Governance Decision-Making Tool

Effectiveness and Resilience

How long should terms be for board members?

This is a question of stability and continuity on the one hand, and on the other, attracting new perspectives and fresh ideas (similarly to the question on criteria for recruiting board members). Which of is of greater priority in your area – stability and continuity, or fresh ideas? Is there a sufficient pool of volunteers to draw from that will enable regular changes to the make-up of the board?

Where members of local government (for example, at local authority or municipality level) are involved in the governance structure, the length of their terms on a board or steering group may be influenced by the length of time that their elected positions are held for. In the case of fully independent organisations, however, there is greater freedom to decide upon to optimum length of board members’ terms.

Among SHAPE project partners, typical length of board members’ terms is around 3-4 years, but the right length will depend on the circumstances in a particular area.