My experience says that it really depends on what your board is actually
doing.  Are they active?  Are they fundraisers primarily?  Or are they
involved in the day to day operations of the institution?  

There could be a good reason to have such a large board-staff ratio.
Particularly if the board is supplementing the staff in some way (not
uncommon for small institutions with artificially low budgets).  Is there a
real-world reason you might want to change the board size?  


______________
Aaron Beebe
Director,
The Coney Island Museum
www.coneyisland.com
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Tenuth, Jeff
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Board Size

I don't know if there are formulas based on budgets or staff size, but a
board of 16 and a staff size of 3 is pretty close to absurd.  Boards
should have odd numbers of members to avoid deadlocked decision making.
For most smaller museums or historical societies, seven, nine or eleven
board members are sufficient.  Much beyond that and decision making
becomes difficult because it's too hard to get people to agree or even
appear at meetings.  This is especially true if your quorum number is
high.  Another thing to remember is that the more board members you have
for a small institution, the more agendas are at play.  This can result
in even less getting done.

Jeff Tenuth
Indiana State Museum  

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Todd Bothel
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 9:48 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Board Size

Does any have a recommended size for a Board of Trustees? Is there any
source that states "for this budget or staff size, there should be X
board members"?

We have a budget of $160,000 with three staff members and a board of 16.
I want to know if this is typical, or should we decrease/increase the
number.

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