Questions to Ask Board Members in an Interview
These are questions to ask board members in an interview when you are the candidate, whether for a seat on the board or for a chief executive or executive director job that reports to it. The opening group holds the ones to ask if time is short: why the seat is open, what they want from you, and what it costs in time and money. The rest covers the commitment in detail, how the boardroom handles disagreement, oversight of money and risk, a group to ask during executive director interviews and other searches for the top job (who carries the fundraising, what the board hands back once you start), and what to settle before you leave.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Start here
Why is this seat open right now?
Why ask it
The answer separates growth from repair. A vacancy created by a mid-term resignation, or by a board realizing it lacked a particular expertise after something went wrong, is a very different job from filling a planned rotation.
What would you be counting on me for in my first six months?
Why ask it
A specific answer (chair the audit committee, open three doors, help recruit a finance lead) shows the board thought about why it approached you. 'Come and learn for a while' is fine for month one and thin as a whole answer.
How much of your time does this seat take in a quiet month, and what was your heaviest one?
Why ask it
Asking for their own heaviest month gets you a story (an audit, a chief executive leaving, a funding scare) where the recruitment pack gives a tidy average. Those are the weeks that would collide with your day job, so ask how long the last one ran.
Are members expected to give or raise money, and is there a number?
Why ask it
On a charity or nonprofit board this is often understood and never said, and learning the figure after you join sours things on both sides. If the members in the room cannot agree whether a number exists, they have not settled it among themselves. On a company board, ask whether directors are expected to hold shares.
What is the one decision this board has to get right in the next year?
Why ask it
This tests whether the board shares any sense of priority. Three unrelated answers from three interviewers means you would be joining a board without an agenda, which is work rather than an honor.
What made you say yes when you were asked to join?
Why ask it
It gets a sitting member talking about the organization rather than the process, and the candor of the answer sets the tone for everything after. 'A friend asked me' is a real answer, and it tells you how recruitment works here.
Which skills or perspectives is the board short of at the moment?
Why ask it
A board that has done this work answers in a sentence: nobody who reads a balance sheet, nobody under fifty, nobody who has relied on the service. If what they name is not what you would bring, say so now, because being recruited for a skill you lack is a slow way to disappoint people.
The commitment
What is the committee structure, and where would you want me?
Why ask it
Much of a board's work is done in committee, so this is really a question about where your hours would go. If nobody can say where they want you, they may be recruiting a name for the letterhead rather than filling a gap.
How long is a term, is there a limit on terms, and how do people usually step down?
Why ask it
Ask how long the longest-serving member has been there. Where terms roll over with no limit, nobody is ever asked to go, and stepping down early can read as a protest. A stated limit lets you plan your exit on the day you join.
How many meetings are there a year, and which ones do I have to be in the room for?
Why ask it
Get the dates while you are there. Four video calls a year and six weekday mornings a two-hour drive away are different commitments, and the attendance record tells you how sitting members rate the meetings themselves.
What lands on a member between meetings: email votes, events, requests from staff?
Why ask it
This is where the stated commitment gets exceeded without anyone announcing it. Ask the person in front of you what they did for the organization in the past month that was not a meeting.
Is the seat paid, and which expenses does the organization cover?
Why ask it
Practice differs by sector and country, so ask rather than assume. On an unpaid board, check travel and event costs in particular: four trips a year at your own expense is a donation nobody has counted.
What does orientation look like for a new member, and who took the last newcomer through it?
Why ask it
If someone can say who did it and what it covered, orientation has an owner. If the last newcomer got a binder and a meeting date, plan your own: an hour each with the chair, the finance lead and one long-serving member before your first vote.
What does your most useful member do that the others do not?
Why ask it
Their description is the real job specification. If it is the member who reads every paper and asks the awkward question, that is one kind of board. If it is the one who gives the most or knows the mayor, that is another. Decide whether you could be that person.
What have you got out of serving here that you did not expect?
Why ask it
The expected rewards are the ones in the recruitment letter. The unexpected ones, such as a friendship, a skill learned chairing a hard meeting or a view of how the money really moves, are what bring people back for a second term. 'Nothing I didn't expect' after several years is worth a follow-up.
The boardroom
What has the board disagreed about most recently?
Why ask it
The subject tells you what is live for this board now: a budget, a building, whether to close a program. Then ask how it ended, whether by a vote, by the chair deciding, or by quietly dropping off the agenda. If they say the board never disagrees, ask where the hard conversations happen instead.
When the board and the chief executive disagree, what does that look like here?
Why ask it
Ask for an occasion, not the principle: a hire the board questioned, a budget it sent back. You are listening for a changed plan and a working relationship that carried on. A story that ends with somebody leaving deserves a second question.
