NOT-FOR-PROFIT RESOURCE CENTRE

A Guide to Board
Orientation
BY E. GRANT MACDONALD

1. INTRODUCTION
Board orientation refers to a process for helping new directors contribute fully, and as early in their tenure
as possible, to the governing work of the board. The following guide outlines the objectives that might be
considered, who should lead the process and how an orientation program might be structured.
Board orientation is not just about the transfer of information. As a result of their orientation new directors
should:
Understand their roles, responsibilities and time commitment to governance work around the board

and committee table and away from it
Be aware of the current goals, opportunities and challenges facing the organization

Be aware of who the organization’s main stakeholders are including members, funders, clients,

partners, the public, as well as staff
Have some sense of how their own background, knowledge, experience and skills will contribute to

the current work of the board and the goals of the organization
Appreciate the background, knowledge, experience and skills of each of the other directors
Know how board meetings are run, decisions are made and what formal governing polices and

practices exist
Appreciate how this board functions similarly or differently than other boards they have served on or

are serving on
A list of specific topics or information items could be developed under each of these learning objectives
and may include an overview of the board’s legal responsibilities, director job descriptions, fundraising
obligations and communication protocols.
While it is common to think of a board orientation as an event – perhaps a part of a regular board meeting
or a special orientation session, it is more useful to understand it as a process that starts with director
prospecting, recruitment and election and then involves some kind of orientation session or meeting.

2. FIRST STEP: DIRECTOR RECRUITMENT, APPLICATION AND SELECTION

Board orientation ought to begin when a person is being considered as a potential board member. At the
very least the recruitment and application process should assist a new board member in understanding:
Why their expertise and skills, and which ones in particular, would be valuable assets to the board and

to the organization
Some of the current challenges and opportunities facing the organization

The time commitment required of them

That the organization is competently run, including sound financial management

And if they are relatively new to board and governance work then further information should be
provided on:
Their roles and responsibilities as a board member

Any special roles and responsibilities associated with being a representative of a particular

stakeholder or constituency.
Some or all of this information may be communicated in the recruitment process, a process that ought to
include some kind of interview or vetting procedure. Many organizations will develop a board recruitment
package for board candidates. Often board candidates will already be familiar with the organization because
they are a member or program volunteer. Depending on their degree of familiarity with the organization,
you may want to focus your orientation program more on their role as a board member rather than the
programs, services and management workings of the organization.

3. NEXT STEPS: SPECIAL MEETINGS

Once someone has been recruited, nominated, interviewed and selected to serve on the board, the next
step is a more thorough orientation. This might involve some or all of these measures:
Providing the new directors with a board manual
Organizing a special orientation workshop session
Meeting with the CEO
Meeting with board chair
Touring facilities and offices

4. RESPONSIBILITY FOR BOARD ORIENTATION

a) The board recruitment, nominations or governance committee
The director recruitment process ought to incorporate some agreed upon elements of board orientation.
The committee’s responsibility, or that of any individual approaching a potential director candidate, is
to provide some information about the organization and acquire some essential information about the
candidate’s main interests.

b) Board chair
The board chair should have an overview of the orientation process and should expect to play a significant
role. This could include:
Helping author and sign a letter of invitation to prospective board members
Contacting new board members by telephone or e-mail to personally welcome them to the board
Leading the portion of the orientation on the board’s role, decision-making, committees and board-

staff communication, and perhaps public policy advocacy and ambassadorship. The chair should be
the one to talk to new board members about the culture of the board and its unwritten rules and
practices.
c) The CEO
Although the CEO is often the most knowledgeable person about the organization, board orientation should
be balanced between organizational information and information about board or governance practices.
The CEO should be responsible for orienting new board members on those matters over which she/he is
responsible. This may include summarizing programs and services, staff roles, financial management, the
budgeting process, core policies and procedures, as well as facilities and offices.
Ideally board orientation, once the new board members have been confirmed, is a collaborative effort
between the board chair and CEO.

d) The Whole Board

Just as the needs of the board guides the recruitment process and requires a board level conversation, so
too does the orientation process.
The whole board also has responsibilities that include welcoming new board members, showing up at
an orientation session if they can, and most importantly, mentoring new board members. Apart from
assigning or seeking volunteers to serve as mentors, there should be some discussion of what the mentoring
expectations will be.1

5. INFORMATION NEEDS OF NEW BOARD MEMBERS

It is important not to overwhelm new directors immediately with new information, especially a binder full of
organizational documents, such as a board manual. They should receive some materials in the recruitment
process, others when they are accepted to the board and then given the chance to review a number of
others in the lead up to, and in the conduct of, an orientation session. Other materials they should be
expected to review on their own.
The board and its recruitment committee should go over a list like the one below and decide on what
documents new directors should be exposed to and at what point in the process. A list similar to this,
with a section for up-to-date governance policies, also constitutes the contents of a comprehensive board
members’ manual.

