Should the board be on a nonprofit org chart?

Yes — as one card at the top, above the executive director. It records the accountability that makes a nonprofit a nonprofit. Individual trustees and committees go on a separate governance chart if you need one.

Where does fundraising sit?

Under a director of development who reports to the executive director, beside programmes rather than under it. In very small organisations the executive director is the fundraiser and development is a manager with one report; the line is the same.

How do you show volunteers on an org chart?

Through their coordinator. The chart shows staff structure; a volunteer programme is a function, not a list of names. Regular volunteers with a defined role can be drawn as contractor-type cards under the person they report to.

What do funders want to see in an org chart?

That the board sits above the executive director; that finance is independent of programmes; that the roles their grant pays for exist and are filled (or honestly marked as open); and a date. Most grant applications ask for the chart as an attachment — export it once a quarter.

Nonprofit org chart example

A mid-sized charity drawn the way funders read it: the board on top, an executive director who answers to it, programmes on one side and the money — fundraising and finance — on the other.

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Saltmarsh Community Trust · 19 people · an invented company, drawn by the layout engine. The board chair above the executive director; programmes beside development and finance; the open case worker is a grant-funded post waiting on the grant.

How a nonprofit is usually structured

The board is on the chart. A nonprofit's executive director reports to the board of directors, and drawing the chair at the top says so — it's the first thing a funder, an auditor or a new trustee looks for. Everything else reports to the executive director.

Below that, the organisation splits between the mission and the means. Programmes is the largest function and is organised by programme, each with a manager and a small team of front-line staff; the volunteer coordinator usually sits here too, because volunteers deliver programmes. Development (fundraising) is the other pillar: grants, donors, events. Finance and administration, and communications, are the shared spine.

Small nonprofits have very senior titles for very small teams — a director of development with three reports is normal, and so is a director of finance who is also the office manager's boss and the HR department. Chart the title; describe the team.

What's particular here

The board reports to no one
Draw the chair (or 'Board of Directors' as a single card) above the executive director. Committees don't belong on the staff chart; if you need them, make a second, governance chart.
Funding shapes the structure
Roles are often tied to a grant: when the grant ends the post ends, and until the grant lands the post is vacant. Draw those as open roles — it makes the funding plan and the staffing plan one document.
Volunteers are represented, not listed
Fifty volunteers do not go on the chart; their coordinator does. If a volunteer holds a real ongoing role — a treasurer, a shop manager — draw them as a contractor-type card under the person they answer to.
Development is not communications
Fundraising and communications overlap constantly and are still different jobs. Keep them as separate lines under the executive director until the organisation is big enough for a director of external affairs to hold both.

Typical titles by level

The vocabulary these charts use, from the top down. Titles vary by country and by company; the levels don't.

Level	Titles you'll see
Governance	Board Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Trustees (on a governance chart, not the staff chart)
Leadership	Executive Director (or CEO), Deputy Director, Director of Programmes, Director of Development, Director of Finance & Administration
Managers	Programme Manager, Grants Manager, Communications Manager, Volunteer Coordinator, Office Manager
Front line and support	Case Worker, Youth Worker, Housing Advisor, Outreach Worker, Donor Relations Officer, Events Coordinator, Bookkeeper, Administrative Assistant, Executive Assistant

Where these charts go wrong

Charts here fail by leaving the board off (so the executive director looks accountable to nobody), by drawing programme staff under whoever holds the grant rather than whoever manages them, by listing every volunteer, and by an executive director with twelve direct reports because there was never money for a deputy.

Questions people ask

Should the board be on a nonprofit org chart?: Yes — as one card at the top, above the executive director. It records the accountability that makes a nonprofit a nonprofit. Individual trustees and committees go on a separate governance chart if you need one.
Where does fundraising sit?: Under a director of development who reports to the executive director, beside programmes rather than under it. In very small organisations the executive director is the fundraiser and development is a manager with one report; the line is the same.
How do you show volunteers on an org chart?: Through their coordinator. The chart shows staff structure; a volunteer programme is a function, not a list of names. Regular volunteers with a defined role can be drawn as contractor-type cards under the person they report to.
What do funders want to see in an org chart?: That the board sits above the executive director; that finance is independent of programmes; that the roles their grant pays for exist and are filled (or honestly marked as open); and a date. Most grant applications ask for the chart as an attachment — export it once a quarter.

Other industries

Or start from a structure — functional, divisional, matrix or flat — or from your own spreadsheet.

Make it yours

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