Here is a conversation that may find its way to your boardroom in the next year. Do nonprofits need to pay nonprofit board members? The National Association of Nonprofit Organizations and Executives (NANOE) is advocating a change to the role of a board member and nonprofit executive. The headline grabber is NANOE’s belief that nonprofit board members should receive an honorarium for their service, and a strong CEO focus on money over mission. The Chronicle of Philanthropy provides a in-depth look at the movement.
The ascension of this discussion brings a conversation opportunity to the board room. What does your organization stand for? How does its behaviors match the stated values? What actions would constitute a breach? What is essential to the serving the board?
Would your organization pay for performance?
What-if-concepts 
At first blush, I thought this was a clever April Fool’s stunt — just to see if we were actually paying attention. But unfortunately, the NANOE group is real. They’ve been blasting my email inbox with all their assertions that I’ve been named to their Board of Governors (yeah, right!), and then touting their national conference. The comments following the Chronicle of Philanthropy article are spot on. Board member compensation though must be considered as it relates to each unique nonprofit, but as a whole, it seems to fly in the face of the idea that individuals do not gain financially from their service or involvement with the charity.