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Stephen officially takes on his role as Executive Director of Forerunner Mentoring; and has some questions. Zach joins Stephen to answer all his questions about building relationship with his Board of Directors and some tips he's learned over the years.
Show Notes
Stephen officially takes on his role as Executive Director of Forerunner Mentoring; and has some questions. Zach joins Stephen to answer all his questions about building relationship with his Board of Directors and some tips he's learned over the years.
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the You Can Mentor podcast. My name is Steven Murray, the new director of 4 Runner Mentoring. I'm here with my former boss, now board member, Zachary Garza senior.
Speaker 3:That's me.
Speaker 2:We are continuing our series on the board. I don't know why I'm talking like that.
Speaker 3:Kinda just because you're weird. It happens. But I love you.
Speaker 2:Hey. Thank you. Well, we just thought it'd be great to record a few episodes about the board after I got my butt kicked at our last board meeting where Zach said some difficult things that I needed to hear. Is that a good way to put it? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, I'm I don't sound angry, do I?
Speaker 3:I think at one point, I said stop walking out in fear and do the right thing. So, sorry about that.
Speaker 2:No. That I mean, that's fair.
Speaker 3:Sorry. Not sorry. But I still love you.
Speaker 2:But, I mean, it it is in this transition coming into this role, I mean, one of the big questions was, what does it look like for me to work alongside the board? What's my what's my role there? What is their role? What what are they doing? And walking into this, Zach's just been telling me the board is the foundation of the organization.
Speaker 2:And so understanding what they're doing is going to influence and encourage our staff, our community, and everything we're investing in. And and so this is a big deal, and we wanna talk about it.
Speaker 3:It's like the board is the, like, hidden part. Like, everyone sees, oh, there's 4 Runner. They hang out with kids. But it's like, no one really knows how they make it happen. And the board's like, in this, like, backroom trying to figure out budgets and job descriptions and supporting and evaluations and all this stuff.
Speaker 3:And everyone just thinks it happens. Like, oh, you serve kids and it's great. Like, yeah, but there's a there's a there's a reason why things are going so well. And more times than not, the reason why is the board.
Speaker 2:It's like I remember just recently, probably last month. I mean, we've been going through transition. We even have a a new director of operations. She oversees our finances on our staff, and we have a board member who's, I guess, the treasurer. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Treasurer just sounds like a super cool
Speaker 3:Yeah. Like, I'm the treasurer. It's like Batman, the treasurer. It's the Joker.
Speaker 2:I mean, I only see Nick Cage in my mind, like, stealing the Mona Lisa or something. But, anyways I think that's national treasure. But we had we had a board meeting at 6:30, and I got an email from Chad at 11:30 the night before. Mhmm. And so he's, like, punching numbers
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Into the wee hours. I don't even know if he slept, honestly, but he showed up and he presented the numbers. And and it's like, how much goes into that spreadsheet every month to make sure we actually know
Speaker 3:That he does for free.
Speaker 2:Yes. Who does that?
Speaker 3:Here's, hey, if you don't hear anything else on the podcast, just hear this. You can mentor. But if you hear 2 things, it's this. Thank your board members. Thank them often.
Speaker 3:Just thank them. Tell them how awesome they are. They are volunteers. They're volunteering this stuff, and they're doing the hard things. Chad's calculating numbers in his free time when his wife and kids are in the other room.
Speaker 3:Why? Because he cares about your vision and mission. Mhmm. As an ED, executive director, share vision with your board members. Hey, Chad.
Speaker 3:Your punching numbers allowed this story to happen.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Right? Connect them to the vision. Hey.
Speaker 2:Hey. I'm not in jail because our our audit was successful. Well Thank you, Chad. I was
Speaker 3:thinking more connecting to the vision of the program.
Speaker 2:Yep. Okay.
Speaker 3:Like, hey, Scott. Your hard feedback made me a better leader. Here's a story about how I invested into my staff this week. Yeah. So connect them to the vision.
Speaker 3:That's important. But, yeah, we're going right into it. You know? The board is kinda everything. Last week, we talked about board source.
