Philanthropic families have different board structures and goals that support and inform their policies and practices about onboarding and offboarding board members, including term limits, retirement ages, board eligibility, and more. Many families wrestle with how to offboard participants in ways that benefit and respect the board member as well as serve the interests of the philanthropy.
An emeritus position on the board is one approach that families can use as they consider off-ramps for board members that support effective governance.
What is an emeritus position?
An emeritus position is held by a retired board member or founder that continues to serve on the board with no voting privileges. The position is typically created to recognize a person’s dedication to the family philanthropy. It offers a way for long-standing board members to remain involved in the philanthropy and continues to grant the philanthropy access to that individual’s knowledge.
Why have emeritus board members?
Creating an emeritus position can provide mutual benefits to the person holding the position as well as the philanthropy.
Those who have emeritus status are often individuals who hold deep institutional knowledge through years of experience in a governing position, making them a valuable asset to their organizations. An emeritus member’s expertise can be a useful tool for continuity of knowledge, guidance, and overall stability, especially during times of significant transition.
What are the potential drawbacks?
An emeritus position—even without voting privileges—may not be right for your family philanthropy and could be detrimental to the health of voting board members. Without clear responsibilities and guidelines for the role, an emeritus position can introduce complex power dynamics. Experienced board members or founders may maintain a significant amount of influence, making it harder for newer board members to meaningfully engage or for the board to institute policies or strategies that the emeritus member disagrees with.
Offboarding Approaches to Consider
When considering creating an emeritus position, think about how to set both the philanthropy and person assuming the role up for success.
Take the Satterberg Foundation’s policy, which uses a nomination system to determine if someone is appointed emeritus status. To qualify, a board member must demonstrate significant contributions and dedication to the foundation as well as receive majority vote from the board. Once approved, the foundation recommends the newly appointed emeritus board member to take a six-month sabbatical, which gives both the board and emeritus member an opportunity to reset and develop working relationships with the new board members.
The Frey Foundation takes a different approach. It has a practice that grants its trustees emeritus status once they reach the age of 75, unless they choose to retire sooner. When the foundation implemented this practice, the second generation was comprised of only siblings, but the incoming generation included siblings and cousins, and thus an opportunity to think about governance differently. As the foundation began transitioning to a new generation of leadership, the importance for each generation to have an opportunity to create its own identity became increasingly clear. A retirement age ensures that there are board seats available for the next generation to participate. Allowing those who are retiring from the board to assume emeritus roles maintain institutional knowledge and provides important continuity while giving the next-generation members space to build their skills, nurture their own board culture, and grow into their leadership.
Conclusion
There are many methods to engage former board members, and when thinking about how best to do it, it’s important to consider what will work best for your family. Will the position be applied to all board members, like at the Frey Foundation, or put up for a vote like at the Satterberg Foundation? What will the emeritus board members’ participation in board activities look like in practice? How can the organization maintain a healthy board culture that draws on the institutional knowledge of its emeritus members while making true space for current board members to share their opinions? These and many other questions are critical to consider prior to implementing an emeritus role.