Obtaining board member positions is a powerful way to hone your leadership skills, expand your network, and drive meaningful change in your community or industry. There are many kinds of boards—nonprofit, association, cooperative, startup advisory, public company—so whatever your passion or expertise, you can put your ideas to work and collaborate with others to create impact.
Responsibilities on a nonprofit board vary from organization to organization. Be sure to check with your nonprofit of choice to understand exactly what you’d be expected to do. Common nonprofit board roles include president, secretary, and treasurer, though each organization’s structure is unique. Likewise, board requirements differ — being qualified for one board doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be eligible for another.
Most nonprofit board members are not volunteer (i.e., unpaid), but the influence and experience gained are invaluable. Below you’ll find both the evergreen essentials from our original resource and a brand-new step-by-step roadmap to help you secure the right seat in 2025.
7 Practical Steps to Find Board Member Positions
1. Clarify Your Motivation – Lead with Purpose
Before scouring job boards, write a short purpose statement that answers why you want to serve. Boards often say their biggest challenge is finding directors whose passions truly match the mission—one survey showed over half of nonprofit leaders struggle to recruit mission-aligned members. Sharing a clear “why” instantly sets you apart.
2. Assess Your Board-Readiness: Skills, Time, and Giving
Next, take stock of what you can reliably offer. Most trustees devote about eight hours a month to meetings, preparation, and committee work. If you’re still building confidence in areas like reading financial statements or fundraising, note the gap and outline how you will close it (e.g., online governance courses, shadowing a treasurer).
3. Define Your Ideal Board Profile: Size, Culture, and Stage
Think about the environment where you thrive. Smaller, early-stage nonprofits often value hands-on builders, while established national organizations lean on directors for high-level strategy and connections. Consider the board’s culture as well; some run formal Roberts’ Rules meetings, while others operate more like collaborative workshops.
4. Activate Your Network & Online Platforms: Where the Seats Are
Personal introductions remain the most reliable path—well over half of new directors land seats through a referral. Start by letting mentors, colleagues, and community-foundation leaders know you’re interested. Then widen the net with tools like LinkedIn’s Volunteer Marketplace, the Bridgespan board-match portal, and regional nonprofit hubs.
5. Craft a Board Resume & Value Pitch: Show Your Impact
A board resume isn’t a job resume in miniature. Keep it to two pages, lead with the mission areas you care about, and highlight two or three concrete wins, like “grew corporate sponsorships from $600K to $1.2M” or “launched a DEI dashboard adopted by 12 chapters”. Finish with a 30-second pitch that connects those successes to the prospective board’s goals.
6. Interview Both Ways: Test for Mutual Fit
Treat interviews as a two-way street. Ask for bylaws, strategic plans, and a chance to observe a meeting so you can gauge the board’s decision-making style. Take note of how openly directors discuss challenges; transparency is a hallmark of healthy governance.
7. Accept, Onboard, Contribute Fast: Make Your First 90 Days Count
Boards that provide a structured onboarding plan see significantly higher first-year engagement from new directors. Once appointed, schedule a 1:1 with the board chair, join at least one committee, and set a personal impact goal—whether that’s securing a new sponsor, improving meeting efficiency, or mentoring incoming directors.
Quick win: Keep a board impact log with one line per month describing your contributions. It becomes a handy reference at annual evaluations.
Board Member Job Description
The standard board member job description is to oversee board operations and help set and approve policies to improve organizational performance. Board leadership plays the greatest role in making changes to policy, but individual members also have a say in how things are run. Different types of boards encompass different roles—for example, a theater board member job description will likely differ from a board member job description for a charity. Whatever role or organization you’re applying to, it can be helpful to download a board of directors job description PDF to see what specific tasks you’ll be responsible for.
If you’re applying to a nonprofit organization, you might also consider viewing nonprofit board member job description samples. This can give you a better idea of the types of roles that members take in a nonprofit and what you are best suited for. For example, if upon reading the advisory board member job description, you find that you would be a good fit for an advisory position, you can go about pursuing that position specifically. There are many ways that you can serve on a board, and it’s important to know exactly what you’re signing up for before taking on any roles or responsibilities.