Speaker 3:This week, we're talking about things that we've kinda come up with, that I've kinda come up with, that as I have formed the board that has best helped me. So every nonprofit's different. Every executive director's different, and the board needs to kind of reflect the weaknesses of the executive director. They need to support the executive director. So I'm not very good in details.
Speaker 3:So guess what? My board is full of guys who focus on the details. K?
Speaker 2:So should I just scrap the whole board and find some new guys to jump in, some new blood?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Go ahead and do that, and you just let me know how that goes. Okay. 2 years later, hi. Welcome to Chick Fil A.
Speaker 3:May I take your order? I'm Steven.
Speaker 2:You said the board has to reflect the executive director. Does it reflect me? I No. It reflects you.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah. And the board justice? The board in 3 years will look different, Steven, because you are different in a great way. Alright. Let's get into this.
Speaker 3:Okay? First thing we're gonna talk about, recruiting board members. We kinda talked about this last episode, but find people who can fill the roles that you need. Have a job description. Find people to fit that job description.
Speaker 3:Right? The people have to love Jesus. They have to be behind your vision. They have to be nice, but they also have to fit the job description. Right?
Speaker 3:And so we will share with you our job descriptions for different committees here in a second. But yeah. So for me, most important thing is they have to love Jesus. So, Steven, whenever you look at our board, tell me what you see.
Speaker 2:Well, rather than tell you what I see, I can tell you what I hear.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:Because, I mean, I I know that every board meeting starts with relationship. Those guys just checking in. I mean, they they love you. They love each other. They love forerunner.
Speaker 2:You know, they're bought in. I mean, many times, someone will come in with a scripture that god had put on their heart that morning, and I'm like, dude, this meeting is at 6:30. How how are you coming in with a quiet time into this board, which I I know you've been working on on me getting into that that rhythm of of making that sacrifice. But that's really challenging to me knowing that these guys are waking up at 5 in the morning to come to a board meeting, that then they're going to work afterwards, but are always coming with some spiritual encouragement, a wisdom that they've received from their own work and diligence in leading their families and leading their companies. And so you can just you can tell that they really care about the organization's health Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Spiritually, financially, directionally.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 2:And and that comes from a life of faithfulness. Right. So
Speaker 3:Which this leads us into what I like to call the board of directors top 10. And
Speaker 2:this
Speaker 3:is something that I came up with. I had to learn the hard way. I there's some board members who I had on my team whenever we first started out that I wasn't intentional with. I didn't share with them exactly what I wanted. I didn't give them guidance.
Speaker 3:I didn't give them expectations and it led to some hard. Right? So here's 10 things that I've come up with the board of directors top ten that I believe for my organization, my board, they just have to be on board with. Board on board. That's fun.
Speaker 3:Alright. Number 1, pray. They gotta pray. We cannot complete the vision that the Lord has given us out of our own strength, but instead, we must seek first his kingdom, trusting in his plan and provision while working hard along the way. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Speaker 3:And let's not forget what our job is and what his job is. So every board member has to commit to praying for 4 Runner. It's a big deal because a ministry without prayer is the greatest form of arrogance. If you're doing your ministry in your own strength, it's gonna be your ministry, not God's. That's not what we signed up for.
Speaker 2:So And that that's the same for board members saying Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Like, this is for board members. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So So, like, as the board, your greatest contribution might not be the 30 years of experience you've had.
Speaker 3:It might be your prayers.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's
Speaker 3:a big deal. Wow. Number 2, keep the executive director healthy. It's your job board to keep the executive director healthy. That is spiritually.
Speaker 3:That is emotionally. That is physically. That is relationally. They can be the best executive director in the world, but if they die of a heart attack because they don't exercise and they're obese and they're not getting any sleep say
Speaker 2:something right now?
Speaker 3:Yes. And they're not getting any sleep, they're gonna burn. And if they burn, the org's gonna burn too. So if their marriage is failing, they're not gonna be a good executive director. If they're unhealthy, not gonna be a good executive director.
