Recruiting SolutionsRecruiting SolutionsRecruiting Solutions

Board Member ConnectCase Study: Berkeley Food & Housing Project

1

March 2013

BERKELEY FOOD AND HOUSING PROJECTCASE STUDY

Challenge: Berkeley Food and Housing Project provides housing and food programs to the homeless. They identified several areas of expertise they needed on their board, including an architect who could advise on affordable housing and commercial tenant improvement issues. Search criteria included:

– Local: within 10-25 miles of Berkeley, CA– Skilled: Architect with land use, urban development experience– Diverse: Young or mid-career professional / female

Solution: Board member was recruited in less than two months.– Reviewed top profiles in-depth and circulated for board input.– Sent 20 InMails for a variety of board profiles; one InMail was

targeted at the architect role to which the candidate responded enthusiastically.

– Met individually, then with the board and toured the agency. – Elected onto the board within 2 months of the initial InMail.

“We would have never known each other without LinkedIn – she didn’t know our organization and we didn’t know she was looking for a board.”

Terrie LightExecutive Director

3

BERKELEY FOOD AND HOUSING PROJECTCASE STUDY

Caroline Nassif, a licensed architect with affordable housing experience, was actually hoping to join a board when she received Terrie’s InMail. She was unanimously voted onto the the board within two months of being contacted.

“I met with Terrie the week after receiving her InMail. It turned out to be exactly what I was looking for before I even started looking. I never thought LinkedIn was a source for me to find board opportunities - it was a pleasant surprise.”

Caroline NassifBoard Member

4

BERKELEY FOOD AND HOUSING PROJECTCASE STUDY

Learn more about Caroline’s experience in her LinkedIn blog post:

http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/03/27/meaningful-connections-joining-a-nonprofit-board-thanks-to-linkedin/

Recruiting SolutionsRecruiting SolutionsRecruiting Solutions

Board Member ConnectCase Study: Building Excellent Schools

5

December 2012

6

BUILDING FOUNDING CHARTER SCHOOL BOARDSCASE STUDY

Building Excellent Schools supports entrepreneurs (Fellows) to design, found, and sustain excellent charter schools in underserved communities nationwide. One of their first tasks is building a founding board and submitting their application.

Misha was tasked with supporting fellows to build 7 founding charter school boards in just 3 months.

LinkedIn has been a “godsend,” Misha shared. “With LinkedIn, we have a tool for maximizing the time and effort we put into board recruitment. It has given us a shared platform and language, and made our work more effective and efficient. It has allowed us to push beyond our current networks (via second and third degree connections) and to select for industry, years of experience, and even affinities. We also use profile photos for age, race, and gender diversity. Using LinkedIn, you can build an exceptionally diverse and strong board.”

“More than a third of the individuals on our charter school founding boards have been

identified via LinkedIn.”

Misha Charles, Director of Governance & Board Development

7

BUILDING FOUNDING CHARTER SCHOOL BOARDSCHALLENGE

One BES school in a major city needed to build its founding board from scratch in just 3 months. Diversity of profession, gender, race/ethnicity, and years of experience were a must, as well as availability and commitment to building a rigorous, college-preparatory school for underserved students.

Search criteria included:

Local: within the metropolitan area Skilled: Real Estate, Finance, HR, Legal, Management Consulting,

Marketing and Advertising, and Education Diverse: Gender, race/ethnicity, seniority Relevant Background: Past board service, nonprofit experience,

connection to community, volunteer work

8

8Board members successfully recruited and onboarded in 3 months

Candidates identified; Approximately 85% came from LinkedIn searches, job posting

140• Advanced searches, job posting, and traditional networking identified 140 prospects. LinkedIn profiles for all candidates were reviewed for diversity.

• Contacted more than 65 individuals via email to have first round meetings to assess mission alignment, time commitment and fit.

• Second round meetings with 13 were used as confirmation, after which the strongest were invited to join the board.

“LinkedIn helps to find and open the door to board prospects. Once you

identify them, you must thoughtfully evaluate each through interviews

and research.”

Screened through first and second round meetings

BUILDING FOUNDING CHARTER SCHOOL BOARDSPROCESS

9

BUILDING FOUNDING CHARTER SCHOOL BOARDSOUTCOMES

• Four of the eight board members were sourced via LinkedIn• The board member’s profiles were included as appendices to the charter application,

demonstrating the founding team’s capacity to govern an excellent school• Once they receive approval, the board and Fellow will use LinkedIn to build their board

into a broader governing body

LawHR, Volunteer

Finance,

Board service

Education,

Nonprofit

Real Estate,

Community

connection

Communications Real estate, Law,

Board Service

Finance,

Volunteer

10

BUILDING FOUNDING CHARTER SCHOOL BOARDSCASE STUDY

http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/01/16/building-nonprofit-boards-that-transform-lives/

Learn more tips from Misha in her LinkedIn blog post: