Matching is where BoardCompanions earns its keep. A good match creates value on both sides for years. A poor one wastes a board seat, wastes a Companion's goodwill, and costs us credibility with the next funder who hears about it. We are deliberate about how we run this.
The process looks different depending on whether you're applying as a Companion, approaching us as an organisation, or watching from the sidelines trying to understand what happens. This page walks through the shared spine of the process, then shows the two paths it can take: matching events and direct matching. Which one fits depends on the country and on how much is in the pipeline.
The spine of every match
Every placement — whether it came out of a matching event or a direct introduction — goes through the same core steps.
- Organisation intake. An SPO submits the intake profile and speaks with the country team. The team either qualifies the opportunity or, honestly, declines it if the fit is wrong.
- Companion intake. Alumni and other qualified candidates apply, accepting the Companion Pledge as they do, and have a personal conversation with the country team before they join the pool. The signed Charter follows, and it is what opens the door to taking part in a matching.
- Briefing. Each open seat gets its own briefing, written with the organisation: what it does, what this particular seat is for, and what a good match would look like. One organisation can open several seats, and each is its own conversation. Briefings are how Companions decide where to express interest.
- Introduction. Companions and organisations meet — either in a matching event or in a one-to-one introduction.
- Decision. Both sides decide, in their own time, whether to proceed. The country team helps by checking in, answering questions, and managing expectations about timelines.
- Placement. When both sides agree, we formalise the match, record the placement, and the Companion starts their onboarding directly with the organisation. Mutual publicity is discussed at this point.
- Follow-up. The country team checks in during the first months and again later in the year, to hear how it is going. How often, and how formally, is whatever suits the two sides.
Matching events
One of the two paths, and the one that pays off once a country has pipeline on both sides. A matching event pulls together several organisations and a larger set of Companions into a single focused event.
When it runs
A country team opens a round when it has:
- Enough organisations with briefings ready that the preparation is worth it. Below a handful, a direct introduction usually serves everyone better.
- Enough available Companions whose profiles fit those briefings, with some margin for the ones who cannot make the date.
- A date and a format that suit the country — one room where people can reach it, online where they cannot.
Countries like Germany, where the Companion and SPO base sits across several cities, run many rounds online. Belgium and the Netherlands more often go in-person.
What happens before the event
Briefings go out to the Companion pool — on the site (behind login) and as PDF by email, so Companions can read them on the train. Companions respond by indicating which organisations they'd like to meet. The country team uses those responses to pre-match: which Companions should definitely meet which organisations, which are "backup" matches, and which conversations to skip.
The event itself
One shape that has worked, offered as an illustration rather than a template — every country adjusts it:
| Part of the session | Activity |
|---|---|
| Opening | Welcome, and how the session will run |
| Introductions | Each organisation introduces its opportunity briefly |
| Conversations | One organisation with one Companion at a time, in rounds, at tables or in breakout rooms |
| Open time | Informal conversation, which is where a good deal of the value sits |
| Close | Wrap-up and what happens next |
The conversations are deliberately short. The goal is not to decide, but to come away with a shortlist of "I would like to talk to this person again" on both sides.
After the event
Afterwards each side says whether it would like to continue with the people it met. Where the interest is mutual, the organisation usually takes the next step, and the country team stays in touch with both sides until they are talking directly. A few weeks is the usual rhythm; some conversations need longer, and that is normal.
Direct matching
Direct matching is how we start, and how we handle specific cases.
It works like this: the country team puts the briefing in front of the Companions whose profiles fit — sometimes a few it approaches directly, sometimes the whole pool — and sees who is interested. Those who want to learn more meet the organisation one to one, by video, phone or in person, depending on geography. From there the process is the same as a matching event: mutual decision, confirmed match, follow-up.
We use direct matching when:
- The country is still small and a matching event would be thin.
- A specific organisation has an urgent or narrowly-defined need where broad exposure wouldn't add value.
- A matching-event introduction didn't close at the event but both sides want to continue the conversation.
- Logistics don't allow a scheduled round — the organisation needs someone this quarter, not next.
Direct matching is slower per placement than a matching event but works reliably from the first mandate onward. Every new country starts here.
Timelines (realistic)
We get asked this a lot. Honest answer, with the caveat that these are what we have seen rather than commitments — much of it depends on the organisation and the country:
| From... | To... | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Application as Companion | Joining the pool | 1–3 weeks |
| Organisation intake | Briefing ready | 2–4 weeks |
| Briefing out | First introductions | Depends on the next round — days to a few months |
| First introduction | Decision to proceed | 2–4 weeks (matching event), 2–6 weeks (direct) |
| Decision to proceed | Active board involvement | 1–3 months, depending on the organisation's board schedule |
The slowest steps are the ones we do not control — the organisation's own governance calendar, the Companion's other obligations, and the work of actually joining a board. The parts we do control, we try to run briskly.
What we don't automate
A deliberate design choice: matching itself is manual. Every pre-match is a judgement call by the country team based on the briefing, the Companion's profile, and the responses that came back. We think this is where the human in the loop matters most. When a match falls apart at month four, it is almost always because somebody missed a subtle signal at the briefing stage. The software can distribute briefings, capture responses, and track placements. It cannot replace the country team's read of the two people they are putting in a room.
What happens after placement
Once a Companion joins a board, BoardCompanions steps into the background. We still:
- Provide reference material and templates the Companion can pull from.
- Run Companion peer exchanges where Companions swap notes on what is and isn't working on their boards.
- Keep the country team reachable for questions on either side.
- Ask both sides how it is going, in the first months and again later in the year — not because we want to manage the relationship, but because we want to learn from it.
When a Companion's mandate ends — whether after the agreed term, because the mission shifted, or because something changed on either side — we're happy to have the conversation about whether a new match makes sense. Most active Companions serve on more than one board over time.
Ready to start?
Two paths in:
- Apply as a Companion → for-companions
- Work with us as an organisation → for-organizations
Questions that don't fit either path go to the country team via your country page.