Speaker 3:If they're not communing with Jesus, they're not gonna be a good spiritual leader.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:So, board, you gotta keep the executive director healthy. Thoughts?
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's good. I mean, thank you every time you've seen me eating Taco Bell, and you let me know you saw it.
Speaker 3:Taco Bell, Church's Chicken. I mean, the list goes on. I did eat Popeyes.
Speaker 2:I did eat Popeyes. Alright. Alright. Baby golden chicken.
Speaker 3:Speaking of Popeyes and you eating unhealthy, number 3, clear and honest feedback. I will say this once.
Speaker 2:A shameful text message.
Speaker 3:I will say this once. Do not surround yourself with people who only say yes. Yes men are not good for your organization. You need people who are willing to share with you the things that you're doing wrong. They need to be honest.
Speaker 3:They need to be clear. Right? The number one threat for a nonprofit is lack of clear and honest feedback. They need to be willing to say the hard things in the right way. If it's not excellent, tell us.
Speaker 3:If you're doing something wrong, tell me. If you've got a huge stick in your eye, someone has to be kind enough to say, hey, Zach, you've got a big stick in your eye and that stick is called you're not gentle. You don't have a calendar. You are late. You aren't taking care of yourself.
Speaker 3:So clear and honest feedback. That's the board's job. It's your job as the executive director to receive it well.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And, I I mean, I can't tell you how many resources you've given me about receiving feedback and being being the guy that once you hear feedback asks for help Yeah. Doesn't just try to defend.
Speaker 3:Here's here's a here's a man move right here. Here's a professional move. Ask for feedback.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Hey, board. What's something that you see in me that I don't see in myself? What's what's an area where I think I'm doing well, but I'm not?
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's hard. But the people you want on your board are not those that have to be asked For
Speaker 3:sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But
Speaker 2:but are willing to. You can help them Yeah.
Speaker 3:Though. Number 4, you gotta do your job. The board does their job. You do your job. I say this, the board, they're the coach.
Speaker 3:Right? The executive director, they're the quarterback. Like, the coach comes up with the game plan, the coach, you know, figures out what you're gonna do on the field, but the quarterback actually does it.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Right? And so it's the board's job to prepare in the game plan. It's the executive director's job to actually execute that game plan. So once again, clear job descriptions, clear committee descriptions are vital. We'll talk about that in a second.
Speaker 2:This makes me want to look at the board job descriptions. Not not that I'm afraid they're not doing their job. I'm more of just Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's a big deal.
Speaker 2:I need need to familiarize myself with them.
Speaker 3:You most definitely do. Number 5, remember the why. Something that you as the executive director can really do a good job of, and that's just sharing stories. Hey, board. You're volunteering your time and your energy and your hours.
Speaker 3:Here's what it's doing. Remember the why. Our board chairman didn't sign up to give me feedback. He didn't sign up to review a budget. He signed up to advance the vision and the mission to help kids, to help families.
Speaker 3:Right? Help him connect the dots as to, hey, here's what you did that helped us do the thing, that helped us serve a kid, that helped us baptize a kid, that helped us, you know, minister to a mom.
Speaker 2:So You connect the dots. Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's good. So what I try to do, the first 5 or 10 minutes of every board meeting, just share a story and, hey, board, this couldn't happen without you. Mhmm. It's a big deal. Number 6, life is a people game.
Speaker 3:Life is a people game. Shout out to Jason Matthews. He's a former board member. He came up with this phrase. I love it.
Speaker 3:Don't rush to bring people on the board. Mhmm. Character is everything. At the same time, know when to cut ties. If there's a board member who's toxic, don't wait to get rid of them.
Speaker 3:You've just got to cut those ties because the continuity, the environment, the culture of a board is everything, and one person can jack it all up.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:All board members must have an active walk with Christ. Don't rush when recruiting board positions. When boards are comprised of optimists, idealists, and cheer cheerleaders as they often are, a breakdown in governance is more likely. I always look for the guy who's gonna kinda be that jerk like me, like currently in our board, and I don't necessarily like this, but it is it just is what it is. If you're gonna receive hard feedback, you're probably gonna receive it from me.
