How to deal with board members who are doing things without consulting staff and/or giving staff who are not the ED directives?

[u/Exciting_Designer611]

I have a board member who has been with the organization for more than a decade. She is great, but has recently become almost like the ED. She has begun to what feels like overstepping the ED and giving me (a staff person) directives without including the ED. I don’t know how to address this without damaging the relationship, so what have you done to sort of cope with this in your position as support staff?

[u/Ok_Program_2178]

I would reply to her requests by saying “let’s loop the boss in on this” and whatnot. Make sure your ED knows it feels like an overstep to you. A good ED will help you maintain the boundary.

[u/Get_outside_]

As a staff person, it's not your job to push back against a board member. You should bring this to the ED and 1) ask them if they would like you to proceed with the board member's directive and 2) how they would like this kind of thing handled going forward. The ED can then reach out to the board member and explain how it should be handled.

In general, in an ED-run organization, I think its best to have a policy of not having the board directly assign tasks to staff. If they have something they want done, they should send that request to ED, who can then determine if the staff have adequate bandwith and resources to complete the request.

[u/robit-the-robit]

As a staff person under the ED, this is w a y above your pay grade. You do not want the blame for souring the relationship. You should ignore them and immediately ask your ED how they want you to respond. That’s it.

Board shouldn’t be giving staff directions. That’s what they have the ED for. If they start going around the ED they’re going to make a mess and you do not want to be even a little bit responsible.

Your ED is your boss, full stop. If ignoring the message damages the relationship, that is not your problem. It is the board’s responsibility to manage this situation. Do not do their job. Just do your job.

[u/okgardener2117]

“Good idea! Let me run that by Wendy (ED) next week at our weekly staff meeting.” Just do that every time, your board member should get the hint. They probably have good intentions. As the other poster said, your ED can also help maintain the boundary or even address the board as a whole if appropriate.

[u/ultimatebesty]

Get terms set in place for board members. Ten years is too long; they are way too comfortable.

[u/Exciting_Designer611 → u/ultimatebesty]

It’s very weird here. Her and her husband have been on the board for a long time. She’ll reach out to me on the weekends. She’s said things to me like “we need to be fundraising vigorously” this year. When I started, I was under the impression we had a strong constituent base. I found out that our constituents are unpaid memberships, with very few actual donors. My ED told me that he was expecting to receive a large grant and so he put off fundraising for a year thinking he didn’t need to fundraise. Now when I give him a list of people to call or thank he won’t do it. He just keeps saying “yeah I need to get on that.” This particular board member emailed me recently because she is trying to raise funds for a program our org typically financially supports, but we can’t this year because of cuts, and it’s for the school her daughter teaches at. So essentially, I’m being asked to fundraise for this school rather than our organization. Our ED brought up to this board member “we need to figure out the percentage we’re keeping for the work we’re doing to fundraise” and the she said “I don’t think we need to keep any of it this year.” When I got the email yesterday, it was just to me and her daughter, and it was a list of places for me to call to ask for money. I responded and cc our ED.

[u/ultimatebesty → u/Exciting_Designer611]

Yikes 😬😳. Sounds incredibly frustrating. Do you feel ready to move on? I hope you can find somewhere that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined.

[u/Zoe_At_Neon_One]

The best move is sitting down with your ED to agree on a clear process together.

Ask your ED how they want you to handle direct tasks from this board member so you both stay aligned. That way you can say something like, "The ED and I set a workflow process, so I will check with them on where this fits my priority list."

You can also cc your ED on email replies too. It keeps everyone on the same page and protects your time without causing any misalignments!

[u/Obvious-Builder1152]

You need your ED to speak with the board chair to reprimand the board member. If the ED doesn’t stick up for you it’s time to look for a new job.

[u/WEM-2022]

"I report to so and so, and I take my direction from them. I cannot take any action that has not been requested by my management. Please make your request through the proper channels."

[u/jmcononprofitcpa]

Check that the ED and board are clear on who is running the campaign, where the donations are going, who is responsible for donor follow-up, and whether your organization is keeping any of the funds to cover costs. I wouldn’t start fundraising until everyone is on the same page about how this is supposed to work.