This summer marks my 13th year of consulting with nonprofit leaders and organizations. I have focused on parlaying the lessons I learned while leading a nonprofit I co-founded in 1995 and offering them to my clients as a point of reference. I have been made aware of one lesson over and over… consistent, recurring meetings for nonprofit boards and their committees are more than just calendar placeholders—they are a proven strategy for boosting productivity, accountability, and long-term impact. According to a BoardSource study, nonprofits with structured and regular board engagement are significantly more likely to accomplish their strategic goals, remain mission-focused and often reach their goals in less time than originally anticipated. The fact is, recurring meetings create a rhythm of accountability and allow committees to build trust, deepen relationships, and make thoughtful, data-informed decisions. This cadence also ensures that board members remain up-to-date on key initiatives, helping them offer timely and meaningful guidance.
Research supports the concept that regular touchpoints for group work outperform those with sporadic interactions. A study published in the Harvard Business Review* found that frequent meetings, when well-structured, lead to clearer role alignment, faster decision-making, and higher team engagement. For nonprofit organizations, where time and resources are often limited, recurring committee meetings help maintain momentum on critical projects—from fundraising to strategic planning—by ensuring that progress is routinely reviewed and challenges are addressed early.
Moreover, recurring meetings provide the infrastructure needed for purposeful governance and effective leadership. They enable board committees to develop and refine initiatives in real-time while giving the all of the board members a reliable mechanism for oversight and support. This structure promotes a culture of continuous improvement and proactive problem-solving—key drivers of long-term organizational success. For mission-driven work, this kind of disciplined consistency can be transformative, converting good intentions into measurable outcomes.
Is it time to give efficient and effective recurring meetings a try with your team? If you are already engaged in a recurring meeting schedule, I’d love for you to share your thoughts in the comments!
*Harvard Business Review published the article, Dear Manager, You’re Holding Too Many Meetings, on March 9, 2022, which is based on data collected from 76 companies. Link to article: https://hbr.org/2022/
* Link to BoardSource Research and Studies: https://boardsource.
Recent Comments