Who runs the meeting, and how does something get onto the agenda?
Why ask it
Find out whether a member can add an item by asking the chair, or whether the agenda is drafted by the chief executive and arrives finished. If it is the second, ask how a member would raise a concern about the chief executive, since the usual route runs through the person concerned.
Looking at recent agendas, how much time goes to strategy compared with reports?
Why ask it
A rough split from the last three meetings is enough. If most of the time went to hearing reports, find out where decisions get made instead: in committee, between the chair and the chief executive, or by email. That is where you would need to be to have any say.
Is there a written strategic plan, and does the whole board stand behind it?
Why ask it
The date on the plan matters, and so does what has been dropped from it since. A plan that predates the current chief executive, or one that some members call 'the consultant's plan', suggests the direction is still being argued over, and you would be joining the argument.
When did a newer member last change the board's mind?
Why ask it
If they can name an occasion, a new voice counts here within its first year. A long pause suggests influence comes with tenure, and you should expect a quiet first term however good your ideas are.
Does the board meet without the chief executive in the room, and how often?
Why ask it
Where a closed session is on every agenda it is housekeeping, and it gives members a place to raise a worry while it is still small. Where it happens only in a crisis, calling one becomes an alarm in itself, so concerns tend to wait until they are large.
Has anyone left the board recently, and why?
Why ask it
It is fair to ask for the story before you accept. One member moving abroad is life. Several quiet departures in a year, especially around the same issue or the same person, is a pattern, and someone who left is the person to call.
When did the board last assess itself, and what changed because of it?
Why ask it
Press on what changed. A review that led to a shorter packet, a retired committee or a new chair was a real one. A review that went into a folder tells you how the board regards its own performance.
What would you change about this board if you could change one thing?
Why ask it
Sitting members will usually tell you, and what they pick beats any description of culture. If two of them separately name the length of the meetings, the size of the packet or one dominant voice, believe them.
Oversight
How is the organization funded, and how many months could it run on its reserves?
Why ask it
Watching the money is part of what you would be signing up for, so this is not an indelicate subject. Ask how much of the income rests on the single largest funder or customer, and whether payroll has ever been in doubt.
What financial information does the board see, and how often?
Why ask it
Accounts against budget with a cash figure, monthly or quarterly, is a reasonable baseline. A board that looks at the money once a year would have you answering for numbers you never watched move, so ask to see the last report members actually received.
How does the board know whether the organization is doing its work well?
Why ask it
The figures members see at every meeting are the answer. Money raised and people served count activity. A board that also tracks whether the work worked (students who finished, tenants still housed a year on, customers who renewed) has thought harder about it. 'The director tells us' is an answer about trust.
How does the board hear from the people the organization exists for?
Why ask it
Customers, members, patients, students, residents: whoever it is, look for a route that does not pass through the chief executive's report, such as a reserved seat, a survey members actually read, or days spent where the work happens. No route at all means decisions get made about people nobody in the room has met.
What is the hardest problem in front of this organization that the annual report leaves out?
Why ask it
Everyone on a board has one in mind, and it is rarely in the published plan: a tired founder, a lease about to end, a rival bidding for the same contracts. When each interviewer names a different problem, ask which one the full board has discussed together.
When was the chief executive last formally reviewed, and who did it?
Why ask it
The date is the informative part. A review that has not happened in several years is a gap you would inherit, along with the awkwardness of being the newcomer who raises it. Ask too whether the full board saw the result or only the chair.
Who steps in if the chief executive is suddenly out for three months?
Why ask it
The practical form of the succession question. A name, plus a second person who can sign for payroll, means it has been thought through. If the answer is that a board member would cover, find out whether that could mean you.
When something goes wrong inside the organization, how does the board find out?
Why ask it
Ask for the last real case: a lost contract, a serious complaint, a failed inspection. Hearing it from the chief executive within days is healthy; learning it from a funder or a news story means the board is the last to know.
Do any current members do business with the organization, and how is that handled?
Why ask it
A member's firm providing the legal work, the insurance or the premises is common on small boards. The rules on it differ by country and by type of organization, so ask which apply here. What you want to hear is that it was disclosed, compared with other quotes and voted on with that member out of the room.
Is there any litigation, audit finding, unpaid tax or regulatory matter I should know about?
Why ask it
Depending on the country and the kind of organization, some of these can follow directors personally, so ask before you accept. A plain account with the documents offered is the good sign. If the answer is a change of subject, bring it back once, and weigh what happens the second time.
Is there directors and officers insurance, and what does indemnification cover?
Why ask it
Between them these shape what a claim against the organization would mean for you personally. Ask to see the policy limit, the exclusions and the bylaw wording, and if the sums matter to you, have your own adviser read them. 'Nobody has ever sued us' does not answer the question.
