To be on the receiving end of an unexpected large, flexible grant—a windfall—can be transformative for a nonprofit organization. I can attest to that from personal experience. Surge Institute, which I founded and lead as CEO, received a windfall gift from MacKenzie Scott in 2021.
Carmita Semaan, CEO,
Surge Institute and
Former Bridgespan FellowThe Bridgespan Group’s recent article “Windfall Wisdom: Learning from Nonprofits and NGOs That Have Put Large, Flexible Gifts to Work” explores how a set of leaders navigated the decision-making process that kicks in after a windfall gift. Whereas that article touches on the importance of board alignment in this context, I’d like to offer here a few pieces of advice for CEOs looking to unlock the effectiveness of their board, particularly at a pivotal moment like a windfall funding event.
Without a healthy baseline relationship with your board, the lows can be even lower and the highs, well, not quite so high. Prior to founding Surge, I became the first CEO of an organization after its founder transitioned from leadership. The board was very much the founder’s board. Although board members realized the need for new leadership, they were accustomed to being in the weeds and acting as an operational board. This stifled my ability to become the transformative leader that I knew I could be. The baseline relationship with that board was unhealthy, and a windfall gift in that context most likely would have amplified the dysfunction.
For leaders who find themselves in a similar place—windfall grantees with suboptimal board dynamics—I’d caution against rushed funding decisions. Take the time to agree on a governance process with your board, then work together to prioritize where the organization can add impact with this new funding.
For an established nonprofit with a professional staff, an ideal board is strategic and visionary—like the one I’m blessed to work with at Surge. It’s not about helping you execute and manage the details of what you do today but helping you see who you can be tomorrow and beyond. That’s how I engage with my board. I’m a builder, not a maintainer. When I’m in a space of innovation and thinking about the future alongside my board, that’s when I do my best work.
A windfall gift is a tremendous opportunity for a board to lean into a CEO’s strengths. Three tips I offer leaders looking to bring out the best in their board at such a moment: Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Always communicate with clarity and transparency—particularly about decision-making processes. Be thoughtful about how the makeup of your board fits with where your organization is heading.
1. Ask for Help
Even the greatest leaders aren’t great at everything—they know how to surround themselves with complementary expertise. I find that leaders are often afraid to paint a less-than-rosy picture for their board. That’s a real mistake because you don't give them an opportunity to step in and support you based on their areas of expertise.
Put your ego aside and ask for what you need. Reflect on your board's skills and expertise and see how you might draw on their gifts. At the time of our windfall gift at Surge, I could see that our marketing function lacked strategy. I appealed directly to one of our board members who had spent 30 years as a marketing executive at a multinational conglomerate. She happily stepped into the role of coach and mentor to the marketing team at a critical time and became a strong ally in those conversations with the rest of the board.
Financial management experience can be particularly helpful in guiding how to invest windfall funding. Look to the support of board members with this level of expertise around questions of savings and investment strategies, cash flow, and how to think about the timeline and returns on investment to support your organization into the future.
A windfall gift is a unique opportunity to be vulnerable with your board, to acknowledge your strengths while admitting your knowledge gaps. That level of vulnerability builds trust into the relationship, and trust is critical for reaching shared outcomes.
2. Communicate with Candor and Complete Transparency
I think we all know that communication is the key to healthy relationships. That’s true in personal relationships and in professional ones as well. It’s not about transactions—it’s about real relationships. That requires real communication. I have a standing biweekly phone call with my board chair; through the highs and lows, we’re always talking. In those calls, I’m candid, direct, and transparent about everything—the good and the bad. I’ve found that level of board communication is rare for other leaders.
Those clear, open lines of communication become even more critical in the context of decision making around a windfall gift. You’ll likely hear conflicting opinions from your board, staff, and stakeholders about how to spend those funds. Align with your leadership team and board around who gives input into decisions, who has the ultimate say, and how various perspectives should influence the process.
In our case, it helped that the board had previously approved a robust three-year strategic plan before the windfall gift arrived. That plan served as a guide as we considered future possibilities and helped guide decision making when there were conflicting opinions.
Surge was approached with two different opportunities to acquire new bodies of work around the same time as learning of our windfall investment. The potential consequences of these opportunities were significant, and it was important to me that the board provided our executive team with guidance. One opportunity had universal support, whereas there were conflicting opinions about the other. Ultimately, my team and I decided not to pursue the latter because it was clear that it neither squarely aligned with our mission nor reflected the direction of our strategic plan.
Even if your board isn’t deeply involved in the decision-making process, keep your communication robust to give them visibility into each step taken. And remember, thoughtful decision making isn’t rushed—be sure to take the time you and your board need to get it right.
3. Work with Your Board to Envision Your Future State
A windfall gift can give leaders and their boards the space to think critically about how well the expertise of the current board fits the targeted future state for an organization. Board transition can feel uncomfortable, but as your organization evolves, the type of guidance it needs will also evolve.
In some cases, board members may not be aligned with the future path the organization has charted. For Surge, it was more a question of what skills and expertise the organization needed that our board wasn’t best equipped to provide. For example, we realized that we had no corporate representation. That’s important for fundraising and for the private-sector perspective on how to accelerate our efforts to become less reliant on philanthropy. We recently added both a corporate executive and a nonprofit chief legal officer to our board, filling several expertise gaps.
Ultimately, this is about putting the organization and its needs first, ensuring you are surrounded by people who can support you in expertise gaps, and optimizing the board to steward the organization into the future state you envision.
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I believe that the leader who doesn’t care who gets the credit is the leader who gets the most accomplished. Humility, transparency, and unfettered communication are essential for unlocking your board’s effectiveness, and even more so in the context of a windfall gift. In an ideal relationship, leaders should see their boards as their extended support system during these complex decision-making processes, an opportunity for hand-in-hand collaboration that drives toward ambitious goals for impact.
