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 a non-profit board starts to think about hiring a year-round employee.

Start by defining the parameters.

Deciding what kind of employee to hire can be as simple as hiring someone to take pressure off the volunteer team, or as complicated as hiring an executive director to handle all operational matters. The board will discuss and debate the type of first employee and get busy writing a strong job description. That’s when it becomes clear that a job description doesn’t cover the relationship the new employee will have with the board or the rules the new employee must follow.

All the extra information would be too much to add to a job description but no one knows where to record the rules. The confusion can weigh heavily on a non-profit board, and they might delay the hiring process because they don’t know where to start to define all the parameters.

Work inside the Governance Policies.

A non-profit board doesn’t need to look any further than its own governance policies for the right place to define the rules the first employee will need to follow. The board will already be very familiar with its governing policies because those are the rules the board follows themselves.

A non-profit board can look to develop two additional sections to its own governance policies to help the new employee succeed.

New Section – Board / Management Delegation

The board will create a section specifically focussed on the duties being delegated to the new employee. This isn’t a regurgitation of the job description. Rather, this is a high-level look at how the new working arrangement will function.

For non-profits hiring an executive director to handle all aspects of management, these policies might state declarations like “the board delegates authority to the executive director for managing the organization.” For non-profits starting smaller, perhaps hiring a membership coordinator, the policy might state something more specific, like “the board delegates authority to the membership coordinator to manage member recruitment and member communication.”

New Section – Executive Limitations

The board will create another section specifically focussed on the rules the new employee will follow. However, this isn’t a simple ‘do this’ or ‘don’t do that’ list. The board will want to create rules that empower the new employee to think for themselves and be able to make some of their own decisions. Board’s that are hiring their first paid employee are usually doing so, to lighten their own workloads. They don’t want to hire a new employee and then get bogged down answering a thousand questions about when to send a mail-out, or what to write in a letter to the membership, etc.

So, the board creates a sort of boundary for the new employee to work within. As long as the employee stays within the confines of that boundary, called the executive limitations, they are free to bring their own unique skills and experience to the job and try new ideas.

Some examples of executive limitations might include, “the executive director shall not fail to meet payroll and debt obligations in a timely manner.” This would empower the new employee to choose their own payroll provider or payment methods. Another example, “the executive director shall not allow total annual expenses to exceed total annual revenue.” This would empower the new employee to seek additional funding sources if they want to pursue new program expenses.

It feels like a lot of work before you even get started.

It can be overwhelming to start to build out different sections of the board’s governance policies. I mean... just how many sections are needed?

Good news, most non-profit governance policies have only four sections, one and two are the rules for the board, and three and four are the rules for a paid senior employee.

The rules for a paid senior employee don’t need to be complicated. The executive limitations can start with a handful of simple and obvious rules then add new rules as the employee takes on more tasks.

Your turn.

Your turn. Do you have policies that define the relationship between the board and management? What about limitation policies for senior staff? If not, what do you use instead? I want to know! Please use the form on the side of the page to let me know, ..or send me an email, ..or message me on socials.

-Christie

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Hi, I'm Christie. I help executive directors develop the systems and processes needed to run a non-profit.

I learned early in my career, there is no non-profit school. Browsing the internet for resources from big-city experts doesn’t provide practical solutions to balance the budget, write a work plan, or conduct an employee evaluation. Leadership development tips don’t really resonate when you are also taking out the recycling and cleaning the washroom.

I created ChristieSaas.com so non-profit leaders never need to wonder how to do the job – no matter how big or small that job is.

I have been the executive director of small-team, small-budget, non-profits for 20+ years. My experience isn’t theory. It is the real, operational, and practical solutions I use every day.

I love my work and I want to help you love yours too.

© Christie Saas 2024 All Rights Reserved

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