Speaker 3:That's my But
Speaker 2:that makes sense because you've been in the mess Yes. And you have more
Speaker 3:I have had guys on my board where one of my former board chairman, when when I first invited him onto my board, I said, I need someone who's gonna kinda kick my butt. And he said, Zach, are you sure? And I said, yeah. And he did for 3 years, and it was terrible. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And it made me who I am today. But I put him on our board because I knew I needed that harsh, pessimistic guy who's gonna kind of point out all of my flaws. And for that season, that's what I needed because I I needed to get better. When reviewing perspective board members, note which skills they'll bring to the table. Hey.
Speaker 3:This guy's not afraid of conflict. This guy's gonna say the hard thing. You know? This person's encouraging. This person's gonna, care about my heart.
Speaker 3:Well, this person's gonna care about my performance. Right? And so just just know that. So you're putting together a team. A team needs to be diverse, diverse skill sets, diverse personalities, and things like that.
Speaker 3:Cool?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, can you I don't know if you've had to remove someone from the board. You just said, if you're recognizing something that's toxic, do it as fast as possible. What is fast as possible?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And who's in charge of that? Is the board chairman the guy that Yeah. Yeah. Calls a vote and he says, hey, guys. Timmy?
Speaker 2:Yeah. He's toxic. We gotta get him out of here. Everyone say hi.
Speaker 3:I mean, it's I mean
Speaker 2:Timmy says no?
Speaker 3:It just depends. You know, whenever we were in the founding board season, you know, I was kind of in charge of that, but ultimately, the board's there to help you as the executive director. So if you as the executive director say you're not being helpful, then like, you know, most of the time they'll leave.
Speaker 2:And it's it might be obvious to everybody else.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. So it's hard. I mean, dude, it's it's it's it's hard, but and there's different personalities, different skills for different seasons. You know, when we first started, my board needed to look like this.
Speaker 3:When we were growing, my board needs to look like this. Now that we're trying to get excellent in the day to day, my board needs to look like this. Yeah. Next season when we're trying to raise a ton of money, my board needs to look totally different. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So Well
Speaker 2:and I'm not saying this as a I'm not making a statement here about our current board. Right. But as you're leaving the executive director position, I'm inheriting a staff. I'm inheriting a board. And so when I look to add more board members, am I making the next guy that's e d, am I making his job easier or harder based off of who I'm bringing in to the board of directors?
Speaker 3:Yep. Is
Speaker 2:that fair to say?
Speaker 3:Yeah. For sure. So But you have to surround yourself with the people that you need to lead this nonprofit. So your board will look different than mine, and that's okay. You know?
Speaker 3:I'm a strong personality. You are not me. So I needed people, you know, who are more gentle, who are more, you know, analytical. You are analytical, so you might need people who are more, you know, talking about the vision, talking about the future, just you've got to surround yourself with the help that you need. So which you have to know yourself, but you do.
Speaker 3:So number 7 active and prepared participants. They've got to come prepared. They have to actively participate in the meeting. They can't just sit there on their phone. We say during the meeting, the board should speak 80% of the time and the executive director, 20%.
Speaker 3:They should be active. The board needs to talk 80% of the time and the executive director, 20% of the time.
Speaker 2:You're telling me to shut up.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm telling myself to shut up. I think you're gonna have a lot easier job doing this than I, than I do. But I'm also the founder, so you know, which is a good thing and a bad thing. But yeah. So I'm
Speaker 2:coming I'm coming to listen and just answer the questions
Speaker 3:that Yes. Yes. Tell people what you do every month. Talk about that email that you sent.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. I mean, I only do it because you told me to do it, but Well I see the benefits of it. That's why I continue to do it. A recap email of everything that's going on in the organization
Speaker 3:It's 1 page.
Speaker 2:That's summarized, which is actually pretty difficult because we have a lot of stuff going on. But anything the board, if I didn't tell them, they would not know about, which I think that sharing information communication I mean, obviously, if there's anyone you're going to over communicate with, it probably should be the board. But in general, the board should know big decisions that are coming up, big issues that you're facing, big events that you have questions about. And Mhmm. And so that email every month gives the the board chairman an opportunity to recognize, hey.
