board of directors
A better way to evaluate the Executive Director.
When the operating year is over and it is time to conduct the executive director’s evaluation, many non-profit boards seemingly forget how to operate as a governing group. They pull out dusty old evaluation templates from 25 years ago, jump into elementary school grading systems, cobble together...
Unlock the 4 Types of Non-Profit Boards!
You’ve got new volunteers joining the board team and they are filled with questions. From meeting procedures to reimbursement for expenses, some of the questions can be straight forward and easy to answer. Things can get a little uncomfortable when a new board member wants to bring their...
Are you out of touch with your members?
A non-profit usually adheres to the practice that the board works for the stakeholders. The membership and clients are often the central focus of that stakeholder group, and from it, the board of directors is elected and the strategic vision developed. That’s just the start. A non-profit will...
I’m Being Selfish and I Don’t Care.
I see a common pattern with new non-profit board members as they prepare for their first annual general meeting. They get excited, confident, and often a little arrogant. They know what to do and say at the meeting and they certainly do not need any help from anyone to prepare. There is a...
Board - Management Delegation
As a smaller non-profit grows, volunteers take on more and more of the operational tasks. What might have started as a handful of people hosting a few fundraising events each year, or taking turns opening the museum, quickly turns into volunteer burnout and a rapid turnover. That’s when...
It isn’t personal. It's business.
When a non-profit is just getting started, or perhaps, when a non-profit is a bit smaller in operations, it might not have all the tools a more established organization has put into place. From computers and printers to credit cards and accounts, it can be tricky to know whether the...
How do you help a nonprofit become more effective? Simplify the bylaws.
Do you remember the confusion for voting at an annual general meeting that happened during the pandemic? Pre-pandemic, annual general meetings were easy. Everyone was in the same room and voting, as was often stated in the bylaws, was conducted by a simple show of hands. Fast forward to...
Can we do this in only 3 days?
Your non-profit has been selected to apply to a special funding program. Not tiny little peanuts funding, we’re talking 6-figure, big-bucks. No problem. As a non-profit executive director, you are very experienced writing grant applications. The catch? This odd little funding program requires...
Call to order: 4:02 PM
The board meeting is coming up and your job, as the executive director of the non-profit, is to prepare both the reading package and your own reports. Avoid hurt feelings and wasted time. The challenge comes in understanding the nuances between what parts of the reading package are created by...
5 weird truths about being a nonprofit ED
A non-profit executive director is one of the strangest jobs. One minute you will be writing a major grant application and the next you are cleaning the bathroom. Some days you’ll be a leading force for the sector, speaking with confidence and enthusiasm, next you’re hauling twenty thousand...
A non-profit's guide to online banking
Non-profits have many reasons to embrace online banking (e-banking). It might start with a desire to make faster payments to independent contractors, to encourage easier donations, or simply avoid the time it takes for in-person banking. When an executive director begins to investigate...
When board members make operational suggestions…
Every executive director gets them. Operational suggestions from individual board members. The requests usually happen away from board meetings and are almost always given under the guise of trying to be helpful. One or two operational suggestions here and there will feel uncomfortable but...
Strategic planning: does the executive director have a role?
Heading into strategic planning season can be a confusing time for a non-profit executive director. Strategic planning can feel like it is all about the board who will be spending time reviewing and interpreting the wants and needs of clients, members, and stakeholders. The same wants and needs...
Executive Directors can help boards make better decisions
Non-profit boards make a LOT of governing decisions. When the decision-making system is working well, the board might conduct its own research, develop committees, and have discussions. That’s the dream. The reality is it rarely happens that way. Don’t expect volunteer board members to have...
Is it better to keep board meeting discussions private?
Years ago, at a board meeting, there was a pretty robust discussion about a hot topic. As the executive director, I wanted my board to have all the background information to make an informed decision. So, I spoke frankly, and provided a lot of detail, thinking it would be kept confidential....
Governance Policy: Easy Four-Part Structure
The board of a non-profit has a complex job. It is accountable to the stakeholders to meet the strategic goals, while at the same time governing the organization and monitoring management. No experience, no time, no problem! Non-profit board members rarely come to the position with a wealth...
Non-profits don’t have a top dog
Non-profits have different structures and different groups of people who handle different tasks. It can be difficult to tell who’s the boss from one organization to another. Some will have no employees, and some will have many. Some will have a governance board, and some will have an...
Governing Policies: The Primary Role of a Non-Profit Board
Governing policies are probably one of the most challenging set of rules a non-profit will have. The policies themselves are not that difficult to understand, but it is the role of the governing policies and their place between the bylaws and the operational policies that...
Keep the Governing Vision Forward-Thinking
Spring is in the air and in my world that brings all the prep and planning for the annual meeting and new board members joining the team. Last week I shared some thoughts about board terms, the set length of time a volunteer holds a position as a board member before having to run for...
How long do I have to do this?
When a volunteer considers joining a non-profit board, one of their first considerations is the length of the term. A board term is the set length of time the volunteer holds a position as a board member before having to run for re-election or leave the board. For a potential nominee...
Does a Non-Profit Really Need Board Committees
Sometimes, a non-profit board of directors has more work than the time at a regular board meeting will allow. It might be board recruitment, or drafting policy changes, or even working with a facilitator to plan board training. That’s when board committees step in. A board committee is...
Being a New Board Member Can Be Intimidating
Does this seem familiar? There is a participant who regularly takes part in the programs and services of the non-profit. They are a regular donor, contributing to fundraising campaigns. Eventually they start volunteering at events, selling tickets, and helping distribute promotional material....
Make it Easier to Meet Quorum
Non-profits are legal entities, governed by a board of directors. The decisions a board makes, happen at board meetings. Decisions might be simple, such as approving the agenda, or complex, such as deciding employee wages. To prevent a splinter group of board members from meeting privately...
The Strategic Plan IS a Non-Profit’s Road Map for the Year
The new calendar year has us all writing new year’s resolutions, spending some time reflecting on the past year, and making plans for the new year. We spend time in the office supply store sorting through planners and deciding the system we want to use to map out our goals for the coming year....
What do you do when a board member goes rogue?
Has there been a time when a board member didn’t follow policy and no one, you or other board members, said anything? Has a board member reported tasks that they’ve handled when they were neither asked, nor given the authority, to handle those tasks? Has a board member been making decisions...