Job candidates
A year in, what would make the board say hiring me was the right call?
Why ask it
Push for something you could point at: a balanced budget, a rebuilt senior team, a reopened site. 'Steady the ship' and 'take us to the next level' both mean the board has not decided, and you would be measured against a target that turns up later.
Why did the last person in this role leave, and what did the board take from it?
Why ask it
Listen for whether the board appears in its own story. An account where the predecessor simply was not a fit, with nothing about how they were hired, supported or measured, suggests the next person meets the same conditions.
Which decisions would be mine alone, and which come to the board first?
Why ask it
Test the edges with examples: hiring a senior manager, signing a lease, spending outside the budget, talking to the press. Ask whether the delegation is written down, because where it is not, the line gets drawn the first time you cross it.
How will I know, three months in, whether the board thinks it is going well?
Why ask it
An annual review is too slow for someone new in the top job. A chair who offers a regular, frank conversation is worth a great deal; 'you would soon hear if it wasn't' means the first feedback may arrive as a specially called meeting.
How often would individual board members contact me directly, and about what?
Why ask it
A weekly call with the chair is support. Five members each calling with instructions is five bosses, so ask whether direction is meant to come through the chair and whether everyone keeps to that.
What do you want in the director's report to the board, and may I see the last one?
Why ask it
Its length and its gaps show how much the previous director told the board. Some boards want figures, some a narrative, some only the decisions waiting for them, and it is easier to ask now than to guess before your first meeting.
Is the founder or the previous chief executive still involved, and in what capacity?
Why ask it
A predecessor with a board seat, a consulting contract or an office down the hall changes the job. It can work with a defined scope and an end date. Without them, staff and board members keep a second door to knock on.
Who has been running things since the last director left, and what happens to that person when I start?
Why ask it
An outside interim leaves on a set date. A senior manager who stepped up, and perhaps applied for the post, becomes someone you supervise from the first morning, so ask what the board has told them about their role afterwards.
Which jobs has the board been doing itself during the vacancy, and when do they come back to the director?
Why ask it
With the top chair empty, members end up approving invoices, supervising managers and phoning funders. Ask for the list task by task. A member who has enjoyed running the finance meeting may need the chair to say plainly that it has ended.
Who chairs the board next, and when does that change?
Why ask it
Part of what you are judging today is a working relationship with one person, and chairs rotate. If this one steps down within the year, ask to meet the likely successor before you accept.
Has this board hired an executive director before, or is it new to most of you?
Why ask it
Where every member joined under the last director, or the last director was the founder, the board is learning to be an employer while it interviews you. That need not put you off. It does mean you may be the one who proposes how reviews, pay decisions and reporting should run.
Is next year's budget already set, and how much of it could I change?
Why ask it
Inheriting a fixed budget and a fixed team means running someone else's plan for a year, which is fine if you know it going in. Ask which lines the board would reopen and whether there is money behind the changes they have told you they want.
How much of the fundraising would rest on me personally, and what do board members do themselves?
Why ask it
Ask which donors the last director handled alone and when a board member last went along to a funder meeting. If the answer is that the director raises the budget and the board approves it, that is the job, whatever the description says.
Which funders or partners were loyal to my predecessor more than to the organization?
Why ask it
A grant or a major gift can ride on one person's standing, and it can leave with them. Find out who has kept in touch with those people during the search, and whether any renewal falls due in your first few months.
What would you want me to leave alone in the first year?
Why ask it
Most organizations have something the board is protective of: a founding program, a long-serving manager, an event the donors love. Better to learn where that ground is now, and decide whether you can live with it, than to find it by stepping on it.
Who on the board would introduce me to funders, partners and staff in the first weeks?
Why ask it
Being walked into a key room by the chair is a faster start than a cold email from a stranger with a new title. If nobody has thought about it, suggest five or six introductions and ask which member will make each.
What have staff been told about this search, and did they have any part in it?
Why ask it
Staff who met the finalists will have formed a view of you before you arrive; staff who were kept out will have formed one of the board. You can work with either, but the first all-staff meeting goes differently depending on which it is.
What do you think the staff would tell me about the board?
Why ask it
Members who can answer (too distant, too involved, never seen in the building) have been listening. A confident 'they think we're great' from someone who has met nobody below the senior team is a guess, and worth checking with the staff yourself if you get the chance.
Before you leave
What about my background makes you hesitate?
Why ask it
Boards talk after you have left the room, and a doubt nobody voiced is one you cannot answer. This draws out the worry about your available time, a possible conflict or thin experience in their field while you are still there to speak to it.
May I sit in on a meeting, or read the last few sets of minutes, before I answer?
