Board of Director Job

gane · Post by **gane** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:11 am

I was wondering how one gets the job in Board of Directors for a Profit or a Non-Profit organization either in India or abroad, say US.
What would be the normal requirements for one to get that job and be successful at it?
Any idea on what the job description would be…
Is it a paid job or is it an honorary job?
Is there any difference between a Board of Director job in India or abroad say in US?

RRS · Post by **RRS** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:31 am

India , I am not sure.

In US, if it's public company usually it's selected initially by the CEO, Founders, senior mgmt. and the Venture Capital management which funded the company when it was still private. Once initial board is setup, board votes to bring new members with names put forward by other board members. Usually high profile names like CEO/SeniorVP/CTO/CFO from other successful companies in the same field make up the board with some names thrown in from public sector/Politics.

Some board members are paid through stock options and some are paid honorarily like 5% of their compensation in their main company where they are employed FT. Most of them are paid in one way or the other and payment depends on how much they are active and contribute to the company's initiatives in their BoD roles.

Non profit orgs usually comprises of local business leaders in addition to the main donors and upper management and Non profit BoDs are usually honorary with no payment AFAIK. Examples are local chamber of commerce,local chapter of Red Cross etc.

Chimmy · Post by **Chimmy** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:52 pm

In addition to what Raresha mentioned, certain non-profits require their Board Members to contribute to the non-profit a certain amount per annum to serve on the Board. The amount ranges from a few hundred to several thousands depending on the institution/organization. The lapse in payment also results in the termination of the Board membership.

Going_nowhere · Post by **Going_nowhere** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:56 pm

There's no such job as "Board of Director".

One can, however, become a director on the board (of directors).

Concept2Reality · Post by **Concept2Reality** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:05 pm

I would like to hear from other members as well. I am a C level executive for a small firm. I attend CIO meetings and other networking events but not as many as I would like. I guess because of your visibility in the society (professional front), people would approach you to serve on their board if they think you are an expert in such and such field. I would like to serve in Non Profit orgs before venturing into For-Profit companies.

C2R

Chicago Desi · Post by **Chicago Desi** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:35 pm

Board Members are nominated and then chosen on following criteria:

Its a tightly knit group of mostly gentlemen who are typically rich and have a lot of power and want someone like them to be on their team. For the past 20 years, high profile professors from top schools are finding themselves more and more on boards as well.

MINDIA · Post by **MINDIA** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 5:47 pm

Try joining a small credit union and volunteer to become BOD. I had an opportunity to apply for one but didn't know the value of it at that time. Now that Credit union has become a bank and very hard to become one.
Now I am exploring opportunities to get on BOD for small companies in India.

gane · Post by **gane** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:10 am

Thanks everyone for reply.

As MINDIA suggested, though not sure how to approach, I will try volunteering as BOD for small for profit and non-profit organization in US and India like IT companies, Colleges etc.,.