Checklist of Key Board Documents

n Mission, vision and values statement n Strategic plan (executive summary at least)
n Board member job description n Board meeting agenda and minutes (several
n Incorporation by-laws examples)

n Director contract/confidentiality agreement n Board member and senior staff contact list

n Conflict of interest policy n Committee terms of reference

n Board code of conduct policy n Board chair job description

n Board calendar n CEO job description

n Committee list n Media or public relations policy

n Annual report or audited financial statements n Director travel re-imbursement policy

n Current budget n List of abbreviations and acronyms commonly

used in the field
n Organizational chart
n List of government legislation that is particularly
relevant to the work of the organization

 or a valuable resource on the mentoring role of board members see: Heather McFarlane, Board Mentoring Handbook, Toronto, Maytree
F
1

Foundation, 2007. A link to this resource may be found in the Roles and responsibilities key resource page in ICD’s Not-for-Profit Resource Centre.
6. TOPICS TO BE COVERED IN BOARD ORIENTATION PROCESS
1. Mission, values, history and distinguishing features of the organization, reputational advantages.
2. Overview of key stakeholders (members, funders, government, sister service providers and
competitors) and relationships to them.
3. Strategic priorities or plans, goals and current challenges (industry trends, environmental scan, public
policy environment).
4. Legal, fundraising, ethical and advocacy responsibilities of the board, including responsibilities
associated with the organization’s charitable status.
5. Type of board, the board’s role, board decision procedures, board culture, board committees and
board member and board-staff communications. The representational duties for constituency-based
boards should also be reviewed.
6. Summary of programs and services, program level objectives, community and client outcomes,
success measures and evaluation.
7. CEO and staff roles and human resource practices.
8. Revenues, expenses, reserves, fundraising costs, financial management, and the board role in
budgeting process.
9. By-laws and other policies and procedures in place; review practices.

7. EVALUATION
The last stage of orientation is assessing the effectiveness of the orientation process itself. Approximately
8-12 weeks after new directors have completed the orientation program, the board chair or governance
committee chair should follow up with new directors and possibly their mentors to get feedback on what
worked well and to gather suggestions for improvement.
The orientation process could also be assessed as part of a annual board self-evaluation with a rating
question such as “how useful did you find your board orientation” or an open-ended question like: “given
what know now about the work of the board, what would you have liked to have known when you started as
a director?”
BOARD ORIENTATION PLANNING MATRIX
(This example is just partially filled in. Because each subject or topic area is broad, boards are encouraged
to create a more detailed matrix, perhaps sub-dividing each area and adding additional rows)

Subject/topic Recruitment Meeting with Meeting with CEO Board Orientation Other
Phase Board Chair Session

1. Mission,
values and
distinguishing
features of the
organization
2. Key stakeholders
and relationships

3. Strategic Current challenges

priorities and
goals

4. Legal, ethical Partially covered

and fundraising
responsibilities

5. Board role and Director roles and Partially covered

functioning responsibilities

6. Programs
and services,
outcomes

7. CEO and staff CEO job

roles and HR description
Practices

8. Financial Annual Report

management

9. By-laws and
other policies

Introduction to Partially covered

other directors

Key documents Code of Conduct

By-laws
Code of conduct
 onflict of
C
interest
 irector
D
agreement

Sources:
This resource owes inspiration from many sources, most particularly the following document: Province of New Brunswick, The Department of Wellness,
Culture and Sport, Board Orientation Strategies: Tips, Tools and Resources Designed to Get Your Board into Top Gear Quickly, no date. A link to this
resource may be found in the Roles and responsibilities key resource page in ICD’s Not-for-Profit Resource Centre.
May 2016
This publication was developed for ICD by E. Grant MacDonald, a Halifax-based non-profit governance consultant and former organizational behaviour
professor at Dalhousie University. It may not be used or distributed in another form without expressed written permission.
This document is intended to provide information only. The information that it contains does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied
upon as such.