Entrepreneurs As Trustees

The Executive Entrepreneur not only serves his customers, his company and his employees but he also serves nonprofits.  And sooner or later, the successful Executive Entrepreneur will be asked to serve on the boards of other companies and of nonprofit organizations.  In either case, becoming a fiduciary is serious business and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

I serve on the board of the Washington Academy of Languages and for the first time, I missed our annual board meeting last November.  My email address changed and I did not realize the nonprofit only had my former business email.  Nonetheless, it was my responsibility to alert everyone of the change, including the nonprofit, of my changed address.  I regret missing the board meeting and I find myself working harder to make up for it. 

A nonprofit is like any business and its trustees must hire, oversee and set the compensation of the president and other senior management people.  A president may also need to be replaced, which is serious business.  If you are asked to serve on the board of a nonprofit institution, it is a great honor, and one not to be taken lightly.  Here are a few takeaways for serving this honorable trustee role:

• Never miss a meeting.
• Do your homework before the meetings.
• Arrive to all meetings on time (I sound like my Dad here!).
• Offer to help the president with contacts or access to special information.
• Talk proudly about the nonprofit on the outside.
• Buy at least two tickets to your charity’s benefit event.
• Thank the volunteers who work in the nonprofit.
• Remember promises made at board meetings and follow-up.
• Notice when something’s amiss and seek to help correct it.

These are no different than serving as a fiduciary for a commercial venture’s board.  Act like an Executive Entrepreneur and the nonprofit will be ever grateful for it.