I think my membership organization needs change at the board, but there are no term limits so there are never any elections; people are comfortable and stay forever. At the last Annual General Meeting (AGM), I proposed a carefully worded...
When it is ethical to have 'in camera' sessions of the board, and what are the guidelines around tracking and communicating decisions made at them? First, just so everyone understands, 'in camera' and 'executive session' appear to be interchangeable terms...
What type of board do you want ‘yours’ to be? A nonprofit organization recently asked me to help them figure out “what type of board they wanted to be”. This reminded me of discussions with a colleague who suggests that...
Call to order! The chair has called order for the regular monthly meeting of your nonprofit board. You’re asked to speak to an item that you placed on the agenda - board assessment - a matter that’s been on your...
I hear a lot about conflict of interest at the board and executive level. Is it an issue below that? Conflict of interest is possible and serious throughout all levels of staff. The Code of Conduct for staff, and staff...
Donors and agencies, who evaluate nonprofit performance, often look to see that most of your organization's funds are being used for core programming purposes. However, different sources recommend differing practices and policies for allocating disbursements among the functional categories. As...
The numerous corporate failures and director scandals of recent years have brought financial literacy to the forefront of board governance issues today. Literacy signifies the ability to read and understand fundamental financial statements as well as the ability to ask...
I sit on two nonprofit boards. One treats everything as secret, so even the staff do not know what got discussed or decided at board meetings except what the Executive Director chooses to tell them. Occasionally, an outvoted board member...
"What difference do boards really make to organizations? What is governance anyway? How can boards add value to organizations? How can we evaluate their performance?" These are questions about boards many of us have asked or heard in recent years....
The board of directors is elected by members and the board is accountable to the members. boards delegate the implementation of their policies and plans to staff and committees, but the board remains accountable to members for the outcomes. They...
