At least not on its own!

In the almost 15 years that I have worked in the nonprofit sector, and particularly with small and emerging organizations, the belief that more board members will mean a better, stronger, more productive board has been a common theme. On the surface, it makes sense. More people equals more hands to get the work done, right? Well, in reality, this isn’t always the case!

Here are my top three reasons why more board members won’t, on its own, produce a better board for you.

Adding more people to an ineffective board just makes for a larger but still ineffective board! If you have a board of, say 3-5 people who already struggle to understand their roles and responsibilities (maybe they weren’t onboarded well by previous members, etc.), or don’t have time or capacity beyond a monthly board meeting to do the necessary work of a board of directors-adding more people to the mix won’t necessarily fix that. In fact, more people may make it worse.
The rush to “get more people” on the board will, invariably, result in bringing on new members who are not likely to be a good fit or be of any real benefit to the organization. Frequently, this is because those candidates are not likely to have already been involved with the organization or have any real understanding of what it is that you do and, potentially, little investment in the organization’s mission and success. While this is not necessarily a deal-breaker, it adds a pretty steep learning curve to what can already be an overwhelming process, for both the incoming board member as well as current members.
More board members doesn’t magically get the actual work done. This is especially so, if the current leadership has not already done the work of putting expectations, process, and certain policies in place. In fact, adding more people to this scenario can often lead to a lot of frustration and disappointment, especially on the part of those new board members. And the last thing any organization needs are disgruntled ex-board members. *The one caveat to this is identifying and recruiting people for the very specific purpose of preparing the board for development. If what you need are people who can do the work of building the above-mentioned foundational pieces, then recruit for that. Better yet, work with a board consultant and maybe an advising team, to put structure in place before you recruit additional board members.

Building an effective board of directors is about much more than simply adding more people. Board development, as it is commonly referred to, is an ongoing multi-step process. Increasing the size of your board is only one piece of that process, which is why simply adding more board members won’t produce a better board for your organization. Growing and developing an effective board of directors is a strategic process, with multiple moving parts and a lot of “before anyone else joins” work to be done. Not having a strategy and expectations in place will likely only result in more of the same ineffectiveness. And that can and will have long-term repercussions for the organization.

3 Reasons More Board Members Won't Produce Better Boards