# Build a board skills matrix and recruit new board members

A board composition analysis that shows skill, network, and lived-experience gaps, plus a recruitment and orientation plan.

- Topic: Leadership & Management
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Standard
- Tags: HR & Hiring, Strategy, Analyze, Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/build-a-board-skills-matrix-and-recruit-new-board-members

## Prompt

```text
Help me assess our nonprofit board and plan recruitment.

**Current board:** [for each member: role, term end date, skills, sector, networks, giving or fundraising involvement, lived experience relevant to our mission]
**Bylaws limits:** [board size, term limits, officer roles]
**Strategic priorities for the next 3 years:** [e.g. capital campaign, expansion, merger, financial turnaround]
**Expectations of board members:** [give/get policy, committees, meeting attendance]
**Who we serve:** [community]

Steps:
1. Define the competencies we need for our strategy (e.g. finance and audit, legal, fundraising, the community we serve, HR, technology, real estate).
2. Build a skills matrix: members as rows, competencies and term end dates as columns.
3. Identify gaps and upcoming departures, ranked by importance to our strategy.
4. Check representation: does the board reflect the community we serve, and do people with lived experience have real influence, not token seats?
5. Draft a recruitment profile for the top 2-3 gaps and where to find candidates.
6. Write an honest board expectations summary for candidates (time, giving, fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and obedience).
7. Outline a vetting process (conflict-of-interest disclosure, references) and an orientation plan.

Return: the matrix, a gap summary, recruitment profiles, and the expectations one-pager. Base the analysis only on the information I provide, and check our bylaws and state law for election procedures.
```

## What to fill in

- board size, term limits, officer roles
- give/get policy, committees, meeting attendance
- community

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.