Part 2: How to reach your board
Written by Zoe Alexis Whitehorn
This is the second part of a two-part series on communicating with your board members. In part one, we looked at the characteristics of a typical board member, and provided tips on how you can give thorough updates to your board.
This week, we’re diving into when and how to send updates. We make recommendations for cadence, as well as how to root your updates in your nonprofit’s mission.
Create a schedule for touchpoints.
Setting a schedule at key points to share all that progress, introduce new initiatives or point to how you're meeting your SMARTIE GOALS can help you manage expectations and stay one step ahead.
This way, your board never has to wonder what you’re working on or why, and you can anticipate what you have to share and when.
Consider:
Sharing monthly progress updates – proactively letting the board know when they can expect to hear from you and how they can reach you in the meantime.
Creating and sharing a project plan that you regularly update – one that board members can easily access and check.
Setting up presentations around key milestones throughout a particular project – and saving plenty of time for feedback and questions.
Sharing close-out updates when you’ve completed a project – celebrating your success, making sure the board knows that a project is complete and even potentially setting up a debrief for feedback.
Tie everything back to your organization’s mission.
One of your board’s central focuses is making sure that all work aligns with the organization’s mission and vision. They pay close attention to your organization’s strategic action plan and have impact in mind. (Not to mention how you share this impact. Might we suggest through a powerful annual report?)
So, shout all that thoughtful strategic planning and intentionality from the rooftops.
First, let the board in on the “behind-the-scenes” of your strategy and show your work, as early as possible. As a communications leader, sharing and walking the board through a communications plan can do some heavy lifting. You can demonstrate how you’ve worked hard to create communications plans and objectives grounded in the organization’s overarching goals. This can go a long way in getting buy-in and connecting the dots for board members.
Second, show ROI and impact. Whether you’re asking for a spend or sharing a plan that requires a lot of team resources, remember that not all board members are communications experts.
That means leading with your why, and then connecting each step that you’ll take to an achievable goal with measurable impact. For example:
How many community organizations are you reaching out to for that next town hall? How does that contribute to the organization’s community engagement goals?
How many people will join your next messenger training webinar? How does that contribute to your organization’s goals to build advocacy capacity in the community?
What metrics do you expect to track to show success? And, how do those measurements map directly to the strategic action plan?
What reporters did you speak to for this report release? And, what target audiences did that allow you to reach?
To put it simply: Communicating with board members early, consistently, with clarity and kindness can help make their lives easier – and set your communications work up for success.
