Best Interview Questions to Ask Nonprofit Board of Directors

04.30.2025

A nonprofit organization exists in a position that requires an immense amount of trust. This status only increases as the nonprofit grows, handling larger amounts of donor money. It’s for this reason that the nonprofit board of directors exists. They help provide oversight on the operations of the nonprofit, ensuring that it meets both the IRS compliance requirements needed to maintain tax-exempt status, as well as adherence to its own bylaws.

But this, in turn, creates a new burden of trust - the board of directors themselves must be skilled, experienced and upstanding in the execution of their job. This means that the selection process for effective board of director members is an extremely vital one.

A vital part of that process is the interview. This is where you can get the full picture of someone and see if they’ll be a good fit. To get the most out of the interview, it's essential that you ask the right questions. We’ll cover the process of formulating interview questions for nonprofit board members here.

Board of Directors Roles and Who You Want to Recruit

Obviously, it's up to you to determine what board interview questions you want to ask. We’ll be providing some example questions later, to help get your own thought process kicked off. However, before we can get to that, it’s important to understand what sort of candidates you’re looking for.

Key Nonprofit Board of Director Roles

First and foremost, you should understand the specific role you’re seeking. Generally, different board members may have special titles and responsibilities. If you are hiring for one of these specialist roles, your questions will naturally vary. Here’s a quick rundown of the board service roles found at most nonprofits.

Nonprofit President/Chair

The Board President, or Board Chair, is the head of the board of directors. They’re the “face” of the board when communicating with the public and stakeholders. They also take charge during board meetings, setting out the strategic planning, leadership and direction. A good President not only understands the nonprofit space intimately, but also has clear leadership skills, letting them take an active part in board governance. They also need good teamwork skills and be able to work closely with the executive director and the other board members.

Nonprofit Secretary

The Secretary of the board of directors has a responsibility to document everything that the board does, in order to make it plain that the board is meeting compliance. This includes records of activities, and minutes of board meetings. The Secretary is often the one who is in charge of communicating information on upcoming meetings to other board members. They also often take on the duty of filing requirements.

A good Secretary needs to have a solid understanding of ethics and compliance. They also need to be an excellent communicator and have an eye for detail and record-keeping.

Nonprofit Treasurer

The board Treasurer has a responsibility to manage and report all of the finances of their nonprofit corporation. They need to ensure that all financial activities are transparent and properly reported. The treasurer also is in charge of helping plan the strategy around budgeting for the nonprofit.

Skilled Treasurers need to understand nonprofit accounting and finances. They need to be able to advise the board on issues of potential financial risk and come up with strategies to mitigate said risks.

Other Nonprofit Board Members

Beyond the specific roles outlined above, the board will generally be filled with other members with less specific roles. These additional board members’ main purposes are to help with the collective decision making of the board, plan out fundraising initiatives, and sit on any required committees. Often, one of the board members will take on the role of Vice President/Chair, subbing in for the President as needed. Good board members need to understand the nonprofit space well, so that they can provide valuable insight into strategic meetings.

Best Questions to Ask Prospective Board Members

As established, there’s no “correct” script of questions to ask your prospective board members during the interview process. Rather, there are a few categories of questions that it is valuable to cover during the interview. We’ll discuss the essential categories here, and give some example questions.

Interest, Background and Motivation

Firstly, you want to know if the potential board candidates are going to be a good fit for the mission and culture of your nonprofit. New skills can be imparted, new strategies adopted. But someone who doesn’t share the same vision as your nonprofit may end up conflicting with the rest of the board. Here’s some questions to ask:

What have you heard about our nonprofit?: This question lets you quickly understand if the candidate has done their research. If they can accurately summarize your operations and mission, then you know that they are taking the interview seriously. You can also ask them what attracted them to your nonprofit, or to summarize your mission.
What previous experience do you have with nonprofits?: Someone who has already worked with nonprofits in the past is going to require less education and instruction. If they’ve worked on another nonprofit board, all the better.
What do you hope to contribute as a board member?: You can also ask this question as “why are you interested in being on a nonprofit board?”. This question lets you gauge motivation and knowledge at the same time.
How will you support our executive leadership team?: You can also ask any sort of question around the theme of “how well do you collaborate with others?”. Someone already coming up with plans is great, but teamwork is also essential.
Why are you interested in the nonprofit space?: You should ask questions that let you tease out the “story” of why the interviewee is interested in working in the nonprofit space. This can give you a general idea of what their values are, and if they mesh with your nonprofit.

Skill Based Questions

These kinds of questions are designed to judge the actual skills and knowledge of the candidate. Obviously, you should add more questions to this section that pertain more closely to the specific board role you have in mind. Most of these questions should be exploratory in nature, trying to build an image of the skill set that the candidate could bring to the board.

What is your experience with nonprofit finances and fundraising?: Since fundraising is the lifeblood of any nonprofit, it’s a good idea to gauge how much the candidate understands this process.
Do you have any experience with nonprofit compliance?: The board’s responsibility is to make sure that their company is always within compliance. Experience with these legal matters is always a plus.
What was a challenge a nonprofit you worked for faced? How did you overcome it?: You want to understand the thought process of the candidate. Do they know how to navigate issues and risks a nonprofit might encounter?
What is your experience with nonprofit budgets?: Even if they’re not serving as treasurer, it's a good idea for any board member to be able to recognize what best-practice budgets look like.
What is the best way to build relationships with donors?: This question lets you gauge how adept the potential board member is at the task of donor relations. It’s especially essential for anyone working as the President.

