Len Heller has been called to be a fixer for a few local nonprofit boards that needed to get their organizations back on track. In 2013, Heller was appointed to the HealthFirst board after the Fayette County Board of Health asked the existing board to resign en masse.
Heller, who said he uses “retired” as a euphemism to describe his current career status, calls himself a change agent when he comes onto a board, but the skills and disciplines he brings can be done well before an organization — nonprofit or for-profit — gets into a tight space.
“There’s a lot of weaknesses. A lot of them don’t plan for sustainability, which means you go hand to mouth every year with mass mailings, calls, getting as many names as they can, hoping they can [get money],” he said. “They don’t build relationships. That’s with the corporations, with foundations, with the city, the state. They come in, make their pitch, but they don’t come back and get feedback on what their money has done. They really need to follow through and say, ‘Thank you, this is what we accomplished with the money you provided.’”
Sustainability
Despite tight budgets, Heller said paying nonprofit staffers the type of salary that can encourage credentialed and experienced professionals to work with the organization for at least three to five years is essential for a stable and sustainable organization.
Typically an organization with that type of staff would also have the forethought to populate the board with a diverse group, not just a bunch of people who might have deep pockets.
Board Diversity
“You need to have a balanced board — you need to have a CPA, you need to have a legal counsel. You have to have people who know the profession and the services that are being provided, people who know how to do projects and people who have networks,” he said. “Instead of money all the time, the services they provide, that they give freely, are critical.”
Having a project manager on a board can cut down on what Heller calls one of his biggest pet peeves: boards constantly turning to consultants.
“They don’t know the organization. They don’t know what it’s trying to do,” Heller said, adding that consultants often reach their conclusions by meeting with board and staff members and talking to them, something that could and should be done anyway.
“The typical weakness is the board meets but they don’t get engaged with the staff, and the people that are being served,” he said.
To have a good board and to be a good board member means more than showing up at a monthly meeting and hearing reports. Board members should interact with each other and the staff regularly for a healthy organization, and in turn, that can turn into money.
“People want to contribute, they want to be involved in an organization. It’s harder work, but if it is working,” he said, “they may give.”