There are no federal rules that govern nonprofit board term limits, and rules vary from state to state. According to BoardSource, 87.5% of non-profits have board terms, and 54% of those with board terms also have term limits. The most common structure for nonprofit boards is two consecutive three-year terms.
Imposing term limits for board positions has many advantages, including:
- Supporting organizational evolution by consistently bringing in new people with fresh ideas and experiences
- Balancing power by distributing it among a diverse group of rotating individuals
- Helping the board composition to remain representative of the shifting demographics of constituents
- Providing a framework that allows those who wish to step down with a graceful way to do so
- Positioning the organization as mission-centric, rather than defaulting to governance based on history
For all these reasons, it is important to embrace leadership recruitment strategies as part of your board culture. In other words, it is a best practice to encourage current leaders to constantly be searching for their own future replacements on the board. While this may at first seem counterintuitive, the reasons for doing so make sense when considered in the context of what could happen.
If leader recruitment falls to the wayside while the organization focuses on other priorities, the organization could fail to attract enough new candidates for open leadership opportunities. This exposes the organization to unnecessary risk by:
- Potentially falling out of compliance with bylaws, which is where board terms are generally identified.
- Portraying a stagnancy of power or control, which may further disincentivize new leaders from becoming interested in your organization.
- Homogenizing the board composition to the point that diverse groups are not represented.
- Inhibiting organizational trajectory of growth because of a lack of new leader perspectives.
- Potentially allowing important governance practices, like board training and development, to fall out of practice, since the board composition is stagnant.
To minimize your organization’s exposure to these less-than-ideal outcomes, it is a good idea to ensure that clearly defined limits exist for all board positions, and to position your leadership as organizational ambassadors who can inspire other talented individuals to become involved.