 15 existing donors, and make 15 in-person solicitations on behalf of the Festival during her first year of board service.

History with SFShakes
Alice attended the San Francisco Board Fair on March 4, then had coffee with board member Jeff Wutzke and Executive Director Toby Leavitt on March 18.

Basic Fiduciary responsibilities of a Board Member
Fiduciary responsibility: a legal obligation of one party to act in the best interest of another.

• Duty of loyalty; act in the best interest of the organization
• Duty of care; be diligent with respect to board meetings and obtaining information
• Act in good faith
• Avoid conflicts of interest
• Be confident in the executive director’s integrity and ability

Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards

1. Determine mission and purpose. It is the board’s responsibility to create and review a statement of mission and purpose that articulates the organization’s goals, means, and primary constituents served.
2. Select the chief executive. Boards must reach consensus on the chief executive’s responsibilities and undertake a careful search to find the most qualified individual for the position.
3. Support and evaluate the chief executive. The board should ensure that the chief executive has the moral and professional support he or she needs to further the goals of the organization.
4. Ensure effective planning. Boards must actively participate in an overall planning process and assist in implementing and monitoring the plan’s goals.
5. Monitor, and strengthen programs and services. The board’s responsibility is to determine which programs are consistent with the organization’s mission and monitor their effectiveness.
6. Ensure adequate financial resources. One of the board’s foremost responsibilities is to secure adequate resources for the organization to fulfill its mission.
7. Protect assets and provide proper financial oversight. The board must assist in developing the annual budget and ensuring that proper financial controls are in place.
8. Build a competent board. All boards have a responsibility to articulate prerequisites for candidates, orient new members, and periodically and comprehensively evaluate their own performance.
9. Ensure legal and ethical integrity. The board is ultimately responsible for adherence to legal standards and ethical norms.
10. Enhance the organization’s public standing. The board should clearly articulate the organization’s mission, accomplishments, and goals to the public and garner support from the community.

Source: BoardSource – www.boardsource.org