Nonprofit Execs Bristle Over National Group’s Push to Pay Board Members, Empower CEOs

To date, nonprofit leaders have looked skeptically at the concept of compensating board members for their “volunteer” service.

But the National Association of Nonprofit Organizations & Executives (NANOE) is backing the move to financially compensate board members, as well as give more oversight to those paid professionals who manage nonprofits.

The movement is cause for concern for many leaders in the nonprofit industry, including in West Michigan.

Executives at NANOE suggest that boards be disbanded and re-established to include only four board members—an “enterprise development” specialist, a mission specialist, a CPA and a lawyer, each of whom will be charged with responsibilities such as managing an organization’s CEO. These board members would be compensated for performing their duties.

In addition, under NANOE guidelines, CEOs would be given more authority, including acting as the chair of board, setting board agendas and voting on board matters. They also would have full authority to act on all organizational matters and have sole responsibility for building relationships with stakeholders.