Charities, especially at the regional level, often seek to engage community leaders, such as prominent business executives,
by inviting them to join their board of directors. While this makes sense in terms of making helpful connections
and getting input from successful individuals, organizations need to be aware that in some cases, the popularity
of certain individuals may lead to instances of over commitments. A community leader may be serving on too many boards
(both charity and for-profit) at the same time. This point came up in a presentation on board governance made
on October 17
th by
Michael Peregrine at the annual meeting of the National Association of State Charity Officials, an organization
of state government regulators of charities which is also sponsored by the National Association of Attorneys General.
Mr. Perregrine, a partner at the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery, referred to this phenomenon as “charity overboarding”
and noted that at some point a board member’s effectiveness is diminished by serving on too many governing boards.
Board participation involves time commitments in terms of preparing for and attending governance meetings and
other activities in fulfilling an oversight role.
As noted in the
BBB Standards for Charity Accountability
, a charity’s board of directors should provide adequate oversight of the charity’s operations and staff by fulfilling
certain fundamental responsibilities (for example, budget approval, oversight of fundraising activities, etc.) and
should have a majority of board members in attendance at meetings. A board member who serves on too many governing
boards may have difficulty in meeting these responsibilities.
On a separate note, as part of our
Building Trust Video Series we are pleased to provide a video that features an interview
with Jaime Berman Matyas, President and Chief Executive Officer
,
Student Conservation Association, (a
BBB Accredited Charity). They have been involved in building the next generation of conservation leaders and
encouraging environmental stewardship since 1957.
We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit
Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include:
Finally, remember to let us know by going to
https://www.give.org/ask-us-about-a-charity1/ if you are interested in seeing a report on a charity
not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.
H. Art Taylor, President & CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance
