Beef up your Board

Theatre vs. Nonprofit
As a business, the theatre produces and sells seats to plays. In that way, our business model and capital structure are similar to such disparate industries as universities and airlines – we create a product and our customers have to fill a chair which we maintain in order for them to enjoy our service.

Most theatres are also nonprofits – one of an increasing number which dot the landscape each year. Although these nonprofits may or may not provide a similar service or product, we are often competing for slim pieces of the same small pie in terms of government and foundation funding, and especially for individual donors and business support from our community. The more nonprofits proliferate, the more competition for resources.

Accountability
The reporting and accountability burdens of nonprofits have increased drastically in the last decade, and will continue to increase. As the nation relies more and more on nonprofits to provide services once provided by the for-profit and government sector, the burdens will continue increase. In the last few years, congress has added numerous layers and requirements to the application for 501c3 status, and is in the process of restructuring the tax return forms that nonprofits fill out.

These changes have placed a level of responsibility on boards and individual board members that did not exist a generation ago. Today’s and tomorrow’s board must be savvy, proactive, and forward-thinking. The people with the dedication and capacity to meet the demands of a modern nonprofit board member are few and far between.

Competition
The success or failure of a nonprofit starts and ends with its board, and the nonprofits that will succeed in competing for the resources necessary to fulfill their missions are not the ones that write the most successful grants or raise the most money; the most successful nonprofits will be those that compete for, attract, and retain the most skilled and dedicated board members.

If a theatre is to remain a competitive nonprofit, it is imperative that we discuss and develop board governance policies that will bring the theatre to the forefront of the new nonprofit world. Your theatre should strive to join the ranks of those companies cited as how-to success stories, such as the Arena Stage, the Alliance Theatre, and the Steppenwolf. Every ounce of your program and mission success will depend on your theatre's ability to achieve this vision.