CariClub’s New National Survey of 1,000 Nonprofits Reveals Strong Desire to Diversify Boards of Directors

CariClub, the professional network for social impact, today revealed the results of its first Accessing Diverse Board Candidates survey. CariClub recently surveyed 1,000 nonprofits across the country to better understand the lack of diverse representation on nonprofit boards: the severity of the situation, the reasons behind it, and what the nonprofits are willing to do about it.

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Key findings from CariClub’s first Accessing Diverse Board Candidates survey include:

• 95% of nonprofits are actively recruiting to diversify their governing/executive boards; 60% are doing the same for their associate/junior boards
• The least represented groups are Hispanic or Latino (77% on governing boards and 74% on associate boards), Black or African American (72% on governing boards and 68% on associate boards) and Asian (58% on governing boards and 50% on associate boards)
• 87% of nonprofits report that finding the right recruitment channels has been the biggest obstacle to diversifying their board
• 83% of nonprofits are willing to increase their governing board size to increase diverse representation; 88% said the same about their associate board
• More than half of all respondents (51%) disagreed with the statement “Does your board reflect the community your organization serves?”

Studies consistently show that diversity in the boardroom has many benefits: it brings competing perspectives to important discussions and it almost always better reflects an organization’s constituents. In the corporate arena, research from companies like McKinsey shows companies with higher levels of diversity at the board level are more likely to have strong financial performance and fewer instances of poor corporate governance.

According to Better World Leadership, board involvement presents a unique opportunity for employees to develop personally and professionally and nonprofit board programs are uniquely effective for companies to advance leadership development, diversity and inclusion, recruitment and retention, sustainability, and corporate responsibility. When employees get stuck in the development pipeline they miss out on the experiences to develop personally and professionally that can prepare them to advance in their careers – and the pool of diverse candidates for leadership positions remains stagnant.

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CariClub’s unique technology platform is at the forefront of developing next generation leaders. By partnering with leading industry firms to give young professionals access to philanthropic leadership opportunities, specifically associate board positions with well-vetted nonprofits and foundations, CariClub makes it possible for young talent to develop new and diverse skills.

Inspired by the results of the Accessing Diverse Board Candidates survey, CariClub is now in the process of developing a program to partner with corporate clients to create board matching programs specifically for people of color that will place diverse candidates on nonprofit boards. The program is being piloted with four companies in New York City and additional details will be announced later this year.

“Nonprofit organizations have always strived to maintain a diverse board of directors, but it is a challenge to build and sustain a pipeline of highly qualified candidates,” said Rhoden Monrose, CEO and Founder of CariClub. “This data will help us expand our work to address the pipeline problem and support these nonprofits as they improve their diversity, equity, & inclusion.”

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