So often in the performing arts, we talk about how our work is for the public good. For those who work in the arts, accepting compensation that often is a far cry from the “going rate” for similar work in the corporate sector is interpreted as our way of “giving back.” By the very fact that we work in the non-profit sector, we are donating our time and talent back to our community, the argument goes. Right?
Wrong.
Our jobs are first and foremost our jobs. They may be things we are intensely passionate about. They may generate incredibly important results that brings joy, health, welfare, and stability to our communities. However, our jobs are not community service. True service comes in donating your time to a cause outside of your job.
Then, why, when you look around at your colleagues do you see so few of them directly engaged in community service or board service elsewhere?
You could argue that it’s a matter of available time. Working in the non-profit sector can take far more than 100% out of you. Where do you find the time to give of yourself elsewhere when you are already giving of yourself so much at work?
You could argue that it’s a matter of financial resources. Board members are required to give not just of their time and talent, but also of their treasure. Given the modest pay scales that come with the non-profit sector, making a meaningful gift to another organization might make a significant dent in your disposable income – particularly if you are not in a leadership role within your organization.
You could argue that it’s a matter of how boards recruit in the first place. Nominating committees understandably look for people with corporate connections or significant personal resources in order to grow their organization’s bottom line. And like attracts like. So, without a strategy to prioritize other recruitment techniques, boards can tend to have a lot of internal homogeneity - be it by way of class, industry, or peer group.
There’s an element of truth to each of those arguments. But I would posit that the biggest reason why staffs don’t serve on boards is a matter of culture – the culture we create within the non-profit sector. We are as a sector (often unintentionally) greedy about the time and talents of our teams.
How Culture Gets in the Way
Our biggest challenge is that we don’t create incentives to make people want to be on boards. In the corporate sector, those incentives are a given. Helping your business be a good corporate citizen is consistently rewarded. Often, in the non-profit sector instead we find an implicit bias against serving elsewhere. Tell a co-worker you ran a 5K to support medical research this weekend, and it’s entirely possible they’ll both congratulate you and comment that that explains why you weren’t at your organization’s own event that same weekend.
The volunteerism we often do cheer on is volunteerism that directly ties back to our organization’s core mission: committees for local arts councils, national service organizations, etc. These are opportunities to position our organizations within their existing context. Members of our staff who are already passionate about that core work will naturally be passionate about opportunities that extend directly from it - but it would be short-sighted to assume that those are the only things to which they’d like to devote their disposable time.
Then there’s the very structure of our organizations, in which staff and board each play different and separately crucial roles in our institutional success. Depending on one’s role within an organization, it is possible to have very limited interaction with the board - or for one’s interactions to be largely deferential. In such an environment, it can become very difficult for members of your team to see themselves on equal footing with those same board members in social interactions. If members of your team feel “lesser than” in those situations, it can be difficult for them to have the confidence to sit at a different board room table elsewhere.
An Initiative That Could Help Change the Culture
So, what if we turned the model on its head? What if we did create incentives for staff members to serve on boards elsewhere? Perhaps you share information with your staff about board placement programs at your local United Way, Points of Light, Hands On, or other volunteer-focused non-profits to learn which smaller organizations in your community were looking for new board members. You could even give two or more bonus personal days to anyone who was serving on another board to ensure they had the space to go to meetings, support events, etc. Or, to put your money where your heart is, let’s say that you carved out $5,000 of your operating budget to support 10 mid-level staff members joining boards elsewhere, so that the first $500 of their board gift actually came out of your organization’s operating budget? Blasphemy, you say?
Let’s play out the financial implications of that last suggestion a little more. Would you invest $5,000 in sending two or three people to a conference? In that case, your investment is paying for travel, hotel, and all manner of conference fees, and in exchange you are gaining the benefit of any professional development that your team received at that conference. Invest in members of your team being on a board instead and your investment is going back into your own community to support another worthwhile cause – and your staff members (perhaps many more of them) are also developing, getting the kind of leadership development they probably can’t get back home at your own office.
Consider the net benefits to your staff members and to your organization:
For staff members who have been empowered to serve on a board
You’ve sent a message loud and clear to your team that you value them for more than just what they bring into your office. Simply because they are interested in education, animal welfare, health and human services, racial justice, poverty, or the environment, you are willing to support that cause too.
You’ve given them a chance to grow outside of your own office. They will learn how other organizations tackle problems that may be similar to the ones you face. They will learn how to read a balance sheet. They will network and build connections outside of your office and your industry.
You’ve let them be seen as a leader in your community, elevating their profile and their confidence in their own impact and worth. It may be impossible to promote a junior staff member much higher up the ladder within your organization until their department head moves on. Now, staff members who were looking for more leadership opportunities can enjoy them – and will be less likely to churn away from your organization at the rate they were before.
They’ve been given the blessing to pursue something they love beyond just their day-to-day work for your organization. It may be something they’ve wanted to do for years, but just never thought that they could.
For your organization
By investing in your team, you’ve also invested in your community. Now, when it comes time for your organization to pursue a partnership outside of your own discipline, you have built trust from within your community. A real person on your team now has a deep, meaningful relationship in that other sector. Doors will open much faster for your organization as a result.
You’ve embedded brand ambassadors for your organization and your discipline in places they probably weren’t before. To get someone to want to try jazz or Irish step dancing (or grand opera, for that matter), all it takes is for that person to know someone who is already passionate about that experience. Your staff is filled with passion for what you do already. Spreading them out a little in your community will only spread that passion – and will do so in a way that is authentic and organic.
You’ve gotten your organization a seat at the table. How often do we in the arts get frustrated when urban planners aren’t thinking about how we can contribute when planning a new greenway or when schools don’t recognize the value of what we can provide to their teachers or students? Odds are we weren’t top of mind because we weren’t at the table in the first place. We hadn’t made the effort to show up, and we expected them to find us. Building a culture of board service within your organization will change that.
Your staff will work better with your own board. Once you’ve had the experience of being on a board, it puts a lot in perspective about how or why members of your board might ask certain questions or have certain priorities. Your staff will be better able to relate to your board as peers, and the risk of the age-old problem of staff/board disconnect will begin to be ameliorated.
For a $5,000 investment, would it be worth a try for your organization? With a little forethought, you could easily track the return on the investment within its first year or two. Reduced staff turnover, growth in attendance, growth in donor relationships, and increased community profile would likely pay your investment back handily. And the change in your internal culture might build a level of loyalty that makes your organization the destination other excellent mid-career professionals might turn to when they are looking for their next position, a competitive advantage that can’t be overlooked.
If you could, would you try it?
If you don’t think you can try it but want to, what is actually standing in your way?