Speaker 2:That that looks like something we need to talk about. We need to
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Like, focus on. And so it helps him clarify priorities.
Speaker 3:So it's almost like you don't need to talk in the meeting because you did all your talking in that email. Yeah. So it's like before the meeting even starts, you kinda share with them everything that's going on. And then during the actual board meeting, the agenda is set based on, hey, here are some things that we believe we need to talk about. And the board just needs to ask you a bunch of questions.
Speaker 2:And so and and maybe I I guess, I'd never thought about it before this, but maybe because of my last monthly recap, a lot of the feedback was, like, what's coming up next, not just what's going on today. And so rather than just talking about this month, I'm catching them up to speed on all the other conversations we're having. And so a lot of their feedback was, like, well, it seems like you're focused on what's happening this week, not where we need to be in June, where we need to be in August. And so that that's just that's me personally processing.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So anything that you can communicate before the board meeting, do that so that when you're actually in the board meeting, you can use your time while discussing things that need to be discussed. Yeah. So That's good. That board time, it's what can't we talk about over email.
Speaker 3:It's what needs to have a face to face discussion. So that's number 7. Number 8 is easy. Protect and accomplish the vision. So if we're it's easy to understand.
Speaker 3:If we're a mentoring organization and Steven's like, hey, guys. I think that we're gonna start a food pantry. Well, it's the board's job to stop that.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Because that's mission drift. That's vision drift. So the Lord has given 4 Runner Mentoring a specific vision. It's the board's job to make sure that that vision gets taken care of. So number 9, relationships are everything.
Speaker 3:We talked about this, but any relationship requires time and trust to maintain. The key to the board executive director can be found in 2 key questions. I love this. This is big. Do I respect you?
Speaker 3:Does the board respect you as the ED? And does the executive director respect the board? And do I trust you? Mhmm. Does the board trust you as the executive?
Speaker 3:Do you trust the board that they're giving you sound feedback, that they're for you, not against you? Respect and trust. Sounds like a like a 8th grade men's Bible study. Like, today, we're gonna talk about trust and respect. It's awesome.
Speaker 3:I love it. When trust is present, people admit their weaknesses and mistakes. That's big. Right? I'm not gonna share with you my weaknesses.
Speaker 3:I'm not gonna share my mistakes if I don't trust you. Right? And what's crazy is by you asking for help, by you admitting those things, respect is is formed. It's crazy. It's like what what you want, trust and respect, we think that we have to, like, be perfect in order to get that, but really, it's in our weakness that we get those things.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Doesn't make sense. Relationships change lives.
Speaker 2:Recap email that I send once a month.
Speaker 3:It's a big deal.
Speaker 2:A lot of it does feel like the temptation is to make it the highlight reel.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Don't do that.
Speaker 2:And not, like, get to the bottom where it's like, what issues are you facing? And I'm like, I mean, things are pretty great.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Don't do that. Yeah. Number 10, humility wins. Humility is a starting point for a healthy board executive director relationship.
Speaker 3:Humility is knowing the right time to exit. This applies to both the executive director and board members. The leaders who know this will care less about self preservation than the success of the overall organization and will recognize when their skills and abilities no longer meet the needs of the organization. They are secure knowing another person's skills may be a better fit at this current stage. Wow.
Speaker 3:I wrote that, like, 10 years ago.
Speaker 2:And now you're living it.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's
Speaker 2:crazy. In some way. Yeah. That's crazy.
Speaker 3:Different stages in a ministry require different skill sets. That's humility, my friend. That's They're good. Board of director top 10. I I think they're great.
Speaker 3:Please feel free to steal that. You can find them on our You Come Into our website.
Speaker 2:I I here's a question. Just as the executive director, when is the time to give board members feedback on these areas? Should should the executive director be giving feedback?
Speaker 3:No. So this is so there's someone on our board who's in charge of evaluating the board.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 3:And that's our governance committee. So our governance committee is making sure that people are doing this. Okay. Not you. So let's talk about board committees, shall we?
