Ideal board size varies based on three things:
1. The scale of the organizational budget, employees, and constituency; 2. The character of the organization's mission and constituency; and 3. The expected role of the board as defined in bylaws (are they a classic "policy" board, a hands-on "operating" board, or a combination of the two?)
1st, solely in exceptional circumstances ought to a board ever exceed 21 members in size.
At this size, I'd begin questioning the effectiveness and potency of such a large board. It might be that a separate Advisory Board or Trustees Board would higher serve your purpose. This could be combined with a smaller executive committee to really conduct the continuing board business on an everyday basis. This system might ultimately serve the organization better while still recruiting the big names required to provide the board clout and giving your more local constituency a full of life voice.
On the other finish, I would never counsel a Board size of but five members. From my perspective, the sole time a board size of but five is acceptable is when submitting your original Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRS Kind 1023). A board size of a minimum of three ought to guarantee that the application will not receive any further scrutiny. Smaller boards may have a bigger issue representing their constituency and have a lot of potential for internal conflicts of interest. Accountability might develop into a concern as well.
However once more, there are various exceptions. Some organizations would like giant boards because abundant of their support depends on the public and large donor relationships. Alternative agencies, like human and social services providers, with most of their funding limited to a smaller number of contracts and/or major grant sources are usually higher off with smaller boards.
The organization's expectations of the board play a key role... the board of an advocacy organization or professional association, with a giant, a lot of numerous, and additional geographically dispersed constituency may would like to feel more connected with the organization and would possibly have a legitimate reason for the larger board.
A "policy" board, in a well-run organization with an government director who understands board relations, could safely be larger, as the quantity of your time such a board draws from skilled government leadership is usually smaller.
Boards that are focused on policy and are active fundraising boards and a mid-size board is almost continually better. This type of board can utilize more leadership time and can usually be more active than a policy board. Incidentally, this is often what I advocate most boards to try to become.
A board that provides a ton of professional-level support through legal, accounting, and program experience, ought to typically be as small as fairly doable, since it will be a considerable drain on the chief director to interact with board members. It is important that this type of board be manageable by the chief director therefore as to allow time to nurture the best doable contributions from all members.
The ideal board size is almost forever somewhere between 7 and 15 members, not withstanding the exceptions listed above. Too small a board is nearly actually as unhealthy as too giant a board. 5 members or less may be inadequate to accomplish all of the board's tasks and to recruit the variety of talents required to be effective. Seventeen members or more may create difficulties in reaching a consensus and become overly bureaucratic.
Yet one more comment, notice that every one board sizes were odd numbers (3, 5, 7, 15, 17, twenty one, etc) no matter how little or giant the board. It's best to keep your board and to grow your board to perpetually maintain an odd range of members. This can facilitate to avoid ties in voting and facilitate the board to be more effective in reaching conclusive votes.
Author Resource:
Carey Howard has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in Non-Profit, you can also check out his latest website about:
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