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 works every day with various staff members, I’ve witnessed and experienced firsthand how difficult it can be when making day-to-day decisions about programs, proposals, etc. to maintain perfect alignment with the organization’s mission (with some minor deviation of course). It seems crucial that there is an oversight body ensuring that the overall course of the work is still pointed in the right direction.

To the answer the question of whether boards are still relevant in today’s nonprofit industry, I would say emphatically yes. Since the nonprofit sector has long enjoyed a large degree of self-regulation, the high-level management and oversight that a board provides is still essential. Many boards have their problems in terms of involvement level, micromanaging, etc., but these are often problems of proper education and candidate selection, rather than a fundamental problem with the existence of boards as a whole. As Sonnenfield’s article points out, shifting the culture of boards to allow open dissent and build trust can help overcome these shortcomings. As an example of the continued need for boards, I have personally been at organizations where a lot of power is given to the CEO in terms of shaping and driving an organization, leading to potential mission creep in pursuit of funding or personal interest areas. In this case, board oversight was still needed.