Speaker 3:Yep. So here are our board requirements. Just in order to be on our board, period, end of story, it doesn't matter what, role you play. You have to do these things. I'm gonna try to fly through these.
Speaker 3:Be a fatherly covering for forerunner. Be submitted to a Christian church body and have an active personal relationship with Christ. Be willing to gently engage in constructive conflict if you see the program going away from the vision. Ensure through prayer and discernment the Lord is leading forerunner instead of man leading forerunner. Be active in spreading the vision of forerunner.
Speaker 3:Make a significant personal contribution to forerunner each year. Those are those are the board's responsibilities. Which one's your favorite right there?
Speaker 2:The one where they give money. I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3:That's not give me your money. Hey, baby.
Speaker 2:I I do like
Speaker 3:Baby, I got your money.
Speaker 2:The one where it's just is the Lord leading this thing or are we leading it?
Speaker 3:That's a big deal. Commitments. Willing to support the executive director. Willing to serve on the board for 2 years. Maximum amount of terms one board member can serve is 3 terms.
Speaker 3:Make room in the schedule for 4 Runner lunches and meetings, make room in his or her schedule for emails, phone calls that pertain to 4 Runner, attend our programs once a year, attend retreat meetings and fundraiser, spend time praying for 4 Runner. Which one's your favorite?
Speaker 2:I mean, I I like their connection to what we do. Yeah. I think that that's huge.
Speaker 3:They have to see it. Yeah. It's big. Alright. We're going on to the roles.
Speaker 3:Okay? So we have we got 4 committees, and this is just how we do it. There's different ways to do it, but we have the executive committee and, we try to keep that about 3 mem 3 members. And their main job is to keep the executive director accountable as they execute the strategic plan. Their main job is to evaluate and support and appraise the executive director in his role as well as emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.
Speaker 3:So our executive director I mean, our executive committee, they're like, that's the chairman. That's kind of the older guys. They're like the fatherly, like, they're kinda in charge of everything. So that is that.
Speaker 2:That's you.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well, that's me now. But my so here's something that we do. My executive committee, my board chairman, we try to meet once a month away from the board, just us. And And they're kind of my fatherly covering.
Speaker 3:They're kind of my mentors. If I have any questions, I'm I I ask them. They're kind of my first go to. Yeah. Next up is the the governance committee.
Speaker 3:For us, that's 2 members. They clearly inform members of expectations and roles. They recruit, interview, nominate, and train new board members. They connect with the executive director to plan meetings and board retreats. So if you have something to talk about, you'll go to them and say, hey, I think we need to do this.
Speaker 3:I think we need a half day. I think we need a full day, you know, and they make it happen. They lead the board in self evaluation and then they organize the board meetings and keep the minutes. So that's our governance committee. For me, I like someone who's organized.
Speaker 3:I like a type a person. I like someone who likes doing the behind the scenes stuff. Right? The executive committee, that's kind of the older, the wiser, the sage. It's like, they're that's who I like.
Speaker 3:So executive is like leading it. The governance is making sure that it's run well. The development committee, that's 2 to 3 to 4 people, they Cha ching. Yeah. That's just money.
Speaker 3:Understand the budget. Create a plan to help raise funds. Help staff execute development plan. And by helping, I mean, opening up doors. You know?
Speaker 3:They're not gonna fundraise for you, but they'll introduce you to people. They'll open up the doors so that you can walk through those doors and fundraise. They keep the executive director accountable for the execution of the development plan. And I talk to them a lot. So those are my well networked.
Speaker 3:Those are my salesmen. Those are my go getters. Hey. We need to raise a million. Let's do it.
Speaker 3:Let's figure out a way. Let's come up with a plan. Let's execute that plan. And I'm gonna introduce you to everyone that I know, and I know a lot of people. So that's the development committee.
Speaker 3:And then last is the finance committee. That's 2 people. They oversee the budget. They create reports every month to share at the board meeting. They lead that time at the board meeting.
