Strategic Use of Board Committees for Non-Profits

A Step-by-Step Governance Review, Part 6

Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

Committees can ease a board’s workload, but the wrong committees or poor implementation can make things worse. Non-profit boards rarely have time and resources to waste, so ideal committee structure and practices are essential.

This article is a primer on the structure and use of board committees for non-profits. At their best, committees provide value to the organization, but they also run the risk of just creating more work and meetings. Read on to learn how to evaluate your board’s needs for committees and how implement them successfully.

What are Board Committees?

Board committees:

• Do in-depth work delegated from one area of board responsibilities. Committees should not have a responsibility that does not sit within the board’s broader mandate, but their own mandates will expand on the tasks required to fulfill their work.

• Help the board by allocating tasks, monitoring operational issues between board meetings, and providing in-depth focus on different topics.

• Do not make decisions on behalf of the board, but they can make recommendations to help the board make informed decisions.

• Can focus on a specialized area of knowledge important to the board’s work.

• Standing committees operate without an expiry date. However, their utility to board effectiveness should be reviewed every three to five years.

• Ad hoc committees are created for a short-term purpose, and must have an expiry date in their mandates. They can be extended, but if the committee has multiple extensions, the board should consider whether it needs to be a standing committee.

Non-profit directors may participate on organizational committees as well. This article only addresses committees created to take on delegated aspects of the board’s mandate.