This year, COVID changed all the rules. Offering thanks to volunteer leadership was no exception.
Normally an organization would have numerous options like hosting a dinner or a board retreat to pay tribute to the professionals who guided staff and leadership into bluer waters. But this holiday season, organizations are faced with yet another challenge – identifying what board members really want for the holidays (and into the New Year). We asked Board Veritas partners and board clients what they thought a perfect gift would be for a board member and here’s what we found:
Honor A Board Member’s Time
Be intentional about honoring a board member’s time and help them to help you by prioritizing matters that need attention first. Delivering actionable information and legible reports (not an avalanche of data), reporting and other information is one way a board member’s time can be valued.
The Gift of Learning
Building new skills is important to almost everyone and you can help build your assets in any organization. Board Veritas offers numerous learning modules to boost knowledge in an number of areas like finance, fundraising and maintaining relevance with new programs like Board Veritas’ Strategic Doing workshop. For more Board Veritas offerings, see our training options.
Strategic Doing isn’t about fixing an old system – it’s about designing what’s next.
Make Individual Acknowledgements for Time and Talent
A board member has invested time and effort into your organization so it only makes sense to acknowledge not just the group but individual efforts when celebrating successes. A press release quoting the board member who is responsible for a big success, calling attention to the person in a speech, website or newsletter or strongly considering their choice for a board retreat are just some of the ways you can call attention to a positive contributions.
Celebrate Successes
It’s been a difficult year and not many are in the mood to celebrate. But even the smallest successes deserve some credit. Whether it is a successful public relations campaign, recruiting new members or sponsors or a dynamic addition to the staff, it’s important to encourage continued tenaciousness of getting to the finish line in any measure.
Interested in learning more, contact us at info@boardveritas.com.