Can family members serve together on the same board of directors of a church?
I received the following questions by email:
Can family members serve together on the same board of directors of a church?
This is my answer:
Absolutely, in fact, it is probably practical given that most families share the same values, including religious faith and community-involvement. I am going to assume that the underlying question you are asking is whether ‘allowing family members to serve on the church’s board, exposes the church to additional liabilities’. The short answer to that question is ‘yes’.
A church member could always sue the church claiming a board member breached his/her fiduciary duty* to the organization. Family members tend to place family interests before other obligations. On the other hand, your church can easily avoid this claim, by implementing a “Conflict of Interest Policy”.
What is a Conflict of Interest and why does it matter? A conflict of interest presents itself when your interests are directly opposite to the church’s interest. For example, let’s imagine you and your sister serve on the church’s board. Your sister owns a cleaning service. The church needs to hire a cleaning service and your sister is bidding for the job. However, your sister’s prices are twice as much as the average cleaning service. But your sister claims her service is also twice as good as the average cleaning service. In this example, your sister’s interests are directly opposite to the church’s interest. Your sister wants the highest price for her business, but the church wants t pay the least for the service. If the church votes to award the job to your sister, then it could “look like” she took advantage of her board position to get the job. In addition, it could “look like” you voted to award the job to your sister because you are family-members, not that it is the best for the church.
Conflicts of interests create ground for lawsuits from the organization’s members. On the other hand, a conflict of interest policy would dictate the steps an organization would follow when a board member presented a conflict of interest—such as when a sister wants the church to hire her cleaning service. By following these steps precisely (and documenting the steps) the board could award the job to your sister AND avoid claims of breach of fiduciary duty.
*Breach of fiduciary duty is when a person breaks her promise to make the best possible decision to benefit an organization or person.
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