How to Conduct an Election of Board Members

Election of Board Members

Elections ensure that your organization has the best and most innovative leaders working on your behalf. They also assist your members to connect with the leadership of your nonprofit and ensure that their voices will be heard and their needs for governance will be fulfilled. While you don’t need conduct a board election every time a position becomes vacant it is crucial to regularly decide on the board’s composition.

Your organization’s bylaws will detail the voting procedure, including the number required to create an absolute majority as well as other guidelines. Your board could employ a variety of methods to record the results of each voting, but it’s important to adhere to established rules to ensure that your board is accountable.

During the nominations process it’s important to interview candidates thoroughly and ask them to submit an account of their experience and how they see themselves helping the board’s work. It is a good idea to also allow write-ins to ensure that voters who don’t like the candidates picked can participate in the election.

Using preferential nominations in your ballot is another way to improve the process of voting. This method lets voters declare their top choices for each candidate, providing you a clear image of what your voters think about the candidates you’ve selected. It’s also a great choice for multiple-winner elections, such as when you’ve got more candidates than board room secrets positions.