I think it depends on the board and the purpose of the company... For non-profit companies, you HAVE to have a board, and usually they are pro bono.

For the non-profit I run, I want a small board of directors to control and manipulate... uhh... make quick decisions. I want to keep the board small so there is less politics, but I could understand how someone would want a larger board.

There are certainly value-adds to a larger board. Having people on your board that advocate for you in certain areas. In my case, we have a RN on the board so she can advocate to hospitals on our behalf. We also have a top-notch MBA on our board... he contributes to the business side of things of the business.

There are cetainly board that I wonder why they have some board members, but, as with anything, people can get greedy. If it's a publically-held company, then the stockholders are typically able to vote for the wages the board gets.

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