How To Queer Your Board

Dear nonprofit leaders and board members,

I’m talking mostly to straight-led or majority straight nonprofits here. I have never met an LGBTQIA+ nonprofit or queer-adjacent nonprofit that didn’t have trouble finding queer people for their board (because it just happens naturally for them). But straight organizations – whether that means your staff is majority straight or your mission does not explicitly impact the LGBTQIA+ community – need to put in a little extra work to find queer people that are qualified for their boards.

I want to thank you for being here and taking this topic seriously. Your presence means that you most likely want to engage the LGBTQIA+ better and you want your board to reflect the community you wish to serve. Because, if you want to engage the LGBTQIA+ community, raise money from them, and host LGBTQIA+ initiatives, you need queer people on your board.

For this discussion, I’m going to breakdown the who, what, where, when, and why of recruiting LGBTQIA+ board members before we get to the how…

Who
Now, you can’t just put out social media posts requesting any LGBTQIA+ person reach out to you for the simple reason of receiving the privilege and experience of participating in your board. First of all, you shouldn’t do that for any board member ever because board members need to be people who are 1) close to your mission, and most importantly, 2) close to your people. 

You may be able to identify a couple LGBTQIA+ people who are involved with your mission, but if you can’t, good news is that LGBTQIA+ people are a part of every fabric of life and exist in a lot of places. Your next queer board member may be a volunteer, an employee of a community partner, or a staff member’s family member or friend.

Keep in mind that recruiting someone to be a board member is not going to occur overnight. Just like donor relations, this relationship will need to be carefully navigated and nurtured, which will look different depending on your existing relationship with your board candidate.

What
Let’s be clear: queer board members have a special role on the board outside of the regular board functions (in a straight organization). They (and hopefully you have or will have more than a single queer person on your board) are there because you need counsel and advice and a perspective that you will never fundamentally understand. You need individuals who can represent a growing community of people you are working harder to serve.

This doesn’t mean the straight people are excused of any of the LGBTQIA+ related work of a board. Allies are essential when we consider uplifting the queer community, and your queer board members will need support, advocates, and the shared resources of the rest of the board.

Where
Not where as in location, but where as in where do your queer board members’ efforts make the most sense? First and foremost, they need to be a leading voice in all LGBTQIA+ matters and discussions at the board level. If they don’t realize that, it is up to you to make sure that they understand their role. But mostly, it’s going to be personal for the candidate. Why are they passionate about joining the board? (more on that under Why)

When
You aren’t necessarily ready for queer board members either. An LGBTQIA+ person is not going to love the idea of joining a board as the sole queer representative for an organization who hasn’t “done the work” yet.

“The work” includes, but is not limited to: regular LGBTQIA+ cultural competency trainings, creating LGBTQIA+ inclusive policies and procedures for hiring and employee culture, evaluating the external relationships and partnerships your organization has, and so on…

These types of things are not the job of a queer board member, and, if you related to any of those things missing in your own organization, your leadership has some work to do before you’re ready to pop the question.

Why
We’re thinking about the potential queer candidate’s “why” here – why should they join? Why would they want to join your board? As we established, your organization is most likely majority straight, which means your mission is too. If your organization isn’t already clearly and directly benefiting LGBTQIA+ people, it will need a sense of urgency and connection. Our community – as do most communities – support our own. The good news is, again, that LGBTQIA+ people are a part of every fabric of life, and therefore the impact of your mission will not be that far off from impacting them personally somehow. We are, after all, recruiting queer people who are already close to our mission and our people.

How
To complete your roadmap to a queerer board, let’s talk about access. A lot of nonprofit organization’s still have outdated board giving requirements – as in, requiring a large sum of money as admission to join the board. These organization’s have gotten so lost in the idea that they’re so elite and righteous and exclusive, that their boards don’t even closely reflect the orgnanizations they serve. (Spoiler: LGBTQIA+ people typically don’t want to support or be involved with these types of organizations, especially younger people.)

Consider a Give/Get policy for your board if you don’t have one already. This creates access for a larger pool of candidates, because, after all, the LGBTQIA+ community is an underserved and underpaid community. This also promotes the idea that philanthropy is abundant on all levels, and opens up many, many doors with your board members to invite their own communities into your organization.

Because the LGBTQIA+ community is underserved, most of them won’t have a lot or even any board experience. This doesn’t mean they won’t be valuable, and it also isn’t saying that you should just accept anyone onto your board (please don’t) – but LGBTQIA+ people are fiercely dedicated to their communities, and when you are a part of theirs, you’ll see the impact for yourself.

Remember, recruiting queer people to your board is not a cop out for your straight board and staff members to avoid working on LGBTQIA+ issues and initiatives. This is a team effort, and LGBTQIA+ people need to lead it for you with your unwavering support and encouragement.

Sincerely,

Queers

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