So You Want to Join a Board?

When Megan Neyer first considered joining Rotaract Club of Springfield in 2015, she wasn’t seeking a leadership position. She just wanted a way to get involved as a young professional in the community.

Neyer attended a pair of meetings as an invited guest in spring 2015, and a month later, her application to join was approved. Today, she’s president of the 75-member service organization designed for professionals ages 18-30.

Whether a businessperson is relatively new to a leadership position, such as Neyer, or a seasoned veteran, asking questions and conducting research is key to making a decision to join a board, she said.

An organization’s mission and operational structure, as well as time commitments and other responsibilities of board members, are all key considerations to make, according to the board members interviewed for this story.

Veteran view
While Neyer is serving on her first community board, Debbie Hart, co-founder and principal of Housing Plus LLC, has been involved on one Springfleld board or another for almost a quarter-century. Starting back in 1994 when she served a one-year term on the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Hart’s involvement has included stints on boards for the Discovery Center, City Utilities and Community Partnership of the Ozarks. She completed a second go-round with the chamber in 2015, which included a one-year appointment as board chairwoman in 2016.

Hart considers research vital when considering a board.

“Always my first question is ‘What is the time commitment?’ Not just the time commitment for meetings, but what is the expectation of how much material there is, what are you doing in terms of time for review,” she said. “If it is a nonprofit, what are the fundraising requirements, because that can be a really large time commitment. You have to be familiar and ready to take that on.”

Today, Hart sits on the Great Southern Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: GSBC) Board of Directors, her first paid board seat. Board members receive $3,000 per meeting, she said, with nominal payment for committee meetings. She was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board in 2017, and was voted in May to serve a three-year term.

At Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield, Executive Director Pat Gartland said the nonprofit looks for prospective board members who are leaders in the community.

“But obviously we’re also looking for someone who is supportive of our mission,” he said, especially those who have sensitivity with at-risk youth.

Despite the large size of its 36-member board of directors, Gartland said there isn’t very much turnover, noting there are around seven past presidents still serving. One member, Sid Needem, has been on the board since 1978, he said.

“They really are passionate,” he said of the board.

Hart said she has been on boards where there was such little staff that you couldn’t tell very well where the board ended and management began. She considers so much overlap a red flag.

“Boards, if run well, make policy decisions, and management makes operation decisions,” she said. “You have to research the organization and understand its mission, understand who the other board members are because that’s very important. Understand who the key management of the organization is, so you can get a feel of how the organization is run.”

Her due diligence includes talking to current and former board members. The purpose is the same, she said, whether considering a nonprofit or a shareholder board.

“Every board has the same kind of fiduciary duty and responsibility,” she said. “The only difference from the public board perspective is that you have a heightened sense of responsibility and a heightened duty to take good care for the interests of the public shareholders. The stakes are a little bit higher.”

Servant leadership
Like Hart, the mixing of community service with career pursuits has been part of Greg DeLong’s professional path. The longtime financial adviser, currently based in Branson West, started board service in the late 1980s when he was on the Southwest Missouri Ecumenical Center. Over the years, he’s added committee service with the United Way of the Ozarks, and seats on the Springfield Catholic Schools Development Board, Ozark Greenways Board of Directors and Ozarks Technical Community College Board of Trustees. DeLong recently completed more than six years on the OTC board and was appointed in August to the Burrell Behavioral Health Board of Directors.

Those considering joining boards should consider the broader impact on the community.

“I believe it is important to serve the community and the organizations that you believe in,” DeLong said. “The community is only as strong as the people willing to serve in the community, both in volunteering and working.”

DeLong said he sees service on boards as a form of “servant leadership,” as people that take on the work gravitate toward causes they think are good and worthy of the time commitment.

Even as Neyer has just a few months under her belt as Rotaract president, she believes it’s only the beginning of her community involvement pursuits. Her time on the board has stoked a desire to look for additional service opportunities, she said.

“I love serving in a leadership role,” she said, noting the Springfield Rotaract club is the largest in Missouri. “Approach organizations that serve a mission that you are passionate about. If you know anyone who is part of any of those organizations, reach out to them.

“But ultimately, just get involved because our community depends on it.”