Carefully viewing the job descriptions for each position you’re considering is crucial to finding the right fit. Although there are some standard board member positions that most organizations look to fill, the specific duties these roles entail vary significantly from board to board. In some organizations, for instance, the board is headed by the president of the organization, while in others, it’s run by a chairman that’s specifically designated to oversee the board. Understanding the differences between roles and what they mean for each organization is thus extremely important for those looking for positions to fill.
Board Member Positions
Because there are so many different board member positions, it can be difficult to know what to even apply for. Some may forego the application altogether if they become too overwhelmed by what’s available. Searching for “board member positions near me” or “nonprofit board member positions near me” can help narrow your search, allowing you to focus solely on open positions in your area. It can also be helpful to ask around and receive recommendations via word of mouth. Your employer or coworkers may have some good advice on boards that are relevant to your industry or a particular line of work.
The Bridgespan job board is a great tool for searching for nonprofit board member positions. Bridgespan board member positions are listed in a way that’s easy for users to understand. The platform lists the specific position, as well as the location and start date. Even if you aren’t currently seeking a new role, looking through volunteer board member positions can give you a better idea of what serving on a board entails. This can help you decide whether or not you’d like to volunteer in the future. To learn more about nonprofit board member roles and responsibilities, you can read our full guide here.
3 Primary Responsibilities of Board Members
Understanding board membership roles and responsibilities are critical for anyone that’s considering taking on one of these roles. The National Council of Nonprofits outlines three main things that board members are responsible for. So what are the 3 primary responsibilities of board members? These three duties are known as:
- Duty of Care: Attend meetings, review materials, and make informed decisions
- Duty of Loyalty: Put the organization’s interests above personal gain; disclose conflicts
- Duty of Obedience: Ensure adherence to mission, bylaws, and applicable laws
All other sub-tasks for which board members are responsible fall into these three categories. For a more extensive list of these responsibilities, you can search for the 10 basic responsibilities of board members.
Who should not serve on a board of directors? Serving on a board may not be for you if you’re in it for the money. Board membership is not considered official employment, and so those that are considering joining a board should do so with the interest of the organization rather than their personal needs in mind. You can download a nonprofit board structure chart to learn more about the hierarchy of boards. You might also browse a nonprofit board of directors roles and responsibilities PDF or board of directors roles and responsibilities PDF for a more in-depth look into board membership.
Board of Directors Example
Viewing a board of directors example can give you a better idea of what boards do. For instance, in one case, a board might consist of a chair, vice chair, secretary, and treasurer. Board members can serve in various positions, depending on their specific needs and skill set. Becoming familiar with some of the main board of directors positions can help you decide which position, if any, would best fit your needs and goals. You should also understand board of directors responsibilities and what board of management entails. This information and more may be outlined in a board of directors roles and responsibilities PDF.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a great example of how boards of directors can be managed effectively with Boardable. The organization has 18 full-time board members, some of whom are CEOs, and approached Boardable for help structuring meetings. They were looking for a user-friendly interface, more organized notes and documents, and a single source of truth that could be accessed in a centralized location. By implementing Boardable, Big Brothers Big Sisters successfully transitioned to virtual board meetings in which all board members could collaborate and get a hold of the tools they needed, even though they were no longer meeting in person.
Board Member Responsibilities for For-Profit Organizations
Board membership responsibilities for for-profit organizations are similar to those for nonprofits. So what are the 3 primary responsibilities of board members? As discussed previously, board members have a duty of care, duty of loyalty, and duty of obedience. More specifically, board member roles and responsibilities include things like strategic governance and financial management, with the ultimate purpose of helping to further the organization’s core mission.
Understanding board member positions roles can help you get a clearer picture of what this work looks like and how each person contributes to the overall success of the organization. For example, the treasurer manages finances and the secretary helps set agendas and collaborates with members to schedule meetings. Both of these roles are crucial to running an effective board, whether you’re a nonprofit or for-profit organization.
Are you ready to take the next step with your board membership? Boardable provides helpful solutions for association management, nonprofits, and more to effectively manage their meetings. Our platform offers a centralized location where users can come together to collaborate so that, regardless of role or responsibilities, they can find exactly what they need without having to switch between multiple disparate systems.
