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Welcome:
Board performance is widely recognized as a crucial ingredient in a nonprofit organization’s ability to survive and thrive. We appreciate your interest in our service, which provides an unconventional method for identifying board members. Instead of recruiting a friend of a current board member, we can help you diversify your board or find board members with needed expertise. We want to help you to make successful matches that will make your nonprofit organization become more effective. Like match.com, we bring people together. To participate, organizations should have Internet access; the commitment of the executive director, board chair and at least one member of the board to participate in our Readiness to Recruit training; a staff member, board member or volunteer assigned as the online contact; the capacity to make board service rewarding; and the ability to follow through with the matching process. Here is how to get started:
Sign-Up: Our sliding scale is based on budget size: for organizations with budgets under $200,000, the fee is $100; for organizations with budgets from $200,001 to $500,000, the fee is $150; for organizations with budgets from $500,001 to $1 million, the fee is $200; and for organizations with budget over $1 million, the fee is $300. The fee includes unlimited access to workshops and online matching, as well as technical assistance and coaching through the matching process. If you are unable to afford the fee, a limited number of scholarships are available.
Attend: Readiness to Recruit workshops prepare organizations to identify, meet and elect new board members and provide guidance on using the BoardLinkStL matching tool. The interactive two-hour session provides an overview of the basic roles and responsibilities of nonprofit boards and offers strategies for successful recruitment. Participants learn how to create a persuasive online profile that accurately reflects their organization’s mission, programs and leadership needs. Attendees receive a manual. Refreshments are served. To ensure that the board and staff are committed to the BoardLinkStL matching process, the Executive Director, Board Chair and at least one other board member are required to attend the readiness workshop. Additional board members and staff are welcome to attend. Training sessions are offered on a monthly basis. Please visit our calendar for a schedule.
Create a Profile: You can create a profile at any time. But you will not be able to start the online matching process until you have attended a workshop and paid the registration fee. Profiles include detailed information that enables BoardLinkStL members to make successful matches.
Start Matching: Your profile automatically matches you with an individual who meets the needs of your organization. You can use our service to find board members or to get people involved by serving on a committee. Once activated, the matching function compares specific areas of both profiles and provides a ranked ordered list according to the percentage of match between the two profiles. Organizations and individuals are able to initiate contact by sending a personal message to a potential match, which includes a link to the sender’s profile. The recipient can select “Let’s talk” and arrange for an in-person meeting or “decline” to decline the offer. The system helps members keep track of potential matches.
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