🌟 Event Recap: Creating Impact from the Start

𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗨𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀

What a great session. Thank you to everyone who joined us live! 🎉

The energy, honesty, and generosity in the conversation made this one especially fun and impactful.

If you were there, you already know this wasn’t a presentation-heavy session. It was a 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹, 𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗿-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 with thoughtful insights and a strong breakout discussion that sparked practical ideas many people said they want to take back to their boards.

If you couldn’t join us live, here’s a snapshot of what you missed 👇

💬 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽

Participants shared real-world challenges and ideas around onboarding, including:

• How to define success for new board members in the first 6 months

• The importance of clarity around expectations early on

• Ways to help board members connect with staff and the mission beyond meetings

• Thoughtful discussion about peer mentors or board buddies, what works and where it can go wrong

• Recognition that onboarding looks very different depending on the stage of the organization, start-up versus large, established nonprofit

One participant summed it up perfectly:

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┃ “I love the mid-year check-in. It sets the stage for ongoing engagement and growth.”

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🔥 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁

While not everything shows up in the chat, the breakout rooms sparked some of the strongest discussion of the session. Members shared:

• Practical ways they’ve handled attendance, accountability, and engagement challenges

• How empathy and accountability can, and should, coexist

• Ideas for involving board members early without overwhelming staff or leadership

Several attendees shared afterward that they’d love more time in group discussion, a great signal for future sessions.

📌 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀

A few themes rose to the top:

• Onboarding isn’t a moment. It’s a process.

• Clear expectations early prevent frustration later

• Engagement grows when board members understand how they add value

• There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Context matters.

📂 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

We’ve added the 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗸 to the Skool 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺, along with notes and resources referenced during the discussion.

Be sure to check it out if you want to revisit the ideas or share them with fellow board members.

🔮 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁

We also received great feedback and ideas for future sessions, including:

• A deeper dive into setting and tracking board goals

• A Part 2 conversation on board challenges we didn’t have time to cover

• Sharing tools like a Board Scorecard

• More clarity on how practices differ by organizational stage

• Continuing to balance whole-group discussion with thoughtfully sized breakouts

Our 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 will build on this momentum as we shift to:

𝗠𝗮𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗘𝗢

More details coming soon.

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NFP Board Impact Collective

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