No. Joining BoardAssist is free. We work with companies on a contingency basis and charge a success fee for each successful placement.

We have found that the best boards are always looking for good board members. Even if you don't have any current openings, things could change at any time. BoardAssist ensures that when the time comes to fill an open board seat (be it planned or unexpected), you have a strategy already in place for recruitment. As a member, you can also access the valuable resources we share with our member companies, keeping you informed on all board-related matters.

That’s fantastic; planning ahead for board succession is a good strategy. However, BoardAssist is not meant to replace your own network. Instead, BoardAssist helps you cast a wider net and supplements your recruitment process by providing board and nominating committees with access to an exceptional community of highly-regarded board candidates who may in fact be more qualified than the candidate(s) you have already identified. In addition, BoardAssist provides your board with the tools necessary to manage the entire recruitment process—from identifying potential candidates all the way through to the final decision.

We have a 97% success rate for exclusive searches. For non-exclusive engagements, the success rate depends on too many factors out of our control. BoardAssist consistently exceeds the target and goals for each phase of the search, and regardless of the type of engagement, we have never failed to present one or more qualified candidates within the agreed-upon timeframe.

A separate advisory board has many benefits, but we highly recommend it because it allows your company to develop a pool of qualified candidates. It allows you to have another group of people from whom you may select new board members when openings become available.

It depends, specifically, on the type of organization and what the organization is looking for in terms of prospect positions (Board of Directors, Advisory Board, Committee). For instance, if it is a small private company looking to form an Advisory Board, the business owner should maintain the account and serve as the contact. Larger companies looking to fill open seats on the Board of Directors should have someone from executive management (CEO, Executive Director, etc.) or a member of the Board – perhaps the Chair or someone from the Board’s Nominating Committee. In a situation where the management serves as the contact, the important thing is to ensure that there is open communication with the Board regarding potential prospects. For a public company, the Corporate Secretary will often be the contact person.

More often than not, board searches need to be kept highly confidential. For this reason, we do not maintain a public database of board openings. Please reach out to your account executive and our team will craft a customized strategy based on your requirements. Once you approve the proposed recruitment plan, we'll start the outreach process and start submitting qualified candidates for your consideration.

The competitive nature of board recruitment requires that boards always be searching for candidates who can add value in the boardroom. If a member of your board suddenly retires or steps-down from the board, do you already have candidates "on the radar" whom you can turn to in order to potentially fill that opening? BoardAssist provides the solution to that problem by providing effective and cost-effective tools to engage in the board-recruitment process year-round.

Yes. Your BoardAssist account & profile is never visible to the public, and you can't be contacted by any of our candidates or other members. We require all our candidates to sign an NDA before we work with them. Even when we actively try to fill an open role on your board, your privacy is our top priority, and our team does not share identifiable information with the candidates. Your company remains completely anonymous throughout the search, allowing you to only reveal yourself to the candidate(s) you wish to interview.

Yes, we charge a fixed rate success fee. This amount depends on several factors, including the type of role and its requirements. Our success fee is a fraction of the fee charged by traditional recruiting firms and is always agreed upon in writing before we start working on an engagement. While we never limit your search to our current network, we offer a significant discount if the selected candidate is a current member of our network, allowing you to save even more.

Please email us your question or concern at info@boardassist.com and we'll be happy to help you.