Board Size and Role
By Henry L. Ernstthal, CAE, Ernstthal and Associates, Washington

Reading a few current pieces in “TRENDS” moves me to make a few comments about Staff and Board driven associations and the size of association boards.

It has been clear to me for some time that an attempt to classify associations as volunteer or staff driven is a foolish waste of effort that leads only to increasing dysfunction. It is a gross over-simplification. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that few organizations spend any time at all discussing relative roles and responsibilities. (Misleading statements by search committees to CEO candidates, to the contrary, notwithstanding) All too often, when questioned pull out an antique set of bylaws and refer to boilerplate language that no one has used for years.

Serious conversations on relative roles and responsibilities are needed. For over twenty-five years I have been using a diagnostic tool to groups of trustees, directors, staff and other volunteer leaders on their perception of where their association would and should fall on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 signifying totally staff driven and 10 signifying totally volunteer driven. Over hundreds of applications, almost every time I use the exercise, about half the volunteers want the association to be more volunteer driven and the rest want to be more staff driven. What follows the presentation of the data is an increased likelihood that conversations will begin to address what individuals had in mind about who makes what kind of decisions.

But what, you ask, is the optimum size of a board? The answer is, “You are asking the wrong question.” Or rather, the question is asked too generically. The question should be, “Given the role the board has to fulfill and the nature of the decisions it is called to make, is there a right size. Houses of Delegates of hundreds can make decisions on broad matters of public policy, reaching consensus on otherwise divisive issues but they are particularly inept at dealing with detailed matters of finance or management.

What then of ASAE and the Center? I have been out of the loop for a few years, but I have been an active volunteer, member of the Board and officer of ASAE since the mid 80’s and, in my opinion, ASAE has, for the bulk of its recent history been strongly staff driven. The historic role of the ASAE board has been to ratify staff proposals ­ more often tacitly than by actual vote, and be organization boosters back home. Lots of debate, discussion and breakout groups, very little closure or decisiveness. But, as I said, I have not been active recently.

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