Why more communications professionals should be on nonprofit boards — and why communications expertise alone isn’t enough.
More communicators in the boardroom!
More communications professionals should be on nonprofit boards — and bringing communications expertise alone isn’t enough.
Boards are expected to understand finance, legal obligations, organisational performance and risk. But how well do they understand the people whose trust, support and participation their organisations depend on?
It’s an increasingly important question for purpose-driven organisations. Their success relies not only on what they deliver, but on their relationships with donors, governments, partners, staff and the communities they serve.
Yet strategic communications expertise remains surprisingly scarce in boardrooms. CIPR research published in 2023 found that just three FTSE 100 companies had a dedicated communications expert on their board. Separately, executive search firm Spencer Stuart identified only 16 Fortune 500 directors who had previously held the most senior communications role in an organization.
These figures concern corporate boards, not charities. But they point towards a broader question: are organisations overlooking a valuable source of strategic leadership?
I think they are. And I think the communications profession has some work to do, too.
Communications is about decisions, not just messages
Consider a nonprofit deciding whether to accept a substantial donation from a controversial corporate partner.
The finance perspective might focus on the funding opportunity and conditions. Legal colleagues will consider compliance and contractual obligations. Programme leaders will assess what the money could achieve.
A strategic communications professional should bring another set of questions. How might this partnership affect the trust of the communities we serve? What do our staff and existing partners think? Does it strengthen or undermine our stated values? How might it change our ability to influence others in five years’ time?
These aren’t questions about how to announce the partnership. They’re questions about whether the partnership is right in the first place.
Or consider an international nonprofit developing a new strategy. Its board might scrutinise the budget, programme priorities and delivery model. But whose perspectives have shaped those priorities? What assumptions are being made about the people the organisation hopes to reach? And how will we know whether those people understand, trust and value what we’re doing?
Good communications professionals spend their careers thinking about audiences, relationships, behaviour and influence. They know that what an organisation intends to communicate isn’t necessarily what people hear, believe or experience.
That perspective belongs at the decision-making table, not simply at the end of the process.
Boards already value communications expertise
I serve as a trustee of two nonprofit organisations, alongside my work advising international organisations on strategic communications.
My experience is that boards absolutely recognise the value of communications expertise. They want advice. They appreciate having someone who can think through sensitive issues, challenge an assumption about an audience, or help anticipate how a decision might be received.
But there’s a catch.
To be a valuable board member, you need to contribute across the board agenda, not just when communications come up.
A trustee who can offer excellent advice on media relations but has little to say about financial sustainability, organisational strategy or leadership isn’t fulfilling their potential.
The same applies to any specialist. A board needs people who can bring particular expertise while exercising collective responsibility for the organisation.
For communications professionals, this requires us to think beyond our functional discipline. We need to understand business models, funding pressures, governance, organisational culture and the difficult trade-offs leaders face. We need to be comfortable interrogating financial information, questioning strategy and making decisions with imperfect evidence.
Our professional expertise should inform our judgement, not define its boundaries.
Why this matters particularly for nonprofits
The case for communications expertise is especially strong in purpose-driven organizations.
Unlike businesses that can measure much of their success through commercial transactions, nonprofits often depend on relationships that are harder to quantify.
A humanitarian organisation needs affected communities to trust it. An education charity needs teachers and governments to adopt its approaches. An advocacy organisation needs to influence people who may have very different priorities. A fundraising organisation needs supporters to believe its work makes a difference.
None of these outcomes can be delivered by communications alone. But all depend, in part, on understanding people and building relationships.
And the operating environment is becoming more complicated. Funding pressures are forcing difficult strategic choices. Digital platforms and artificial intelligence are changing how information spreads. Public trust cannot be assumed. Organisations increasingly face competing expectations from donors, staff, partners and the communities they exist to serve.
Boards need to understand these dynamics when making decisions about strategy, investment, partnerships and organisational change.
In September 2026, the CIPR and Institute of Directors published guidance on crisis communications for boards. It’s a welcome recognition that communications is a governance responsibility.
But I’d like to see the conversation go further.
The greatest contribution of a communications professional to a board may not be helping an organisation respond to a crisis. It may be helping it make better decisions long before a crisis emerges.
Not another communications committee
There’s also a risk in advocating for more communications professionals on boards: that we inadvertently reinforce the idea that our role is to oversee communications activities.
A trustee with a communications background may well have useful advice on the website, annual report or media strategy. But that shouldn’t be the main reason they’re there.
Their value lies in bringing a particular perspective to collective decision-making.
This means understanding the difference between governance and management. It means supporting and challenging the executive team without taking over its work. And it means recognising when another board member’s expertise, or the lived experience of people affected by the organisation’s decisions, should carry greater weight.
A communications professional cannot substitute for meaningful representation of the communities an organisation serves. But they can help a board recognise whose voices are missing, ask better questions and create more effective ways of listening.
That’s a much more ambitious contribution than approving the communications plan.
A challenge to boards — and to our profession
I’d like to see more nonprofit boards explicitly consider strategic communications expertise when reviewing their skills and recruiting trustees.
Not because every board needs a PR specialist, but because understanding stakeholders, trust, influence and the information environment is increasingly central to good governance.
And I’d like to see more experienced communications professionals putting themselves forward.
Board service offers an opportunity to contribute to causes we care about, develop our strategic judgement and gain a deeper understanding of organisational leadership.
But we should approach it with humility and ambition in equal measure. We need to learn the language of finance, strategy and governance as confidently as we speak about communications.
Ultimately,
The argument isn’t that communications professionals deserve a seat at the table.
It’s that boards make better decisions when they understand the people and relationships on which their organisations depend. And experienced strategic communicators have a great deal to contribute to that understanding.
Sources and further reading
AMS is a global communications agency that helps NGOs, foundations and social enterprises use messaging to harness their influence and achieve their mission. We combine senior strategic counsel, world-class delivery and a purpose-driven, human-centered approach to strengthen teams and build sustainable in-house capability. Book a call to discuss how we can support you.
