Development output
Board recruitment packet
A board-building guide for the first year of Interstice.
What the first board is really being asked to do
The first Interstice board is not decorative. It has to protect the mission, keep the organization legal and financially clean, help raise the first dollars, and slow the founder down when safety or compliance questions need more work.
That matters here because Interstice touches youth, veterans, physical training, food preparation, and possibly paid participant work. The board needs people who are willing to ask boring questions before the exciting parts move forward.
Ideal first board seats
- Governance chair: understands nonprofit duties, bylaws, board records, conflicts, and meeting discipline.
- Finance/accounting lead: can build budgets, review controls, separate restricted funds, and prepare for annual reporting.
- Youth safety advisor: has experience with minors, trauma-informed care, schools, child welfare, counseling, or youth-serving nonprofits.
- Veteran community advisor: understands veteran transition, peer support, boundaries, and local veteran networks.
- Legal/compliance advisor: does not have to do all legal work, but can spot when counsel is needed.
- Fundraising connector: comfortable opening donor doors, making introductions, and asking for support.
- Food operations advisor: understands kitchens, food safety, meal prep, inventory, staffing, or food access work.
- Training/wellness advisor: has credibility in martial arts, fitness, coaching, or physical education and respects trauma-informed limits.
Minimum expectations
- Attend regular board meetings.
- Review documents before voting.
- Give or help raise a meaningful amount for the first pilot.
- Make introductions to partners, donors, advisors, or facilities.
- Complete conflict-of-interest disclosure.
- Protect youth privacy and participant dignity.
Red flags
- Wants control but not responsibility.
- Minimizes youth safety, consent, or reporting rules.
- Has unresolved conflicts with possible vendors, gyms, or meal-prep partners.
- Treats the board seat as a favor rather than a duty.
- Pushes the food business before the nonprofit program is stable.
Candidate scorecard
- Mission fit: Does this person understand both discipline and care?
- Trust: Would you trust them around sensitive youth or veteran information?
- Skill gap: What exact seat do they fill?
- Availability: Can they show up in the first six months?
- Network: Can they open one useful door?
- Judgment: Will they tell the founder the truth?
Board outreach note
Subject: Possible founding board role for Interstice
Hi [Name],
I’m building Interstice, a proposed nonprofit for youth navigating adversity and veterans moving into a new civilian chapter. The model combines trauma-informed martial arts, veteran mentorship, wellness education, creative expression, and a future meal-prep workforce pathway.
I’m looking for a small founding board that can help build this the right way: safe for youth, useful for veterans, financially clean, and honest about what we are ready to do.
Your experience with [specific reason] is why I thought of you. Would you be open to a 30-minute conversation about whether a founding board role might fit?
Best,
[Founder]
First board meeting agenda
- Review mission and first-year scope.
- Approve bylaws and officers, if ready.
- Adopt conflict-of-interest policy and collect disclosures.
- Review first-year budget and pilot assumptions.
- Discuss insurance, child safety, mentor screening, and incident reporting.
- Decide 501(c)(3) filing path or fiscal sponsor exploration.
- Assign partner and donor introductions.
- Set next meeting and board work plan.