Nonprofits rely heavily on board expertise

HANDS ON: Linda Weisinger, executive director of the Pawtucket Central Falls Development, speaks with Andrew  Pierson, assistant director of real estate development and administration. Weisinger handles human resources, as the nonprofit doesn't have a dedicated HR department. / PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
HANDS ON: Linda Weisinger, executive director of the Pawtucket Central Falls Development, speaks with Andrew Pierson, assistant director of real estate development and administration. Weisinger handles human resources, as the nonprofit doesn't have a dedicated HR department. / PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

Leaders at small and midsized nonprofits say they turn to their boards of directors for guidance when trying to handle human resource issues without dedicated HR staff.

Save The Bay has 30 employees, but no dedicated human resources department, so Maureen Fogarty, director of operations, has worn that hat – and has frequently consulted board members for advice – for 20 years. Board President Cindy Butler, who also is director of government affairs at the Rhode Island chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, is one of Fogarty’s go-to contacts.

Most of Fogarty’s staff are dedicated to mission work so the administrative side of the organization is “lean,” she said. She covers human resources, administration and facilities.

“We do not have the luxury of having a sole HR person or department, so it’s been essential for us to have that expertise at the board level, someone you can go to with the larger questions,” Fogarty said. “In their world, they’re keeping up with that, so they’re an unbelievable resource.”

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Butler, along with officials at the Rhode Island Foundation and the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Rhode Island chapter, say the predicament many nonprofits find themselves in is one of staffing limitations.

The national SHRM organization provides information and seminars not just for the human resources professional, but for professionals for whom HR is part of their employment responsibilities, Butler said. The Rhode Island chapter, for which membership is free, has 600 members comprising banks, schools and nonprofits.

Butler is also president of Butler and Associates Human Resource Consulting in Jamestown, and has “quite a few” nonprofit clients, she said.

Nonprofits grapple with many issues common across the field, Butler said. Often, compliance with employment laws depends on the number of employees a nonprofit has. Nonprofits also look for advice on competitive pay, benefits and employee-relations issues, she said.

“Emergencies come up,” she said. “An employee violating policy or not serving clients in the way they’re supposed to” may require coaching as well as advice.

Social media can be a new frontier if an employee says something about a co-worker that may be deemed to have an impact on the workplace, she added. Likewise, while most organizations have policies on sexual harassment, often a nonprofit will seek out a consultant like her to conduct an impartial investigation, as well as make recommendations and outline the risks of action or inaction, she said.

“A lot of it is knowing where to look,” Butler advised. “I would caution people from Googling information because it’s not necessarily legally correct.”

Added Matt Netto, president of the AFP-RI: “It just comes down to overhead. Probably hundreds of local nonprofits are in this predicament. They don’t have money to have an HR department so they rely on the executive director and boards of directors to properly vet candidates for jobs, or look to bring on HR professionals to their board.”

Butler helped Save The Bay figure out how to adjust prior to its 2005 relocation from an older downtown Providence bank building to its current spot on the Johnson & Wales University campus, Fogarty said.

For instance, while departmental structuring did not ultimately change, Butler helped staff examine whether certain departments should be combined or not.

“We were really thoughtful about [the move],” Fogarty said. “We couldn’t have done it without her.”

The Housing Network of Rhode Island in Pawtucket has the smallest of staffs, with one full-time director of programs, Melina Lodge, and a part-timer, Lodge said.

The small size doesn’t justify a full-fledged human resources department, she said, so the procedure is to work out any issues that come up, such as time off, with the employee first.

“Most nonprofits would have a personnel committee or you can bring on expertise on a consulting basis,” Lodge said. “Luckily we haven’t had many human resource problems.”

Questions that do arise are worked out with a personnel committee made up of three board members and brought to the full board. Issues recently up for discussion included the organization’s personnel and policy manuals, she said.

“It’s the system we have, so it’s more efficient than not having a system,” Lodge said.

Another small nonprofit, Pawtucket Central Falls Development (formerly the Pawtucket Citizens Development Corporation), also relies on a personnel committee, although Executive Director Linda Weisinger collaborates with Andrew Pierson, assistant director of real estate and administration, Weisinger said.

Weisinger, who has been with the organization for six months, has oversight over human resources matters. She has been working with a personnel committee to revise and update the nonprofit’s personnel policy. She also handles time off for a staff of 10 others and works directly with the board when necessary, she said.

Pierson, who has been with the nonprofit for eight years, handles much of the day-to-day operational concerns, Weisinger said.

“It does require a lot of time and commitment and you have to be hands on,” she said. •

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