Committee Structure On Our Nonprofit Board

 What Committee Structure Should We Have On Our Nonprofit Board?

 Effective nonprofit boards conduct most of their work at the committee level rather than in board meetings. Committees may be standing committees, short-term committees that convene for a few weeks each year, or ad hoc committees that convene for a specific issue. While finance, governance and program committees are common to all nonprofits, as a nonprofit grows in organizational complexity, so must the committee structure.

Non board members may be appointed to committees, but staff should not be appointed to committees. Committees typically only give recommendations to the board for consideration; however a board may delegate authority for some affairs to a committee, but the board cannot delegate responsibility for decisions to a committee. A committee can never create decision-making authority by itself, and all committees need to have terms of reference.

What Types of Committees Am I Talking About?

Some typical committees are:

• Program Committee: This committee may be responsible for delivering a specific program, or simply overseeing a program that is delivered by staff. A common task of this committee is developing or maintaining relationships with external stakeholders, funders, community leaders and interest groups that have key interests in specific programs. This committee is common in mid-sized non-profits that have between 5-25 staff. Attending community meetings with program staff is a common function of a program committee.

• Personnel Committee: This committee plans, monitors and oversees the nonprofit’s human resources, including volunteers. If an organization is struggling with volunteer or staff recruitment and retention, or unstated expectations that staff volunteer their personal time to the organization, the matter should be discussed at the committee level. Other items for a personnel committee are performance management policies, compensation, benefits, or Executive Director recruitment, performance evaluation and union grievances. Nonprofits that have moved from being a small nonprofit with one staff to a midsized nonprofit with several staff often struggle with personnel issues.

• Fundraising Committee: This committee works closely with staff and donors to organize and implement the organization’s fundraising campaigns, including the solicitation of major gifts and grants. Even when a single fund development position exists, the board must be heavily involved in solicitation of gifts and communicating impact. If a board wants to decide whether or not to require board members give a monetary donation annually to the organization, or to set a volunteer time commitment to fundraising activities, the pros and cons of doing so should be discussed by the fundraising committee.

• Advisory Committee: This committee is typically made up on non-board members that have unique technical expertise or deep community knowledge where it is not reasonable to expect committee members to commit to board responsibilities. This committee provides advice, opinions, and recommendations to a nonprofit on specific issues. Examples when an advisory committee should be used are for a major construction project, when a nonprofit is considering lobbying a government body, or when a specific perspective is required such as an Elder’s Committee, Youth Committee, Newcomer Committee, Disability Committee, Founder’s Committee, or a Program Participant Committee. Advisory committees are typically short-term or ad hoc.

• Governance Committee: This committee recruits candidates for the board and committees for consideration by the board. Organizing a year-round cycle of board development activities, new member orientation, board member evaluation, developing board training programs or hosting a board retreat are typically also a responsibility of the governance committee. A common mistake is to have a governance committee only working on bylaws and board policy. This committee should exist as a standing committee in all nonprofits.

• Finance Committee: This committee develops a budget and financial policies as well as oversees the annual review or audit. The finance committee may be tasked with making recommendations about an expenditure under consideration, or whether or not to accept a particular grant/donation. If accepting a donation or grant could impact other donations or grants, this is an excellent question for a finance committee to investigate. Finance is the first committee any nonprofit should have.