Why ask it
One meeting watched from the side shows more than any interview. Some boards cannot allow it for confidentiality reasons, in which case minutes with the sensitive items removed are a fair second request, and a refusal of both is something to weigh.
Which staff members or former board members could I speak with before deciding?
Why ask it
The chief executive and the finance lead are the usual two, and someone who has rotated off the board is often the most candid. Notice how readily the names are offered.
Is there anything you expected me to ask that I have not?
Why ask it
Members sometimes hold one thing back until invited: a merger under discussion, a funder who is wavering, the reason an earlier candidate withdrew. It also shows what they think a serious candidate should care about, which is worth knowing whichever way the vote goes.
What happens after today: who decides, is there a vote, and when would I hear?
Why ask it
Appointments can run through a nominating committee, a full board vote or a members' meeting, depending on the bylaws. Knowing the route tells you whether a month of silence is a no or just the calendar.
Being interviewed by a board
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Choosing from a long list
No interview leaves room for every question here. For a first conversation, take the opening group and add two or three from the boardroom group that matter most to you. The questions about litigation, insurance and conflicts are due diligence: they land better once the board has said it wants you, and they are best put to the chair or the treasurer along with a request for the documents. If you get only five minutes at the end, ask why the seat is open and what they would be counting on you for, and take the rest away as a written list.
Before the interview
- Read two years of financial statements. For a US nonprofit the Form 990 is public; look at reserves, how concentrated the revenue is, and whether the auditor changed.
- Ask for recent minutes. Nothing describes a board faster than the record of what it chose to spend its time on.
- Find out who is already on the board and how they are connected to each other. Overlapping employment, family and business relationships are the usual source of conflicts of interest.
- Try to speak with someone who has left the board, not only with those still on it.
- Write down what you want from this: a cause, specific expertise, a network, a route toward a chair role. Board service absorbs more time than anyone plans for, so the reason should be clear to you.
What board members usually ask you
- What do you know about the organization? They are checking whether you read past the home page. Mention something from the accounts, the minutes or a program you have seen in person.
- Why this board, and why now? A reason tied to this organization lands better than a general wish to give back or to add a board seat to a career.
- What would you bring that the board lacks? Name one or two things you would actually do: a committee you could chair, a kind of problem you have handled before.
- How much time can you give? Answer in hours, with your other commitments named. Vague enthusiasm is what boards hear from people who later stop turning up.
- Do you have any conflicts of interest? Raise anything close to one yourself, including business and family ties to staff, suppliers or other members.
- Tell us about a time you disagreed with a group. They want to know whether you can dissent in the room and then stand behind the decision once it is made.
- What do you hope to get out of serving? A plain answer, such as learning how governance works or giving something back to a place that helped your family, is easier to trust than a selfless one.
- Where does the board's job end and the staff's begin? They are listening for someone who will set direction and ask hard questions without trying to run the office.
- On boards that fundraise: are you comfortable giving, and asking others to give? Say what you can honestly do. A figure you cannot meet helps nobody.
- For a chief executive or director post, expect questions about working with the board itself: what you would bring to it and when, how you deliver bad news, and how you have handled a difficult chair.
- If you are the one interviewing a prospective member, this is the same list from the other chair. Ask for hours, one named contribution and any conflicts, and leave real time for the candidate's own questions.
During the conversation
Ask the same questions of more than one person
Put three of these to the chair, to another member and to the chief executive separately. The variation between their answers is where the useful information sits.
Ask about the last hard thing
A specific recent difficulty, a lost funder, a departure, an audit finding, produces a far more honest picture than any question about culture. Notice whether they can describe it without reducing it to one person's fault.
Notice what you are not offered
If nobody puts forward financial statements, bylaws, minutes, the conflict of interest policy or the insurance details, ask directly. A board that treats those as sensitive is showing you how it will handle your questions later.
Before you accept
- 1Get the time expectation, the financial expectation and the length of the term in writing.
- 2Read the bylaws and the conflict of interest policy, and disclose anything relevant before your first meeting rather than after.
- 3Confirm that directors and officers coverage is current, and ask what it excludes.
- 4Check that the organization is current on filings, payroll taxes and audits, since personal exposure on some of those is real in some jurisdictions.
- 5Agree with the chair what you will actually do in your first six months, so the expectation is shared rather than assumed.
If it is an executive director interview rather than a seat
If you are meeting board members as a candidate for chief executive, executive director or another role that reports to the board, most of the list works unchanged. The group marked for job candidates adds what a seat candidate does not need: what the board will count as success, where your authority stops, how many members expect direct contact with you, who chairs next, how much of the fundraising is yours, and which tasks the board picked up during the vacancy and has to hand back. Put the first-year question to every interviewer separately. Where their answers differ noticeably, that disagreement becomes your first year of work, so it is much better to hear it during the interview.