Nonprofit Founders Are Unprotected Assets In The Game of Change

The world is a better place because of leaders, activists, innovators and visionaries who are the founders of nonprofit organizations. Building a nonprofit is hard, hard work and no one understands how much work it takes to create a thriving, successful organization, except a founder. Yet, there are no laws that protect founders — their intellectual property, their vision or their ability to monetize the very essence that created the nonprofit in the first place. The board can decide that the founder is expendable at anytime and get rid of them — with no cause.

Becoming a founder is a huge risk that many people aren’t willing to take but for the bold ones who do, they should be protected at all costs. This past week, Kimberly Bryant, the founder of Black Girls Code which teaches young girls of color how to code and supports them gaining access to STEM-related fields, was removed as its Executive Director. No one actually knows what happened on the inside but the board released a statement, citing that “serious allegations of workplace impropriety are being investigated.” They appointed an interim Executive Director in the mean time.

Bryant took to Twitter to release her own statement: “Press release: so it’s 3 days before Christmas and you wake up to discover the organization YOU created and built from the ground up has been taken away by a rogue board with no notification.” Unfortunately, this can happen because again, founder’s have no rights and board members outnumber the one founder.

The IRS regulates the structure of nonprofit organizations, making it a requirement to have at least 3 board members and a code of regulations, also referred to as bylaws, that govern the organization. Generally, the bylaws are meant to protect the organization which is good but there are no regulations regarding the relationship between the founder and the board, and there are no provisions for the rights of the founder. Effectively, the board holds an egregious amount of power over the person who built the organization with love and passion.

The problem with this reality, in my most relatable analogy, is that board members were not shooting with the founder in the gym, meaning they were not there from the very beginning when the founder had the idea, spent their blood, sweat and tears building something that changes lives, getting next to no sleep creating models, rising extra early to attend meetings that could take their vision to the next level. Founding members come later. Most times, way after the founder has created a structure, a model and has been out in the community doing the work themselves on a grassroots level.

The founder is the person who appoints the original board members and they are usually just people the founder personally knows, maybe because they had a working relationship with them or they are friends and family. You pull people into the organization that you believe support you and your current vision, which may not be that big yet. The only thing you, as a founder, can do at the time is TRUST. You have to trust that the board can grow with your vision. You have to trust that they will support you when needed. You have to trust that they won’t switch up and start believing they are bigger than the work you put in. It’s a dicey game.

I have personal experience with this. I am a nonprofit founder who decided to leave the organization but not without a fight with the board. We had lawyers involved and I was trying to protect my intellectual property and vision from people who had no real clue about my work or vision other than what I told them. Now, how is that fair?

There’s a made up term to describe founders who board members feel overstep their boundaries and are true to their vision despite what others think called “Founder’s Syndrome”. Yet there’s no term to describe an overconfident, brazen but resistant board who marvels in the personal affiliation with the organization without contributing much to its overall success. This could be termed “Board Syndrome” but there’s no need to name call on either side. The point is nonprofit organizations could run just fine without boards. A more effective oversight procedure should be developed. Donors are essentially investors. They are investing in outcomes, the number of people served and the overall organizational success. Founders of for profit companies have a responsibility to their investors but have no one breathing down their necks in the name of a board.

No one but the founder knows how truly successful the organization could become. That’s because building a mission is a soul mission. Founders move from the heart and from their gut. They are the face and the story of the organization, and the reason why donors are compelled to give to the cause. It’s easy to believe otherwise once all the work has been done and the organization is nationally or internationally known. It’s easy to forget the person who made it all happen in the first place when you mistake that success for luck. That’s a danger zone, and can cause the board to deem the founder as nonessential.

It’s a catch 22. You want to do this great societal good for the world but you don’t want to be beholden to people who just might not get what you’re trying to do, so what do you do? In my case and in Bryant’s case and in a whole lot of other nonprofit founders case, you throw the chips up in the air, take the chance because the mission is more important than the players. But where does that leave the person who took all the risk?

It could leave that person, the founder, with nothing. We need Founder’s Rights.

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