The previous post highlighted the potential value in recruiting new board members who are not from the same local pool of people that your board normally focuses on.

If you decide to look beyond that pool you will need to use an approach which is slightly different tfrom the usual recruitment process as you are targeting specific people.  It will require more of a direct contact.

The first step is to identify the characteristics of the person you are after. 

For example, they may have specific skills such as a sporting background, they may need to have accounting, financial or legal experience or they may have a certain role with an organisation such as a Chief Finance Officer, Human Resource Manager or a Senior Lecturer at a University.

Again, these are just examples but the key step is to identify the key characteristics of the person you are trying to obtain.

Once you have identified that type of person then the next step is to look at your own connections or network that your existing board members may have.  Often this is the most effective way to contact and discuss with the person as you already have a connection.

An important step with this process is once you have identified the person and they have shown interest in becoming a board member, make arrangements for them to meet the rest of the board.

This can also be an informal interview process as it allows the prospective board member to see first hand what is involved and allows the current board to asses if the person is the right fit for your r organisation.

A good board is made up of people from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of skills and experience. Make sure your members aren’t paper cut outs from the same pattern.