The Role of a Non-Profit Board Chair

Non-profits are complicated entities. There are strategic priorities to fulfill, board meetings that need to follow protocol, and often a team of volunteers who are helping to do the work. In a small non-profit, with few, or no, employees, the Board Chair is a critical position for overall success.

With a little training, anyone can learn the basics for taking on the role of Board Chair. But, if a non-profit doesn’t have the budget for training, or roles are undefined, the position of Board Chair can easily become stressful and overwhelming. That can lead to messy meetings, personality conflicts, and an unsuccessful non-profit.

To make the job less stressful, it helps to understand the role of the Board Chair.

The Board Chair is the leader of the board. It helps to remember that word ‘leader’ when a board is choosing the right person for the role. A leader is someone who can bring the group together, ensure everyone is working for the common purpose, will understand everyone’s roles, and is willing to make difficult decisions when corrective action is required. The position of Chair is rarely the right fit for someone overly aggressive or overly timid. A Board Chair needs to be kind but firm.

Work Together

The Board Chair’s biggest job is at board meetings. A Board Chair will have spent some time getting to know the policies and procedures of the organization, especially the governing policies. The Chair facilitates board meetings, ensuring the policies, and parliamentary procedures such as Robert’s Rules of Order, are followed. It helps when the Board Chair understands some of the basics of group facilitation, to draw out an engaged discussion for board decisions. It is critical that the Board Chair is willing to follow the policies themselves. Remember, the Board Chair is the leader of a non-profit, and is expected to act with an eye on the big picture, not personal preferences.

The position of Chair is rarely the right fit for someone overly aggressive or overly timid.

Common Purpose

It is especially important for a Board Chair to ensure the board is monitoring the right information for meeting the strategic priorities. The Board Chair will work together with the paid Executive Director (if there is one) to ensure strategic planning happens annually and goals are developed based on the needs of the membership/clients the non-profit serves. The strategic plan will outline key milestones and the Chair will ensure board meetings monitor those achievements, and not get distracted by minute operational details.

Roles and Responsibilities

It is the Board Chair’s job to know what everyone else’s job is, and then monitor not only that the job is getting done, but people are doing their own job, and not overstepping. This is important whether the non-profit has a paid Executive director (and staff team) or no paid staff and a handful of volunteer committees doing the work. It is the job of the Board Chair to know who will handle which set of tasks, the policies to guide the work, and the process to monitor performance.

Hard Decisions

The hardest part about being a Board Chair is being able to take corrective action when needed. This might include calling for order at board meetings that have gone off topic or away from procedure. This might include insisting other board members follow policy. This might include stopping bullying or harassment of staff or other board members. And finally, this might include calling for the removal of a board member who has repeatedly ignored policy, or strays from the planned strategic goals. The brutal reality is that a Board Chair requires a strong stomach to do the hard work when necessary.

The brutal reality is that a Board Chair requires a strong stomach to do the hard work when necessary.

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Becoming a Board Chair can be a very rewarding experience. It will provide a volunteer with valuable leadership skills such as facilitation, supervision, planning, and policy development. When a non-profit has a Board Chair that values the impact of the organization and the collective strength of a volunteer and staff team, big-picture strategic goals will be much easier to achieve.

Every non-profit will have a Board Chair (or President). To ensure your non-profit has a successful Board Chair, the right person for the job needs to have, or be willing to learn, 4 key components of the position.

1. A willingness to learn and follow policy.
2. A desire to work, or monitor work, towards the long-term strategic priorities.
3. An understanding of the roles and responsibilities of staff and volunteers.
4. A willingness to step in and make the hard decisions when necessary.

When a non-profit needs someone to lead the organization, knowing the core competencies of the right person for the job can make a non-profit a true powerhouse. Thanks for taking the time to read my ideas. My mission is to take the mystery out of running a small non-profit.

If you know someone who is part of a non-profit board, or just became the Board Chair, why not grab the link, and share it with them. Let’s work together to make the Board Chair position a rewarding as possible.

-Christie

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Hi, I'm Christie Saas, former board member, current Executive Director, and non-profit volunteer. I remember well, those early years when I lacked the training, the confidence, and the work-life balance to focus on becoming the best non-profit leader I could be.

Fast-forward past many bumps in the road, lessons learned, and you’ll find me still in the trenches, but a little wiser, a little calmer, and a whole lot happier. I love my work and I want to help you love yours too.

I created ChristieSaas.com to give you tools, tips, and templates to remove the mystery of learning to run a small non-profit. If you’re a brand-new non-profit leader, or a little more seasoned, someone who’s looking to make a meaningful contribution and still have time for a full life away from the job, you’re in the right place.

© Christie Saas 2022 All Rights Reserved

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