Recruiting, cultivating and retaining a strong board of directors is one of the most important aspects of running a successful nonprofit. Without a top-notch board, your organization won’t be able to fulfill its mission — and a nonprofit without purpose will cease to exist.

This may seem like an overstatement, but it’s critical not to underestimate or undervalue the time, energy and strategy required to build and maintain the board of directors your organization needs to succeed. At my nonprofit, our board has been instrumental in our growth, helping to raise $30 million-plus in support of our mission, allowing us to increase our ability to provide financial and emotional stability for over 1,500 families with children facing life-threatening illnesses since 2002.

If you’re ready to supercharge the success of your nonprofit, it’s time to build a better board. Read on as I share what we’ve learned and utilized over the past 17 years to do just that.

  • Recruit Building the perfect board of directors begins with a strategic recruitment plan. Think of this process as you would building any other team — you want a range of key players with varied and complementary talents, expertise and points of view.
  • Cultivate Once you’ve recruited your new board members, it’s time to onboard and cultivate them. We’ve found the onboarding process can take almost as much time as the general board seat term.
  • Maintain  As a nonprofit leader, you may spend as much time maintaining your board as you do managing your staff — and this investment can pay dividends. In my experience, the right board members in the right roles can have a game-changing impact on your organization for 10 years or more.

Read the full article about retaining successful boards by Autumn Strier at Forbes.