Ottawa County nonprofits flock to board leadership training

For seven years, Lakeshore Nonprofit Alliance (LNA) has offered training for those who serve on boards of nonprofits. The class is so popular there are no empty seats in the room. 

“How to be an effective board member” workshops teach new board members best practices of providing leadership for a nonprofit, from governance to fundraising.

“It sells out every time,” says Patrick Cisler, executive director of Lakeshore Nonprofit Alliance. “Over 700 people in Ottawa County have taken part in some kind of board training we offered since 2012. It's a four-hour deep dive into all aspects of what it takes to be an effective board member.”

Updating workshop

The organization, which provides support to West Michigan nonprofits, plans to update the popular workshop before the end of the year in response to the results of a first-of-its-kind assessment of Ottawa County nonprofits. (See story)

The assessment showed that while the majority of nonprofits surveyed have been good stewards of their resources, they have a ways to go on a variety of board-related issues from diversity to recruitment. 

Nonprofits benefit when their board members reflect a diversity of skill sets, cultural backgrounds, and life experiences. Boards should reflect the community they serve, Cisler believes. 

Patrick Cisler is the executive director of Lakeshore Nonprofit Alliance, a group created in 2006, with the goal of encouraging more collaboration among nonprofits, leveraging resources, and providing professional development for boards and staff. Photo by Shandra Martinez“This survey gave us an opportunity to figure out where we need to really focus our efforts. We are doing a lot of this already, but we learned what needs to take priority,” Cisler says. “The board has decided to design a 2.0 workshop.”

The workshop is one of the most successful programs LNA runs. The training is primarily underwritten by the county’s two community foundations, Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area and the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation.

How it began

The seed for LNA was planted in 2004 when a dozen executive directors in the Holland/Zeeland area began to meet regularly to discuss the challenges of running nonprofit organizations. These regular conversations led to the creation of LNA in 2006, with the goal of encouraging more collaboration among nonprofits, leveraging resources, and providing professional development for boards and staff. 

Nearly 15 years later, LNA has grown to include more than 150 members. It has become a crucial support system for Ottawa County’s nonprofits, says Elizabeth Kidd, vice president for community impact for the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area and LNA executive board member. 
 
“Our nonprofits are tasked with the most challenging issues, but often don't have the resources available to businesses and government. We recognize the need to provide resources to nonprofits,” Kidd says. “LNA is behind the scenes, helping the organizations do their work as well as possible.”

Fundraising challenge

The biggest challenge for board members is often helping with a nonprofit’s fundraising. 

“We don't talk about fundraising enough in terms of strategies and practices of how to do it, so everybody is left thinking that, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to go ask friends,’” Cisler says. “We teach them how to fundraise, instead of saying, ‘Just go fundraise.’”

Cisler says there are a lot of options. Asking friends, families, and acquaintances is important because those requests often generate the highest yield, but there are other ways that are effective, such as introducing an organization’s leadership to potential donors. Another is hosting micro-events, usually a dinner held at someone’s house that provides an opportunity to learn about the organization. Think of these as a smaller, intimate version of a traditional gala fundraiser.

“Hopefully, this training demystifies what it means to serve on a board. We see it as a pathway to both those seeking out an opportunity to serve on a board and for those who are currently serving on boards,” Cisler says.

You can register for the next workshop, on March 3, at lakeshorenonprofits.org.

This article is part of The Lakeshore, a new featured section of Rapid Growth focused on West Michigan's Lakeshore region. Over the coming months, Rapid Growth will be expanding to cover the complex challenges in this community by focusing on the organizations, projects, programs and individuals working to improve conditions and solve problems for their region. As the coverage continues, look for The Lakeshore publication, coming in 2020.