Les Weil on Board Leadership | Milwaukee, the Virus & Fundraising

When Marybeth and I think of nonprofit boards, we think of one individual - our partner Les Weil.

Les has been one of our mentors for decades and we owe a great deal to him. But he’s not big on public praise, so please forget everything nice we say about him.

 However, his work with nonprofits has been bountiful with a great deal of focus on boards of directors.

 So, we asked him this question: As someone who works with boards of directors for nonprofits, what would you advise a board chair as to how to motivate his or her board during this crisis?

Here’s what Les shared:   

With social distancing in affect for the foreseeable future, we will be relying on Zoom, Facebook and conference call. The good news is that we still have the opportunity to act, function and participate as a board of directors. The downside is that we lose the personal interaction and camaraderie of a face-to-face meeting.  In this situation, it will be the responsibility of the board chair and in part the executive director to keep the enthusiasm and momentum during this difficult time.

A couple of suggestions may be of interest depending on your board, time availability and your board engagement.

First, you may want to prepare one question at each call that would be asked of each participant and have them respond with a concise and directed response.  This will accomplish at least two things. One is that you will keep the attention of almost every board member, as they will want to listen to everyone's response.  Two, it will provide an opportunity for each board member to participate at least one time during the meeting and feel their views are appreciated. In this way it is not just  a reporting meeting (boring), but an interactional meeting where they are participatory.

Another suggestion is for the board chair to contact each board member via phone to assure  them how important their continued involvement is to the organization during this unforeseen situation. It is a time to rah-rah the team and make each player feel important and that they need to step up their game to help deliver on the mission.

Les’ bio:

Les is an active community volunteer, nonprofit coach, philanthropist and former business owner/entrepreneur. Since 1994, he has collaborated with more than 100 nonprofit organizations in the greater Milwaukee and Ft. Lauderdale areas, specifically assisting them with friend-raising/fundraising training, board solicitation training, marketing and the business operations of nonprofits. Les encourages board members, volunteers and senior staff to work together in partnership. 

He has worked with nonprofits in all sectors, including social service, health, education, arts and the environment. He has co-chaired numerous Capital Campaigns including the $16 million campaign for Journey House Family Center, a central-city social service agency, ACTS Housing and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Fellowship Campaign for the Graduate School.   

Known for connecting individuals, corporations and foundations for the betterment of the community, Les hosts learning sessions to provide lesser-known nonprofit organizations with the opportunity to present their missions to a targeted group of philanthropists. 

Among the awards recognizing his service: the Honorary Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Todd Wehr Volunteer Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the W.I.S.H. Award from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Friend of The Hispanic Community Award from the United Community Center, the St. Francis Children’s Center Community Service Award and the Human Relations Award from the National Conference on Community and Justice.