Missing the Mission | When Boards Don’t Look Like the Publics They Serve
Writing in the Tallahassee Democrat, nonprofit executive and columnist Kelly Otte discussed the “considerable ethnic and racial homogeneity on boards” that was mentioned in a recent Urban Institute report, “Boards of Midsize Nonprofits: Their Needs and Challenges”:
On average, 83 percent of directors are white, 9 percent are black and 4 percent are Hispanic, with the balance from other groups. 36 percent of boards have no minority members. And even more disturbing, 48 percent of the nonprofits said that racial or ethnic diversity is not an important criterion when they select new board members.
Otte noted that board, staff, and volunteer diversity — in terms of “race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, ability and other” — is important for three reasons:
- It provides more accurate representation of the population your nonprofit is serving.
- It fosters greater community relations, allowing your organization to better fulfill its mission.
- It’s the right thing to do.
That third one is the biggie for me, though I’d add a fourth point: Lots of foundations use board diversity as a criterion for awarding grants. That may be a base reason to diversify, but unless your nonprofit can afford to alienate funding sources, it has to be considered. | 501(c)
0 opinions for Missing the Mission | When Boards Don’t Look Like the Publics They Serve
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: