Board member recruitment opportunities allow you to coordinate the process of identifying, vetting, and onboarding new board or committee members. The board member recruitment opportunity type is useful for organizations that want to track recruitment activities in a structured way, from initial identification of a candidate through active committee service.
The example covered in this article is for demonstration purposes only to show how stages, tasks, and opportunity management all work together. It is not recommended as a definitive board member recruitment workflow and may differ from your organization's activities. For additional opportunity type examples, see Example Opportunities with Stages and Tasks. For foundational setup guidance, see Opportunities Overview.
When to Use Board Member Recruitment Opportunities
Use this opportunity type when you are actively working to recruit an individual for an open board or committee role. It provides a structured way to document outreach, track conversations, and record the outcome of the recruitment process.
Suggested Stages and Tasks
Suggested Board Member Recruitment Stages
Stages for a board member recruitment opportunity type can reflect the steps in your organization's recruitment and onboarding process. The stages below are a suggested starting point.
- Identify - Individual has been identified as a potential board or committee member.
- Build Relationship - Engagement is underway to explore the candidates' interest.
- Prospect Vetting - Candidate is under review by board development members or committee.
- Approved and Invited - Candidate has been approved by the board and formally invited to serve.
- Committee Assignment - Candidate has been assigned to a committee. If it is a board member candidate and they also choose to serve on a committee or executive committee role, that can be assigned at this time.
- Onboarding - New board or committee member is actively completing onboarding activities including receiving a welcome packet, signing conflict of interest forms, attending orientation meetings, and confirming meeting schedules and dates.
- Declined - Candidate has declined or withdrawn from consideration. The opportunity would then be marked closed and unsuccessful.
- Active - Candidate has completed onboarding and is actively serving in their assigned role. The opportunity can be marked complete and successful at this stage.
Suggested Board Member Recruitment Task and Note Types
Task and note types for a board member recruitment opportunity type can reflect the activities and touchpoints in your recruitment workflow. The task and note types below are a suggested starting point.
- Call - Reach out to introduce the board role or follow up on interest.
- Visit - Meet to discuss responsibilities, expectations, or the organization's mission.
- Email - Send board orientation details, conflict of interest forms, and other information.
- Information Learned - This can be used to document the candidate's availability and committees they may be interested in.
- Biographical Information - Document personal details or background information learned about the contact.
- Welcome Letter - Task to send a board onboarding packet, conflict of interest forms, and other required documentation once the candidate has been invited to serve.
- Update Profile - Task for updating the profile of a prospective board member to tag philanthropic interests, committee interest (profile type or note), assign them to the appropriate committee via an org role or profile type.
Configuration Tips
Link the Opportunity to a Board or Committee Profile - If your organization has a CommunitySuite profile for the board or committee you are recruiting for, that profile can be added as a Connected Profile to maintain a complete picture of the relationship.
Multiple Opportunities per Profile - An individual can have more than one opportunity on their profile at the same time. If you are recruiting someone for multiple roles, or if a recruitment opportunity exists alongside a donor cultivation opportunity, these can be tracked independently.
Example Board Recruitment Opportunity Scenario
Rob King, a local certified public accountant (CPA) with deep community ties and professional advisor relationships, is identified as a strong board candidate by the chair of the Finance Committee.
John Goode, the staff member managing the recruitment process, creates a board member recruitment opportunity on Rob's profile and works through each stage, from initial outreach through board approval, onboarding, and active committee service.
The example below follows this scenario opportunity through each stage, illustrating how stages, tasks, and notes work together to document and advance the recruitment process.
Stage 1: Identify
John Goode creates a new opportunity on Rob King's profile. He selects the Board Member Recruitment opportunity type. This creates the opportunity with the predefined stages needed to track the organization's typical board recruitment activities and milestones.
Add the Finance Committee as a Connected Profile
John adds the organizational profile for the Finance Committee as a Connected Profile to the opportunity, as an easy way to see all prospects for the committee on the profile.
Update the Target Date
John also updates the Target Date field for when they expect to have this prospect onboarded and actively serving on a committee. The Target Date can be updated at any time during the course of the opportunity conversation. The solicited amount field is left blank, this is an optional field and not relevant for this opportunity.
Add Opportunity Task
Because this opportunity is not copied from a template, John creates an initial Call task to reach out to Rob and gauge his interest in serving on the board.
Created Opportunity
Once created, the opportunity is automatically set to the first stage, Identify.
Stage 2: Build Relationship
John advances the opportunity to the Build Relationship stage. His initial outreach to Rob includes discussing the potential committee service and gauging interest.
Add Relevant Opportunity Tasks and Notes
John adds tasks to track calls, emails, and meetings, and captures notes from board members who are involved in cultivation to add to the opportunity.
Rob's connection to the foundation's school endowment work and his professional advisor network make him a compelling candidate. These details are documented in opportunity notes, that roll up to the profile for Rob King, for reference as the process moves forward.
Stage 3: Prospect Vetting
John advances the opportunity to the Prospect Vetting stage as Rob's application is considered by board and committee members.
John supports this process by gathering Rob's resume and coordinating meetings between Rob and the Finance chair and committee members.
Tasks are added to track these activities and document outcomes in notes.
Stage 4: Approved and Invited
The board approves Rob as a candidate and the opportunity is advanced to the Approved and Invited stage.
John adds an opportunity note that captures:
- Date of the board meeting at which the candidate was approved
- Committee or committees they will serve on
- Term start date and end dates
- If a candidate will serve a full or partial term
This information can be referenced when updating the board member's profile with their role, committee assignment, and term dates.
Verbal Invitation
John's next task is to call Rob and extend a verbal invitation. He tracks this action with an opportunity task. After speaking with Rob and sharing the good news, Rob is excited to join the Finance Committee and accepts the invitation.
John then marks the opportunity task complete.
Welcome Letter Template
John works through the Welcome Letter task that includes emailing an onboarding letter with more details and conflict of interest forms to sign.
An opportunity letter template is used to generate and send this. The Auto-Attach Document box is checked on the template, so that when the letter is generated it automatically attaches a copy to the opportunity record.
Stage 5: Committee Assignment
Now that the candidate has been notified and has accepted, John advances the opportunity to the Committee Assignment stage. Given Rob's financial expertise, interest area, and profession, he will serve on the Finance Committee.
John completes the Update Profile task to reflect Rob's committee assignment, org role, and term dates referenced from the note added at the Approved and Invited stage.
Stage 6: Onboarding
The Onboarding stage focuses on the activities that complete the onboarding process.
John completes tasks to confirm that Rob's conflict of interest form has been signed and returned, an orientation meeting has been scheduled, and upcoming board and committee meeting dates have been confirmed with Rob.
Stage 7: Declined
If Rob had declined to join the Finance Committee at any point in the process, John would have set this opportunity to the Declined stage. This stage means that the candidate has withdrawn from consideration or the board has determined not to move forward with the candidate.
The opportunity would then be marked complete and unsuccessful. The record remains on the candidate's profile, preserving the history of the recruitment conversation for future reference.
Stage 8: Active
Once all onboarding activities are complete and Rob is actively serving on the Finance Committee, John advances the opportunity to the Active stage.
John marks the opportunity as complete and successful. The record remains on Rob's profile, preserving the full history of the recruitment and onboarding process for future reference.