Restoring that Volunteer Board Passion
How do I restore the passion that our board and staff once had for our organization?by Thomas W. McKee
I felt that the board was tired and discouraged. We had just finished a major fund raising event. Although we had raised a significant amount of money, we did not reach our goal. The feeling on the board was that people just had too many other pulls for their time and their money. At our next meeting, I sensed that the board was just there because they had made the commitment to me and to the organization. We had no passion.
After about 30 minutes of depressing reports, I stepped in and said, "I think we need to put aside our agenda tonight and do something else. We are all exhausted and almost to the point of burn out from working hard on our last event. I know we did not reach our goal, and we are all discouraged. So let's take a step back and regroup."
Then I asked them to each tell us why they originally got involved with our organization in the first place. What was it that excited them to choose our organization? We started around the boardroom, and one by one they told their stories of how they watched us from the outside. They hadn't been particularly interested in our cause, yet they became intrigued as they began to learn about it. There was a moment when each of them got hooked. For some that incident was when another board member invited them to see what we do. But each one had an incident that had stirred them enough personally to dedicate themselves to our group.
Something magical occurred in their telling their stories to each other. It was like asking a long-married couple to tell you the story of how they first met and fell in love, They were personally re-inspired and surprised that they had indeed lost that passion. For many of us, although we had been working together for years, we had never heard these stories. Some of the stories were very personal, moving, or silly. We gained a deeper respect for each other. But most of all, we were reminded of the validity of our cause. We had renewed energy and passion for going out there and telling the story of the organization to the community. We were reminded of just how important the work of the organization was. And all of this only took about an hour.
After we had all shared, I thanked the board for their dedication, the hard work they had done on the fundraiser, and their work for the organization. I announced that they needed a night off and we would dismiss the meeting and come back next month to brainstorm ideas of how we can accomplish our mission. But no one left. People started sharing and brainstorming right there, and for the next three hours we very informally began to think of new ways to accomplish our mission. It was a meeting that went from discouragement to excitement.
I recommend this exercise as an opener at a board retreat. It doesn't need to take long. A good leader or facilitator can keep it moving along. Without making a big deal of it, your board will be quickly re-energized, connected and turned on.
Click here to find out how.
© 2008 Volunteer Power