Strategy, Leadership, and Vision

The previous questions have been, in one way or another, about how the candidate will fit into your nonprofit board. This is true in both the cultural sense, and in the sense of them having the right skills to succeed in the day-to-day operations. But what separates a great board member from an adequate one is vision. The best candidates won’t just fit into your team - they’ll help take it into new and bold directions. Questions in this section should move more onto your own nonprofit, to judge how the candidate can view its best strategic moves.

How can our nonprofit stay relevant and sustainable in future years?: A question like this helps determine how well the candidates can see the “big picture?”
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing nonprofits today?: Similar to the question above, discussions along these lines help demonstrate if the candidate has a strategic vision and problem-solving skills.
What should be the strategic priorities of our nonprofit over the next 5 years?: Being able to identify problems and opportunities is one thing. But a good candidate should also be able to articulate tangible plans and solutions.
How have you helped an organization grow before with strategic choices?: As the previous question, discussions along these lines helps determine proven problem-solving skills.
How do you balance the daily responsibilities of a nonprofit with promoting growth and pursuing a larger vision?: Of course, you don’t want a candidate who is looking so far ahead they can’t see their own feet. You want to make sure they understand the practical requirements of running a nonprofit.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Interviewing Board of Directors

We’ve given some example questions, but it will be your responsibility to work with your team members to create the full “script” for interviews. We can help you in one more way though, by recommending some things that you should avoid during the interview. Here’s a few common mistakes.

Not Defining Expectations Clearly

Make sure that you are very upfront about what the roles and responsibilities of your board members are. It’s your responsibility to make sure the candidate is a good fit, just as it is their responsibility to try and make that fit. Defining expectations beforehand also lets the candidate focus their answers to your questions in the interview.

Focusing Only on Hard Skills

It’s tempting to ask your candidates about every qualification, degree and certificate they have. But for board members, the soft skills of leadership, collaboration and imagination are often just as important as knowledge of compliance and the minutiae of fundraising. Asking questions like “Do you know the laws of compliance” are only going to get you a yes/no answer. Ask questions that allow the candidate to elaborate on their problem-solving abilities.

Ignoring Your Culture

A candidate can have the most perfect set of skills, but still not be a good fit. Your nonprofit will have developed a unique culture and set of values over time. Don’t be afraid to ask questions that see if the interviewee is on the same page as you in regards to visions and values.

Forgetting to Ask Commitment Questions

We mentioned this under a category of questions above, but it bears repeating. Why get excited about a candidate if the amount of time they can contribute doesn’t work for you? Always make sure that you see just how much a candidate can commit and be open about what you want.

Not Being Flexible

There are a lot of great board members out there who have experience in the nonprofit space but may have never taken the reins directly on a fundraising project. You’ll want to consider these kinds of candidates. If someone has a lot of board experience, and is a true visionary and team player, you can teach them the fundraising basics over time.

Rushing the Interview Process

Don’t rush the interview, simple as that. You want to understand your candidate as a person, not just as their answers. Give them time to fully express themselves and explore each question fully.

How Long Should a Board Member Interview Be?

The above tip raises the question - how long should you be taking for interviews? It’s clear you want to give a lot of time to the process, but you also can’t let it take all day. There’s no hard limit, but a good rule of thumb is about an hour. You want about 10 minutes for an introduction, 30-40 minutes for your questions, then 10 minutes afterwards to let the candidate ask their own follow up questions.

How to Select Candidates for the Next Interview

Of course, the interview process doesn’t end when the interview does. After interviews are done, it's up to you to go through all your notes and decide which candidate best suits your needs. Here’s a quick checklist of what to do during this stage.

Assess Candidates Post-Interview

After the interview, the first order of business is to review them with your relevant staff members. You need to decide if they’re worth further interviews and contact, or if you’re not a right fit. Some things to consider include whether they…

Align With Your Mission and Values
Have the Right Skills and Expertise
Fit With your Culture
Can Commit To the Role
Show Vision and Leadership Potential

If the answer to all of these is “yes”, then you’re ready to head to the next stage of board selection. If you are worried about too many candidates passing this point, you can also decide on a scoring system with your team, awarding points per category, and only let the highest scorers onwards.

Conduct a Second Interview

It may be that a candidate is hitting all the high points, but you still want to learn a bit more about them. It’s entirely acceptable to admit you don’t know enough, and run a second interview process for the candidate. This can be to learn some more information about a particular set of skills, negotiate the amount of commitment, and let the candidate interact with the team to learn more about how they’d mesh with the culture.

Make the Decision

Your decision on new board members always needs to be made collaboratively, with existing board members and staff leaders taking part. It’s up to you and your team to determine what you want to emphasize when making the final choice. Are there gaps on the board you need to fill? Are there red flags regarding commitment or cultural fit that disqualifies certain candidates? In the end, a unanimous decision is ideal, even if not always possible.

Make the Offer

Once you’ve selected the candidate, it's time to put together a formal offer for the board position. While you can make initial contact with a call, it is best practice to put together a formal email or letter that will reiterate the expectations of the roles and the terms.

Onboarding Board Members

The final step is to onboard your new board member. If they haven’t met them already, a priority is to have a meeting between them and the other board members, as well as other relevant members of your team. It’s also essential during onboarding to provide to them any necessary information on bylaws or the like.

If you need more information on managing and setting up a board of directors for a nonprofit, make sure to visit our blog, which has tons of great information on the topic.