Lesson 3: Governance and Leadership Reflections What is the role of a non-profit board? The Board of Directors is responsible for the generative and structural guidance of an organization. They are responsible for paying attention to core issues and setting … Continue reading
This recent NY Times piece takes a look at the Ford Foundation’s recent decision to put a portion of its $12 billion endowment toward “mission-related investments” or MRIs. I’m sharing this article because it provides a good example of a complimentary … Continue reading
Good Governance Policies for Nonprofits discusses how “good governance is like a recipe”. Basically, a recipe requires so many different things in order for the dish to turn out good, acceptable, and worthy of revisiting. Having the right set of … Continue reading
The role of a non-profit board is to oversee and work with the CEO with the operational and financial functions of the organization. They essentially make sure the organization has enough resources for it to fulfill its mission. Board members … Continue reading
I stumbled upon this article while looking for interesting board of directors ideas. The author proposes created a board of directors to assist her family in managing their finances. In addition to family members, the board is also comprised of … Continue reading
In today’s age of non-profits, boards remain vital to the health of their organizations. In addition to the three legal duties – duty of care, duty of loyalty and duty of obedience – effective boards provide structural guidance and keep … Continue reading
Reflecting on the role of nonprofit boards after reading the materials this week, the idea that struck a chord with me was a board’s role in keeping an organization aligned with True North—essentially, its pure mission. As a fundraiser who … Continue reading
My resource this week is this article from The Nonprofit Times outlining the controversy that erupted last year around Wounded Warrior Project. This case study is relevant because it touches on issues of mission creep, what levels of indirect expenses … Continue reading
This article from Harvard Business Review challenges the traditional framework of boards. The authors advise the board members to think like activists who proactively renew the structure of the board and organize themselves as “active strategic partner of management.” An … Continue reading
How hands-on should the Board be? What are pros and cons of an activist Board? The Board should be hands-on to a certain extent in order to perform certain implementation tasks and gain a closer understanding of the organization, but … Continue reading