How To Join A Nonprofit Board: 20 Expert Tips For Business Leaders
- Matei Dumitru
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Serving on a nonprofit board can be a meaningful way to apply your expertise outside the walls of your business, but finding the right opportunity and making the most of it requires more than good intentions. From aligning with an organization’s mission to understanding its board dynamics, preparation is key to serving effectively and sustainably.
Here, 20 Forbes Coaches Council members share practical tips for identifying meaningful opportunities and stepping into them with a real sense of purpose. Read on for insights into how to approach board service with intention and confidence, and what the benefits of doing so are.
1. Focus On Mission Alignment, Not Career Advancement
Do not think of joining nonprofit boards as a means to gain access to corporate boards. While networking can be a benefit, your primary motivation should be a genuine desire to support the organization’s cause. Aligning your impact and values as a nonprofit board member can help you make a tangible difference personally and professionally. - Kelly Huang, Coach Kelly Huang
2. Clarify Your Motivations For Serving
Ask yourself why you want to sit on a board. Does it align with your values or create a springboard for other board memberships? Do you possess the expertise to meet the nonprofit’s needs? If so, then board membership may be a good fit. By giving back to the community, one benefit of joining a board is providing junior executives with an executive mentor to help grow their visibility and careers. - Diane Hudson, cpcc-careercoach
3. Evaluate The Board’s Culture And Leadership Style
Consider the culture in which board members operate. Do they express openness to fresh thinking, or do they represent a legacy mindset? Too often, boards say what they are looking for but don’t allow it to come about. Assess the fundamental drivers of the board members. Are they growth builders or system protectors? Are they risk-averse or risk-takers? Are they change-resistant or change-forward? - Jay Steven Levin, WinThinking
4. Build Your Governance Knowledge
Serving on a nonprofit board is a fantastic way for leaders to support a cause they are passionate about while providing oversight and expertise. Increase success by enhancing governance knowledge and creating board bios and résumés; determining the nonprofit’s cause and advisory versus fiduciary board preferences; and using networking as the primary sourcing method, as it has a consistently high hit rate. - Ryan Lahti, OrgLeader
5. Choose A Cause You’re Passionate About
Serving should be about passion. Find a nonprofit that matters to you and allows you to expand your leadership skills and tackle challenges different from those at work. Allow a nonprofit to give you both personal fulfillment and community engagement while expanding your network both personally and professionally. - Elizabeth Hamilton, EA Hamilton Consulting
6. Tap Into Your Network; Define The Value You Bring
Serving on a nonprofit board offers great experience, which may prepare you to eventually serve on a for-profit board. To find opportunities, review your network, look for people you know who are already board members and let them know of your interest. Conduct research to identify some target organizations and think about the specific value you can bring to the table, and why that is. - Kathy Bernhard, KFB Leadership Solutions
7. Do Your Due Diligence On The Organization’s Health
Conduct your due diligence before joining a board. Nonprofit boards offer a powerful opportunity to put your professional skills to use and give back to your local community or a cause you care about. At the same time, you will often take on fiduciary responsibilities as a board member, so it’s important to ensure the nonprofit is in a strong financial and organizational position before joining. - Dr. Kyle Elliott, MPA, CHES
8. Make Sure Both The Mission And Team Are A Fit
Based on my experience contributing to different boards, two key things are crucial to consider. First, make sure the nonprofit’s mission is aligned with yours; you’ll be doing a lot of volunteer work that will feel much more rewarding if you believe in the mission. Second, remember you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. Get to know the people and the dynamics of the team. - Gina Martin, Gina Martin Coaching
9. Know How Governance And Management Differ
The effectiveness of business leaders on a nonprofit board resides in knowing the difference between management and governance roles. There’s a shift from being a “rowing” board, where members jump in to fill management gaps, to a “steering” board, where the purpose is to advise, guide and set the course for long-term impact. The benefits include the organization’s long-term success and your professional growth. - Katie Anderson, Katie Anderson Consulting
