"Current board makeup is the number-one reason a top flight candidate will agree to consider board service - or will not. Serving on a board is, after all, a voluntary activity. The experience has the opportunity to be satisfying and inspiring...the key is that everyone at the table contributes and shares the load. What they say they want: connections to smart, accomplished, energetic people that they may already know or those they would like to know."

"The care and feeding of our board is an oft-neglected art. And I do not say that lightly - it really is an art. Drawing a board member into happy action on behalf of our cause is much like the delicate process of cultivating a potential major donor. No wonder our board members are not more active. No wonder they sometime hurriedly take the short way out by latching onto quick, ineffective solutions to whatever challenge is at hand...

We have to spend the effort to deepen their relationship with our organizations. We can evoke what they are passionate about and fan the flames of their desire to see change happen for the good. We have to be present, to listen to them, offer varying ways they can become involved, and act on their suggestions. It is called cultivating their involvement - just like we do with our donors."

How can boards create a culture of high performance? We get some great advice from High Performance Nonprofit Organizations, Managing Upstream for Greater Impact by Christine Letts, William Ryan, and Allen Grossman.

"Asking the right questions will be more important than having the precise answers, processes or strategies for improving performance," and those questions include, "What difference are we making in the lives of our community?" and "Where could we do better?"

Yet even before we get to those questions, I've found that it is also essential to ask: What does our shared vision of success for this organization look like? What are some steps that we can take to reach that vision, beginning today? If you are a leader in your nonprofit organization, how can you make sure that your board is not stuck in a rut, but is actively creating a real future for the entire organization? A starting point may be having real dialogue around these questions.

In her book, Leveraging Good Will: Strengthening nonprofits by engaging businesses, Alice Korngold shares effective strategies for engaging young corporate leaders in nonprofit volunteerism and governance. Not surprisingly, it's a true win/win. Businesses win by encouraging and supporting nonprofit Board service that directly builds good governance skills in its emerging leaders. Nonprofits win by leveraging the "service learning" background of rising "millennial generation" leaders who, according to Korngold, also happen to represent the best-educated generation in U.S. history.

Is your Board dominated by power brokers, heavy hitters, and "chiefs"? Couldn't you use some fresh, young leadership on your Board? If so, make sure that you're looking at the millennial generation when working to build a healthy, diverse and contemporary Board. You'll be glad you did.

How are you building your current Board? Consider forming a Board Development committee if you don’t already have one. If you have a Nominating Committee, why not extend their responsibilities to include year-round tips and tricks for Board members?

Want a positive and fun approach? Charge the committee with a “Did You Know?” segment at each Board meeting.

(Note: Whatever you do, don't just call it "board training." Most Board members hate to be "trained".)

The ongoing work of many contemporary Boards does not take place at Board meetings, and almost invariably Board members end up missing some of these. Don’t fight it. Use this as a time to connect individually with your Board members, update them, and get their thoughts. And, make ample use of conference calls, online chats, and email to get things done between board meetings.