Meet Your (Board) Match in Minutes
They meet, chat up their interests and expectations for five minutes, and then move on to the next date. The lucky ones leave with a long list of people to pursue … as potential board members for their nonprofits, of course.
It’s speed dating for nonprofits, and it’s a new way for organizations to find the right board members. Allison Jones, director of the Pittsburgh-based Boards-by-Design, a program of Duquesne University’s Nonprofit Leadership Institute, says the organization holds speed-dating events for nonprofits about four times a year.
“It’s been a huge success,” Jones says. “They meet people they wouldn’t meet through their regular channels.”
The events are held at restaurants, where 20 nonprofit organizations “date” 20 individuals interested in volunteering. Each organization gets five minutes to meet with each individual to explore the chemistry. They talk mission, programs and board responsibilities.
The individuals and nonprofits rate each other, and then Boards-by-Design tallies up the results and lets them know their matches in terms of interests, abilities and experience.
After the initial spark, it’s up to the organizations and the individuals to see if there is any long-term relationship potential. Jones is happy to report that many have moved on to make a commitment, adding that each event results in about 12 board placements.
“It’s been wildly successful,” Jones says. “There is a huge demand. We announce the next date, and it fills up within 24 hours.”
Fortunately, no event has ended with any broken hearts.
“We’ve never not had a match,” Jones says. “We didn’t want anyone to feel bad. We were worried about that. But we find that each person matches with at least one organization.”
The speed-dating concept grew from Boards-by-Design staff, who aim to match nonprofits with potential board members, joking that their work was “like a dating service.” So, Jones says, they decided to take it to the next level.
As for the name of the event, Jones admits there was a little pause before the organization opted to use “speed dating” in the name.
“We have gotten callers wondering why they got a speed-dating invite, but once they understand what it is there’s no problem,” Jones says. “It does catch a person’s attention.”
Prior to these events, the only way to match organizations with individuals was the old-fashioned one — behind-the-scenes with phone calls. Speed dating is a much quicker way to weed out bad matches, Jones says, adding that it’s also a really good way for smaller, less-known organizations to get the word out about their causes.
“Something may not seem that interesting when you read about it, but when you meet someone in person it sparks something,” she says.
Though Boards-by-Design believes it is the first organization to hold these events, it’s not the only one. Other organizations, including Business Volunteers Unlimited, based in Cleveland, host speed dating for nonprofits.
Sister Donna Stephenson, director of the Pittsburgh-based, Change a Heart: Millvale Franciscan Volunteer Program, says she was a bit uneasy about the event, being that it was her first date and all.
“At our first board meeting, when they heard about the event, they kind of chuckled and were startled,” Stephenson says. “But I had fun with it.”
The events have been a godsend for Change a Heart, which encourages women and men between the ages of 21 and 35 to commit to a year of service with marginalized and under-served communities. The last event she attended netted her organization two new advisory board members.
But even those organizations that don’t end up placing the people they connect with aren’t wasting their time.
“You still shared your mission with 20 people in one evening,” Jones says. “And those 20 people may tell 20 more.”
Pittsburgh-area nonprofit organizations who would like more information can go to http://www.nli.duq.edu/nli/main.cfm?SID=33