Speaker 3:They forecast any potential issues and they make sure that we're being good stewards. So at a typical board meeting, ours lasts about an hour and a half. It's executive committee kind of starts out with the prayer. Executive director shares a cool story. The governance committee goes through the the minutes, talks about what's going on, talks about what's coming up, talks about if we need any new board members or if anyone's about to come off the board.
Speaker 3:The development committee talks about fundraising efforts. Hey. This is where we're at, who we need to meet. Here's what's coming up. And then the finance talks about the funds, talks about the budget, talks about where we are, what we need to do, and so on.
Speaker 3:And then we get to the important stuff. Like, hey, we have a fundraiser coming up. Let's talk about that. Or, hey, we have an issue with the staff member. Or I don't know how to do a strategic plan, and so on.
Speaker 3:That's that. Any questions on that, Steven?
Speaker 2:No. It's great. And I mean, seeing seeing this listed out, I can see it in our board meetings of just how it's how it's broken up. Yeah. And recognizing get giving everyone the space to contribute and be prepared to share.
Speaker 2:And I think I think just knowing what your job is, having that agenda creates the space for the committees to do their job.
Speaker 3:Yep. And like we said earlier that as the executive director, you need to spend about 25% of your time on the board, you know, give or take. And that's like, hey, I try to go out to lunch or go out to breakfast or meet with each committee at least once every other month.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 3:it's like, I'm gonna go out with the development guys for lunch, and we're just gonna talk about, hey, how's it going with the plan? How can I help you, Zach? And so on. I go out to lunch with the executive or, well, we meet with the executive committee the last Friday of every month. And that's just, you know, that's a standing appointment.
Speaker 3:I meet with the finance guys. Hey, how's it going? And so on. Why we do the term limits that we do, it's 2 years for 3 terms. It's the first term is you're sitting underneath someone and learning how to do that role.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. The second term, you're actually doing the role. And then the 3rd term, you're teaching someone how to do the role. So that's why we kinda do that. And most people, it's not 6 years.
Speaker 3:It's probably about 4 years. Mhmm. But that's why we do it like that. So someone's training, someone's doing And mentoring. It is mentoring.
Speaker 3:That's right. We have a calendar as a board, and this is how it goes. Okay? And it kinda we do this every year. Like, there's a rhythm.
Speaker 3:Right? In January, we have a board meeting and we focus on finding new board members. In February, we start developing the strategic plan for the year that will take that will start in June. So our fiscal years goes June 1 to May 31st. And so we start working on that.
Speaker 3:And with that comes a half day board meeting. So as a board, we get together for a half day and we really talk about the strategic plan. We talk about where we're going and so on. March, we come up with that budget to execute that strategic plan. And that's a half day with me and the treasurer with the and the finance department and things like that.
Speaker 3:So we've got the strategic plan now. Let's figure out how much money we need to make that happen. In April, it's all about fundraising. So how are we gonna make this strategic plan happen? How are we gonna meet this budget?
Speaker 3:And that's a half day. And this is all plus the
Speaker 2:Regular meetings.
Speaker 3:Regular meetings. This is a half day with the development. Right? Hey. How are we gonna raise a $1,000,000?
Speaker 2:Right? What events do we need to do?
Speaker 3:What events, what people, what churches, what foundations, all of that stuff. In May, it's onboarding new board members, and then that's where I focus really a lot of time with the governance. Hey. How are we gonna onboard them? What roles are they going to play?
Speaker 3:Who's gonna roll off and so on? In June, it's all about raises and evaluations. That's the board eval, that staff eval, that's your evalu. That's the end of the year.
Speaker 2:And this is just because our fiscal year goes with the schools. Right.
Speaker 3:Right. Right. Right.
Speaker 2:So it might not be the same for everybody. But Right.
Speaker 3:And we do a relational retreat during that month. It's, hey, let's celebrate all that God has done this year. So let's go play golf. Let's go out to eat. Let's I mean, we had a celebration on this past week.
