The four questions to ask when serving on a nonprofit board

If you know how to probe, nudge, and prod, you can help your board perform better. Doing so starts with courage. In our experience, nonprofit board members are often reluctant to contribute actively to discussions for fear that they will appear uninformed or cause an embarrassing ruckus. To be effective, you must overcome that fear. And then you must ask questions. Ask all your questions, even ones you fear might seem stupid, and keep asking them until you figure out what the smart questions are. Then demand answers to the smart questions. If you don’t get good answers to your smart questions, or if you don’t get support from your fellow board members when you ask those questions, then resign.

By William F. Meehan III and Kim Starkey Jonker

https://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/leadership/the-four-questions-to-ask-when-serving-on-a-nonprofit-board?cid=other-eml-alt-mkq-mck-oth-1712