Why volunteer for a private school board?

[Anonymous]

Spinoff from the FA thread:

I don’t get it. There’s no compensation. You’re in charge of a head of school who’s making a ton of money but you don’t get paid a dime to work with them. Parents relentlessly complain. If you’re also a current student’s parent, you basically have to back completely out of their school life.

And weirdest of all is that you have a bunch of unpaid people often with no professional education background in charge of schools with millions and millions of dollars of annual budget and sometimes big endowments.

What’s the incentive to be on a board?
What’s the incentive for a board to do their job?

My area in New England has seen a ton of public school board resignations and I’m questioning why private school board members aren’t the next to go.

[Anonymous]

Most board members are big $$$$ donors so it’s a prize for the donations. The ones who take it want the “prestige” of being able to say they are on the board.

[Anonymous]

Is this a troll post? If not, it's cynical AF.

I am on the board because:

1. I care about our community
2. I have skills that can help our organization
3. I want to contribute

It's not easy work, at all. But it's important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most board members are big $$$$ donors so it’s a prize for the donations. The ones who take it want the “prestige” of being able to say they are on the board.

This is completely untrue at our school. I imagine this varies widely.

[Anonymous]

Honestly it's the only way to have some visibility into what's actually going on.

[Anonymous]

First, parent complaints aren’t an actual issue for our school board. The board focuses on financial, fundraising, and strategic questions; parent complaints go to the ED.

I’m on the board because: 1)I care deeply about the school and its success; 2) I serve on several other boards and have financial and nonprofit goverance experience; and 3) It flexes professional muscles that I don’t use in my normal day job.

It’s relatively low stress and I’ve enjoyed my time.

[Anonymous]

From what I've seen, some board members like to network. If the school is prestigious enough, having their name on the school website confers legitimacy and gives them an extra google-able credential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most board members are big $$$$ donors so it’s a prize for the donations. The ones who take it want the “prestige” of being able to say they are on the board.

+1
It is 100% an ego thing at our kids’ school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most board members are big $$$$ donors so it’s a prize for the donations. The ones who take it want the “prestige” of being able to say they are on the board.

+1
It is 100% an ego thing at our kids’ school.

What about schools that aren’t prestigious or that require a ton of work? Somewhere fancy or with a brand name kind of makes sense but otherwise I can’t imagine what the draw would be.

[Anonymous]

I'm not on one but it seems similar to an HOA. Mix of people who see a job that needs doing, people who want the perceived clout or control, and people who are just interested.

[Anonymous]

I thought it was an extra credential/reward for the largest donors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought it was an extra credential/reward for the largest donors.

If I were a big donor, I would not want my prize to be the opportunity to work for free.

[Anonymous]

Our school does not allow current or potentially future parents on the board.

People who volunteer to serve on non-profit boards view it as a way of giving back using skills they have and supporting a cause or organization they care about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school does not allow current or potentially future parents on the board.

People who volunteer to serve on non-profit boards view it as a way of giving back using skills they have and supporting a cause or organization they care about.

- sounds wise and hopefully school is professionally managed; not a "pickup game" approach by many small privates.

[Anonymous]

For the same reason you'd volunteer for any non-profit board - you deeply care for the mission and want to ensure the positive direction of the organization. I am on a non-profit board for an organization with a mission I care about and if one day I have the opportunity to be on the board at my child's school, I'd like not turn it down.