''Accessibility,'' ''outreach'' and ''inclusiveness'' are a few of the noble buzzwords adopted by many not-for-profit arts organizations.

 

But not all boards of trustees put such words to work in developing a meaningful relationship with those they serve.

 

In recent months, the board of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra seemed not to hear the wishes of many of its subscribers, who wanted Alessandro Siciliani reinstated as music director. And when Opera Columbus decided to move its productions from the Palace and Southern theaters Downtown to Mershon Auditorium at Ohio State University, opera fans were surprised and not uniformly pleased.

 

Arts boards can seem distanced from, and even unresponsive to, their audiences.

 

Cultural institutions have many constituents, and finding a balance among differing opinions, needs and wants can be a daunting task, especially during a period of economic hardship.

 

''When financial difficulties are prevalent, there is a tendency to bunker down,'' said Russell Willis Taylor, president of National Arts Strategies (formerly National Arts Stabilization) in Washington. ''Yet nonprofit boards should be transparent in the way they operate. In fact, it's the law.''

 

Human nature causes us to expect much from our leaders, whether they be U.S. presidents or arts board chairmen. But while high-level politicians are typically groomed in their chosen fields for decades, arts-board leaders often do not have that kind of experience. Well-intentioned and often well-heeled, they sometimes take command with only scarce familiarity with the artistic product or the institution.

 

During difficult times, Taylor said, it is wise not to scare away volunteer board members.

''This is a really tough time for boards, and some respond better to the pressure than others,'' she said. ''You don't want to make it so difficult for them that no one wants to serve. If the public wants to run an organization, they have to be willing to put in the same amount of time and money.''

 

That said, boards must make the effort to reach out, to listen, to take various viewpoints into consideration. Not doing so can create a public furor and even jeopardize an organization.

 

Being well-intentioned and putting in the time is not enough. Even money can't solve all problems.

 

''The bottom line (for a good board) is the mission and caring deeply about it,'' said Donn Vickers, a veteran of numerous not-for-profit boards who is executive director of the Jefferson Center for Learning and the Arts and the Academy of Leadership and Governance.

 

Vickers and others associated with these institutions have written widely on board responsibility.

 

How much should an arts board listen to its audience?

 

''The arts are in difficult times,'' said Ric Wanetik, former executive director of the Greater Columbus Arts Council and an international arts consultant.

 

''How arts organizations adapt and become innovative, and how the community responds to and supports them will be the test of an effective arts leadership board.''

 

How far should boards go in soliciting public opinion?

 

''You are not going to conduct a survey of the audience about artistic issues that are really quite complicated,'' Vickers said. ''The better thing is to get board members in place who are representative of the broader public you are serving, and hoping to serve, and hammer out the artistic issues in that way.''

 

Searching for good board members is a year-round pursuit, he said, not something undertaken in November for a December appointment. Nominating committees for self-perpetuating boards have a responsibility to seek a balance of ideas representative of the community.

 

''Uncovering a pool of people who care deeply about your mission and (who) could strengthen your board, that's the primary thing,'' Vickers said. ''It's something you need to work on all the time and think about all the time, and not wait until the last minute.''

 

Organizations run by out-of-touch boards give an unhappy public little recourse.

''You can always use the power of persuasion or personal influence,'' Vickers said. ''But boards have the legal authority to run their institutions, and there is no higher authority for an audience or for a concerned community member.''

 

If boards are suspected of impropriety or mismanagement, the last resort is the filing of a report with the state attorney general's office, experts say. Those who file reports eventually will be asked to testify.

 

While much has been written about board interaction and behavior, considerably less information is available to advise the public, or even to advise a board on how to deal with the public.

 

Vickers and Emily Redington address the topic near the end of their small, advice-laden book Follow the Leader (Academy for Leadership and Governance, Report No. 1, 2001).

They provide a checklist for boards, excerpted here, to help avoid pitfalls:

 

* Has the organization maintained or enhanced its position and reputation in the community?

 

* Have funders continued their relationship? Do they have confidence in the organization?

 

* Does the audience feel similar comfort and do they like the changes?

 

* Has the organization weathered change effectively?

 

Barbara Zuck is Dispatch arts columnist and senior critic.

bzuck@dispatch.com