Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Volunteers in the Public and Nonprofi t Sectors 135

Nonprofi ts that can afford to also typically purchase directors and

offi cers (D & O ) insurance to protect the organization and board members

against indemnifi cation costs and any other costs incurred by directors

that would not be covered by the nonprofi t. This type of insurance contract

agrees to pay on behalf of the directors and offi cers of the organization

any fi nancial losses that arise from claims or lawsuits brought against

them for committing some wrongful act.

What should an organization look for in board members? Char-

acteristics identified by O ’ Connell (1988) and Houle (1989) include

distributions in age, sex, location of residence, representatives of the

constituency work being served by the organization, political contacts,

clientele, expertise, and training in the following areas: personnel,

finance, law, fundraising, and public relations. Each board member

should have KSAOCs that contribute to the policymaking and oversight

responsibilities of the board as a whole.

To select new board members, the existing board or its nominating

committee should identify the characteristics needed in new board mem-

bers. The KSAOCs should relate to the organization ’ s mission and objec-

tives. To determine what KSAOCs are needed, the incumbent board

members should be evaluated (Houle, 1989).

Table 5.1 presents a sample grid identifying the match between the

relevant criteria and the incumbent board members. Notice that space

is permitted to add prospective board members to the grid. The grid

identifi es fi ve criteria for determining the composition of the board: age,

gender, residence, background, and responsibilities:

1. There should be a greater spread in the ages of the members of the
   board.


2. The board should be representative of the whole community.


3. The board should be evenly divided between men and women.


4. Major ethnic groups should be represented in roughly the same
   proportion as is found in the population served.


5. Board members should have expertise or substantive knowledge
   about the programs provided by the agency, or skills in person-
   nel, finance, public relations, law, or building maintenance and
   acquisition.

This particular board has fi fteen members serving three - year terms. Look

at the members with expiring terms and determine which characteristics

are needed to balance out the board member grid.