board president recommendation

Question

Me: a board member at a nonprofit. Plan to get a rec from the President/director of the nonprofit. There's no CEO title and the president also chairs the board. My question is regarding the "add recommender" part of the application,

a) In the "add recommender" part of the application, should the recommender title be President and Executive director or president/director or just president? the actual title is president/director but should it be stated president/executive director due to it being an executive position.

b) Board governs the president but also works under the chair. It can be viewed as both supervisor and subordinate relationship. Unsure if specifying relationship as "direct supervisor" would confuse admissions committee because they would see a president recommending a board member?
Relationship fields in the form: direct supervisor/other supervisor/advisor/peer/direct report.

dukealum7 · Answer

a) I'd say "President/Director" should be good enough. Even with no nonprofit experience, I know nonprofit position titles translate slightly differently than for-profit organizations. I'm sure the adcom will be able to tell. Either way, I doubt they'll put much significance on your recommender's position title.

b) I'd go with "other supervisor" due to it not being a traditional superior-subordinate relationship. I don't know what "direct report" entails, can someone else chime in? Again, I don't think it really matters once your recommender explains your relationship in his own words.

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hey there, Dukealum7 has some great advice.

A) President / Director is sufficient. It is assumed, at the President level, that it is an executive position for a non profit. In a corporate environment, that isn't the case but NPs are different.

B) It is "other supervisor". Direct means you take direction and beholden to the supervisor for performance evaluations. Essentially, the more stereotypical things when you think "boss". That doesn't accurately describe your position so you have to go with other. To dukealum7's point, your recommender will explain the nature of your relationship anyway. Another component to consider, if you have the space, is to address this in the optional essay. If you feel it really is important for them to understand, take 50 words or so to explain it.

Cheers!

Bhavik

doggdetroit · Answer

I have related question:

I volunteer for a non profit that has a young professionals group arm to it. I am on the board of this group, which fundraises for the non profit. I am personally in charge of the group's finances and it's something I would like to incorporate into my application. The president of the group is a member of the non-profit's board of trustees. Would this individual make for a good recommender?

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hey there doggdetroit,

QUESTION: one thing I couldn't quite understand from your post is the age/prestige of the President of the board you serve on. Has the non profit assigned someone from the organization to oversee the young professionals board or is this President another young professional? Effectively, is this person 2 years older than you or 12?

That question outstanding...(keep in mind, your response may change my position on the below)

If this person on the board of trustees knows you well and can write across a variety of key themes, then yes! This would be a great option for you! I assume (and correct me if I'm wrong) that you'll have a professional recommendation from a current supervisor? If that's the case, this is a great way to hit upon some other themes in different ways while calling specific and deliberate attention to your non profit experience. It helps round out your profile and gives you the ability to delineate between a professional and a personal recommendation.

Let me know the answer to the question above and we can talk this through!

Bhavik

doggdetroit · Answer

To answer your question, the president of the group is another young professional and is in the same age group as me. He/she is not employed by the non profit but as president oversees the group for the non profit. As far as this person's prestige goes, he/she is a member of the non profit's board of trustees. I do have a recommendation from my current supervisor and could get another from past supervisors but I feel that this person would be able to share a different perspective.

CriticalSquare · Answer

Good morning,

Thanks for the additional info. I absolutely agree - I think this adds a great perspective! As I mentioned, it would really help you delineate between professional and personal. I think you have a solid recommender here! I agree that you shouldn't go for just another supervisor to check off that box. This would be far more interesting.

Bhavik

board president recommendation

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