Getting the “BEST” board of directors for small credit unions, when you are 100% volunteer!

Having a Board of Directors who are totally invested can make a good credit union into a thriving and more successful credit union!

In order to continue growing and becoming your Member’s primary financial institution, you must be strong and well rounded starting with a committed Board of Directors

Examine your existing Board for holes.

1. Complete a Pro/Con list of your existing Board Members to get a feel of your strengths and weaknesses.
2. Place Board Members in positions that they are most “informed”.
3. Include the  Board of Directors in your quest to make  the best Board it can be.

Reach out to your Membership for finding open Board positions

1. Who knows your Membership better than the CEO and the staff-use this knowledge to search out individuals who would fill in your missing your positions.
2. Even in times when you are fully staffed, always keep your eye open for any future entries.

The most qualified does not always mean the most educated

1. When your Board is looking for a replacement or addition, don’t get bogged down in only looking at the most educated, search for talents of individuals
2. In most small credit unions, their sponsors have a wide array of individuals to choose from.  The sponsors in most cases are complete fully operational business’ with many layers and lots of expertise.   These individuals can be used in these positions to help better our situations.

In many small CU’s , we have Members who use us for a savings account or the occasional loan.

1. We want to look for individuals who use all of our services.
2. Who comes  in and out and sees  our strengths and weaknesses.
3. They do not need to be only CU’s full time users but they need to have an overall feel for your services.  It’s easier to understand our process if you are involved in the use of those services.

Make sure the Board Member can actually attend the meetings

1. It’s important to attend the meetings, the question and answers of all Board Members are important for other Board Members to hear and discuss.
2. They can only be a positive influence if they are in the meetings.
3. It’s important that we get people who want to be involved and who want to share their points of views.
4. The more viewpoints you have the better, granted all can’t be put into action but the discussion can be helpful.