Speaker 3:We all went out to dinner. All the wives had a presentation. We celebrated. You know, it was awesome. But you have to celebrate.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And we always bring the board members and their spouses because it's important that they're on board as well. In July August, we're just preparing for the new school year. That's kinda whenever we rest some. But then August, September hits and we're focused on starting that new school year, making sure that that strategic plan is working. And then October, November, December, we focus in on giving because the end of the year stuff is about to come up.
Speaker 3:And it's just like, you need 2 things to run a mentoring organization, mentors, and money. And the board helps you find that money. And then we have a Christmas party as as a board, and we celebrate. So that's kinda our rhythm, man.
Speaker 2:That that that that is a good rhythm.
Speaker 3:Yeah. But yeah. But why don't you talk about the 1 on 1 that you have with our board chairman, with Scott, with our executive committee each month? Why do you do that? What's the value in that?
Speaker 3:Talk about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, I mean, you you kinda prepared me for it. You were like, hey. Listen. Don't go to meetings with Scott without questions that that you wanna ask him and come to learn.
Speaker 2:So, I mean, I've consistently met up with him with a list of more questions than we'd have time for, honestly. But just just coming in saying, hey. I'm feeling this. What do you think about this? And what have you all done in the past when you've run into this situation?
Speaker 2:And and just coming ready to not just make decisions, but hear advice and wisdom that that is usually overarching that helps you make many decisions, not just what do you what would you do in this situation? It's more of like, how do you do this? Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's not just, like, tell me yes or no. It's tell me how to do it.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I love the 1 on 1 with our board chairman because our board chairman really is our mentor. I mean, he guides us. He leads us. He's our covering.
Speaker 3:We pray together. We catch up on life together. I mean, he's not just like my boss. He's like my pastor and my mentor and my coach, and it's time to ask questions. It's time for him to hold you accountable.
Speaker 3:Hey, Scott. This time next month, I wanna get 5 new monthly donors. Can you make sure that sure that I do that? It's time to ask those questions. It's a time to build trust.
Speaker 3:It's a it's just a time to know that you value him, you trust him, and it's a time for him to feel like he's playing a really important role in the development of you as you lead this nonprofit.
Speaker 2:So Yeah. And and, I mean, since he's coming up with the agenda, it also gives him more opportunities to gather information about where the organization is. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And you can prepare for the board meeting. So y'all are on the same page. But it's just over communication with that board chairman is a big deal. That's it, man. I mean, board stuff, it's important.
Speaker 3:And I know it can be hard to focus on because there might not be a lot, like, tangible that you need to do, but you gotta build relationships, you gotta build trust, you gotta pursue, you gotta make them feel thanked, make them feel valued. And then it's just the culture of the board will leak into your organization. So the board needs to be healthy. The board needs to like each other. The board needs to love Jesus.
Speaker 3:The board needs to be on target with a vision. The board needs to dream big, and that's gonna leak and float down to you as the executive into the staff, into the kids, into the community. It's a big deal. So
Speaker 2:It's good.
Speaker 3:You're gonna be great.
Speaker 2:Thanks, man. Yeah. I mean, that that book I read, Leadership Pain, he he talked about leaders who have a vision only will only rise to the threshold of their pain as well as the threshold of those holding them up. Mhmm. And and he brought this image of, like, a ladder of, like, you can only go so far up a ladder unless you have people holding it.
Speaker 2:Yep. And and being being the guys at the foundation that are holding the ladder, so you only rise to the measure that you have people supporting the problem.
Speaker 3:Well, dude, it's submission. You're submitting to someone, and the Lord loves submission, and he blesses submission. And you're submitting to authority, to a godly authority that you can trust, and god's gonna put his hand on that. You're uncovered. If you're a one man show, you're not gonna last long.
Speaker 3:But the board's gonna support you. They're for you. They are for you. Like, they're not against you. Yeah.
Speaker 3:They're your boss, but they're also your covering. They're your guide, and it's a good thing. So they will make you better if you let them. As you mentor, as you lead, as you start, as you run mentoring organizations, the board is key. And I hope that you'll learn something today as you continue to disciple and invest through mentoring relationships.
Speaker 3:We love you. If there's one thing that you take away, let it be this. You can mentor.