Casting Your Board for the Season Ahead

Every summer, I attend every show at the local summer stock theater company. I watch six or seven shows where roughly 80% of the cast consists of the same actors playing different roles.

I love watching that ensemble. During the first show of the season, I look at the company member bios during intermission and puzzle out which roles they will play in the upcoming shows.

• When will they be ensemble members?

• What role were they hired to play that made it worth being in the chorus for the rest of the season?

• What casting blanks will the company need to fill in by hiring beyond the summer company of mostly incredibly talented college students on summer break?

What strikes me repeatedly is that the company is not built around finding one perfect performer for one specific role. It is built around talented utility players who can step into the spotlight for that plum role and then back out, depending on the needs of each show.

They always need a soprano, but the soprano isn’t always the lead in every musical.

Sometimes, I can see the actors stretching to fit into something that isn’t 100% aligned with their talent, but they are generally very good.

Watching these productions, I often wonder why more boards don’t see themselves as acting troupes (and wish they did). Sometimes they seem less like intentionally formed ensembles and more like there was a casting call for friends and family only. A lawyer knows a lawyer. A finance person knows a finance person. A tech person knows a tech person.

These boards may lack the range they need to approach every production the organization will require. Too much vision. Not enough fundraising. Too much balance sheet, not enough community voice.

The board president and executive director start to notice that the board is out of balance in ways that limit its ability to show up for the organization. Topics that should engender lively discussion feel more like presentations from staff. Board members are interested, but the meeting is free of difficult questions or valuable input.

They find themselves high on curiosity but low on informed counsel.

The collection of accomplished individuals that has been assembled is not yet an ensemble that can perform in every show the organization may produce.

The question, then, becomes: how do we build a board that has the range and depth to cover an entire season?

CAST FOR TALENT, NOT TYPE

So, how do we recruit more intentionally – like we are casting a troupe that needs to cover every role in the season?

Before we start, we know which ensemble members from past years are returning for the coming season.

We may even choose a show that we know a returnee would be particularly interested in and who could fill that role beautifully. In our organizations, we may do the same by timing board initiatives to capitalize on the skills, connections, or interests of a strong board member who is ready to be utilized in new ways or step into a leading role.

Next, of course, we look at which spots need to be filled and what talents and characteristics we need.

This is where some boards may slip into recruiting too generically. Needing finance, legal, or fundraising is like saying you need a dramatic actress, tenor, or young person. We’ll see hundreds of possible performers if we are that general. You’ll rarely find the right person if you haven't decided exactly who you're looking for.

Boards need to stop and ask: What specific financial, legal, or fundraising capacities are actually needed?

A board may need a CPA, but does it need someone who can help non-financial board members understand complex issues or is that already covered by other board members?

Does your new board member need to be comfortable making direct asks, opening doors to relationships, or helping others become more confident fundraisers themselves?

Sure, you’d like all three capacities from every person you add, but that leads to recruiting endlessly and never finding that “needle in a haystack.”

Every candidate you meet cannot possibly fulfill every characteristic that you have decided is a requirement. The more specific the profile, the more likely you are to find the right person – even if it takes a little extra time. And we all know that recruitment should never be urgent, right?

Board members should bring more than one capacity, though. Like well-cast productions, organizations should not rely entirely on one person to carry the show.

EVERYONE NEEDS AN UNDERSTUDY

All performers need understudies. Boards need to know that there is someone ready to step in if one of their dedicated volunteers needs time away or to step off unexpectedly.

Leadership development should begin before someone ever joins the board, starting with how candidates are identified and cultivated. We need to see that each candidate will bring unique skills and could be board leaders during their term.

A theatrical casting practice I have always loved watching is when directors lay out the headshots of potential cast members. They often swap in different actors’ headshots to consider what the full cast would look like with one performer versus another.

Casting your board deserves the same rigor (probably minus the headshots) and the same questions:

• If we add this person, how do they fit in with the current group?

• How will adding this person potentially change the board dynamic?

• Does this person duplicate a talent we already have in good supply, no matter how much we like them?

Through lack of intentional recruitment practices, many boards find themselves with single points of failure. One governance expert. One fundraiser. One community member.

When that person wants to or should rotate off the board, everyone panics and asks them to stay for another term.

Have you ever gone to a theatrical production and heard, “Tonight’s performance is canceled because we cannot cover one of our leads?” Likely not. The production survives transitions and illnesses. Audiences love to groan when they hear the announcement that there will be an understudy, but they invariably leap to their feet for a standing ovation when the understudy proves to be amazing.

RANGE MATTERS

Most great acting companies do not look for performers who can do one thing well. They look for range. The same is true for boards.

Having trustees who can contribute in multiple areas with equal skill is critical to making sure the organization can respond to a wider range of needs. Like triple threats (performers who can act, dance, and sing), these board members play multiple roles as organization needs evolve.

Range also matters because times change. Founder-led organizations may need builders and evangelists. Nonprofits in growth mode may need stronger governance structures and operational oversight. Mature organizations may need trustees who can steward succession and long-term sustainability.

Your triple threats can redirect their talents toward what is most pressing, where single focus board members might not make the transition as smoothly. Even the most excellent performer can be wrong for the next production.

Which raises another question: how do you find the right people for the next production?

CASTING THE UPCOMING SEASON

Strong productions do not begin with auditions ("Know someone who wants to be in the show?"). They begin with a script (mission), a talented production team (staff and board), a clear concept (vision), and a throughline (strategy).

Just like mission, vision, values, and strategy evolve, so should the board and organizational leadership. We recruit within that emerging context.

Against this backdrop, boards need to be specific, asking “what board members does this moment demand?” over “does anyone know anybody who wants to be on a board?”

By focusing on the organization, boards can choose the best recruiting approach.

Sometimes the answer may be someone from your existing network. Sometimes it is a broader call (to dedicated donors, nonprofit partners, or community champions) to find candidates with very specific profiles. Sometimes it means working through board matching programs or governance consultants to reach people beyond the existing circles.

The method matters less than the clarity of purpose.

Strong boards are intentionally cast, thoughtfully developed, and periodically rebalanced to the needs of the organization.

Every summer I sit in that theater and watch performers step into leading roles, sing and dance in the ensemble, and occasionally wow the audience as understudies.

The audience sees the performance, not all the work that went into it.

Boards are no different.

Great productions rarely happen by accident. Neither do well-governed organizations.

Before recruiting your next board member, pause and ask: Are you filling a seat or casting the next season? I love these conversations. Email me at gary@garybagley.com or DM me on LinkedIn if you want to chat.