Board

3 Ways To Resolve Board Participation Challenges
October 5, 2021 at 8:00 am

The board is the nonprofit’s caretaker and does its work on behalf of the public. Nonprofit execs have the task of understanding and executing how best to achieve the mission as defined by the board. Let's explore the factors that can affect and strategies that can address challenges to fully engaging board members...

How To Diversify Your Nonprofit Board
September 23, 2021 at 12:52 pm

Building a multi-faceted board can help your nonprofit organization make better decisions, diversify its supporter base and better serve the community. While everyone understands the need for diversification, many nonprofit professionals and board members don’t know where to begin...

Addressing the Elephant in the Boardroom
September 8, 2021 at 10:58 am

There is an elephant in boardrooms across national and international lines that can no longer be ignored. That elephant is named discrimination and most frequently it takes the form of racial discrimination. Too many boards lack diversity...

3 Reasons Why Nonprofits Fail and How To Avoid Them
August 13, 2021 at 9:30 am

In the United States, about 1.5 million nonprofits exist. But, then a natural question is how many of them fail? As we know, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as many as one-third of nonprofits were at risk of closing their doors. So, what are the top reasons nonprofits fail—aside from a situation like the pandemic? And more importantly, if you're a nonprofit leader and founder, how do you avoid it happening?...

How To Bring Out the Best Among Board Members and With the Executive Director
August 12, 2021 at 12:34 pm

Fiduciary duties: compliance, risk management and strategy are the day-to-day focus of nonprofit board members. In my 40-plus years as a governance consultant, I have observed that the board’s success in fulfilling these duties is to varying degrees affected by, if not dependent upon, the type of relationships experienced by and with each member, and equally, if not more importantly, between each member and the executive director...

You Need to Hire an Executive Director for Your Nonprofit — Now What?
August 6, 2021 at 10:07 am

As the tide of uncertainty moved in a variety of directions during the pandemic, organizations lost valuable employees, including executive directors. As we move into the fall of 2021, many organizations have determined to organizationally regroup and begin to look for new employees plus leadership...

The 5 Ws and an H of the Written Board Report
July 20, 2021 at 10:23 am

Board meetings are relational and transactional affairs. The optimal results are achieved through processes guided by Consensus, Roberta or Robert’s rules that result in fully informed decisions that in turn further an organization’s mission while providing guidance to the executive director/CEO. But it really isn’t that simple, is it? Board decisions benefit best from comprehensive, accurate, timely and meaningful reports — be it from key staff or board standing committees or task forces...

Boards Are the Top Ingredient in a Nonprofit’s Success
June 16, 2021 at 8:49 am

Every time we finish a client engagement, we review the experience to see what we can learn from it. In every case, one major theme is clear: The quality and engagement of the board is a critical factor in the nonprofit’s success. Here are eight key tips for building and engaging your most successful board...