10. Ensure The Mission Aligns With Your Broader Life Goals
Make sure it aligns with who you are and what you’re seeking to accomplish in your life. If the mission doesn’t match your own, it will become a distraction, no matter how good the work the nonprofit is doing. When it is aligned, board service expands your impact and deepens your purpose. - Lisa Marie Platske, Upside Thinking, LLC
11. Use Board Service To Strengthen Underdeveloped Skills
Join boards where your business blind spots become strengths. A fintech CEO I coached gained invaluable crisis management skills serving an environmental nonprofit that faced constant resource constraints. The benefit isn’t just in giving back—it’s in accessing leadership laboratories where unfamiliar challenges force growth in dimensions your primary career can’t provide. - Nirmal Chhabria
12. Join Boards Where Your Expertise Meets Their Needs
Target boards where your expertise solves their gaps (scaling, operations and so on), not just funds. The benefit is in learning nonprofit agility and purpose-driven problem-solving to fuel innovation and stakeholder trust. Leadership grows where profit and purpose collide. - Maryam Daryabegi, Innovation Bazar
13. Prioritize Strong Leadership As Much As The Mission
The most important criterion in selecting a nonprofit board on which to serve is believing in the vision and capabilities of the chief executive officer. Sure, mission is important, but leadership excellence is key. Think like an investor! This way, you can share your talents and treasure with confidence and reap the benefits of serving an organization and community that needs your presence. - Joanne Heyman, Heyman Partners
14. Start With Purpose, Not Prestige
Choose a cause you actually care about. The board will feel it, and so will you. As a bonus, you’ll sharpen your leadership skills, expand your network and learn how to create impact beyond profit. It’s ROI for both your heart and your career. - Anastasia Paruntseva, Visionary Partners Ltd.
15. Leverage Existing Affiliations
I’ve found opportunities to serve on nonprofit boards through organizations I’m already affiliated with, such as schools and professional or trade associations. Put yourself out there by sharing your expertise; when people know what you bring to the table, they’re more likely to recommend you. Connect with those already serving on boards. One benefit is being able to support causes you care about. - Sandra Balogun, The CPA Leader
16. Ask Boards About Their Unsolved Challenges
Reverse the usual value pitch and ask the board what challenge they are wrestling with that no one has yet solved. This not only shows genuine intent to serve, but also positions you as a systems thinker, not just a donor with a title. Serving on a nonprofit board sharpens strategic empathy, stretches adaptive thinking and builds a broader and more systemic ecosystem perspective. - Thomas Lim, Centre for Systems Leadership (SIM Academy)
17. Embrace Board Service As A Unique Leadership Space
Approach nonprofit board service not just as a way to give back, but as a space in which to lead differently. Unlike corporate settings, nonprofits challenge you to influence without authority, listen deeply and build consensus—and those are skills that make you a more adaptive and emotionally intelligent leader. You grow in ways your business role may never demand of you. - Veronica Angela, CONQUER EDGE, LLC
18. Approach Board Work As A Growth Opportunity
Board service is a leadership development laboratory, particularly for functional experts seeking to broaden their perspective or prepare for a career transition to a broader role. Nonprofit boards are one of the best places for leaders to develop adaptive skills, such as leading through ambiguity, listening across differences and building consensus. Approach it as a chance to grow, not just give. - Melissa Cidado, Breakthrough Coaching
19. Volunteer First To Assess Fit
Before joining a nonprofit board, volunteer with the organization first to understand its culture and needs. This approach ensures alignment between your skills and its mission, while demonstrating genuine commitment. The benefit? Beyond philanthropy, board service provides an invaluable perspective that often transforms how leaders approach business problems and stakeholder relationships. - Jonathan H. Westover, Ph.D., Human Capital Innovations
20. Look For Where Your Skills Can Fill A Gap
One important tip is to align your search with causes you genuinely care about and to look for places where your skills fill a gap—this ensures authentic engagement and a stronger mutual fit. Joining a nonprofit board has benefits beyond philanthropy: It expands your network, sharpens your governance and strategic thinking skills, and offers a platform to lead in complex, mission-driven environments. - Curtis Odom, Prescient Strategists
