Growing future board leaders is the key to good governance
Growing good governance starts with finding and developing future board leaders. As boards look to increase the diversity of their organizations, they should reflect on the age composition of the board itself because the future of board leadership lies with younger generations, and museum sustainability in the present also depends on the contributions of younger patrons today. According to data from BoardSource, only 10% of museum board directors are under 40, compared with 18% for nonprofit boards as a whole. Despite this reality, the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy has found that boards with a higher percentage of directors under 40 are more likely to ask others for money, tend to be more engaged in governance, and demonstrate a higher level of commitment to and involvement with the organization.
Board age diversity enhances governance because it provides differing views on accountability, and it provides long-term continuity from the current governing generation to future generations. Governance needs to be seen as a long-term arc in that sense, and the intentional recruitment and seating of newer generations gives a museum both longevity of good governance and the additional rigor of multi-generational governance expectations. In addition, these younger directors can help the board define an overall strategy of engagement with other younger patrons, creating a virtuous circle that both enhances governance and diversifies the museum’s donor base.
Strong board leadership now and in the future is critical in museum governance because each museum’s constituency expects that someone will uphold the values and mission of the organization. The leadership roles of museum boards include providing overall strategic direction for the organization, executive director hiring and oversight, and board recruitment and development; however, this last part, board development, is often not handled in the same strategic manner as other board duties. Museum boards must invest time recruiting and developing future board leaders as a means for proactive and intentional board succession planning. The board must then help these leaders grow into their positions and prepare them for eventual committee and chair positions. Developing new members of the board is especially important with younger or first-time board members who will likely need help adjusting to the organization's culture and fitting in with the existing dynamic on the board.
Finding younger prospective board members in the first place means that museums will have to reevaluate how they currently engage younger members to determine if these donors are being valued for what they offer and if board service is the right fit for their goals. Most museums seem to look at younger people through the narrow optic of visitation, assuming they do not have the giving capacity or inclination to move beyond basic membership or the time or skills to serve as volunteer leaders. An important limiting factor for engagement with younger generations can be the bias that some staff and board members have against younger visitors. Understanding what motivates younger generations, how interested they are in museums, and how they would like to engage, will be critical for recruiting these next gen patrons.
Most museums do not seem to value engagement on social media as an indicator of donors’ potential to serve the organization. Yet if potential donors are taking the time to engage with a museum’s feed to broadcast events and collection highlights to their own followers—in a sense demonstrating their loyalty to the institution and indirectly recruiting new members—then museums need to acknowledge these contributions to keep these future board members engaged and motivated.
Sharna Goldseker and Michael Moody note in their book Generation Impact that younger generations are also giving in different ways, viewing volunteering as a more meaningful way of interacting with the nonprofits they support, and many of them have shaped this opinion over a lifetime of volunteer involvement. Next gen patrons seek impact in their philanthropy and will select institutions and the level of engagement that will yield the biggest return on their investment.
For museums to be proactive in board succession planning, the work needs to start years before someone joins the board. Museums need to demonstrate a willingness to take a chance on younger board members, and that might mean forgoing some financial resources in the near term. Museums must shift their expectations and proactively seek nonmonetary contributions if they hope to appeal to younger generations. Greater communication is also needed between staff and the board on expectations in recruitment, between junior and governing boards, and between the museum and the pool of future board candidates. Knowing how to put intention for board age diversity into action can be daunting if museums focus on the difficulties and stick with what has always been done.
Museums must adopt a multigenerational strategy that includes realizing the near-term potential of Generation Xers and moving them into major giving now and over the next decade; exhibiting patience and building long term relationships with Millennials and Generation Z; and evaluating how these generations operate differently than their parents in terms of philanthropy. Overcoming the disconnect between what museums and prospective board members expect of each other is the first step toward recruiting, retaining, and developing a meaningful relationship with future board members. Ingratiating younger people to a museum and convincing them to engage now and in the future requires a strategy and a proactive approach.
By cultivating younger donors for future leadership positions and capitalizing on their unique insights now, museums will be able to remain relevant for years to come.
