Board Training
GCR Consulting’s founder, Genita’s, passion and expertise for developing effective boards and leaders comes from her extensive experience. She was a Board Member of The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) Fellows Association, Cook County Justice for Children, and the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership. She is a graduate of IWIL, LGC, and Edgar Fellows, and she also served on the Board of Ethics for the City of Chicago and the Serve Illinois Commission.
Sample results:
• Genita worked with a longstanding nonprofit whose board had approximately two dozen members. Board meeting attendance was very low (less than 50%) as was board giving, with one-third of members giving less than $250 and 20% donating $50 or less annually. Genita worked closely with the Governance Committee to reduce the size of the Board through a new 360-degree evaluation process. Approximately one-third of the Board members resigned or were removed. Board attendance climbed to 75% and was trending upwards at the end of the engagement. The Board achieved a 100% giving rate, with remaining members increasing their gifts. After less than two years, the Board brought on three new members and had three additional new members in their pipeline.
• Genita provided a series of training to a small nonprofit to assist them in their transition from a founding board to governing board. After the first training, which focused on roles and responsibilities, the Board: developed and implemented an orientation and exit process; recruited two new Board members; and restructured all Board committees and eliminated one. Follow-up trainings, including one focused specifically on the Board’s role as fundraisers, resulted in a 50% increase in the number of Board members making personal cash gifts and several formerly reluctant members setting individual plans to outreach to others for the organization’s year-end appeal.