Transcript Board Members - Dekalb County Nonprofit Partnership

The Essential Elements of
a Great Nonprofit Board
NANCY CASTLE, NGOLD
KATHY ROBERTS BLAIR, NIU FOUNDATION
Best Practices of
GREAT NONPROFIT BOARDS
What do you think they are?
Best Practices of
GREAT NONPROFIT BOARDS

Shared vision

Clear expectations

Orientation and ongoing
education are valued

Staff is evaluated, valued, and
rewarded

Resource development is seen as a
board responsibility

Governance is taken seriously documents and policies are
updated

Board is focused on critical issues

Board members have fun and enjoy
each other
SOURCE: CHUCK LORING (BOARDSOURCE )
Why People Choose to Serve on Boards:

Belief in the organization’s cause/mission (shared vision)

Personal experience with the work or mission of the organization (connection)

Expectation of the person’s employer

Opportunity for gaining/maintaining social status in the community

Satisfies socialization needs (FUN!)

Leads to new knowledge and skills

Enhancing resume

Satisfying religious beliefs
Source: Perfect nonprofit boards
Q: AM I COMMITTED TO THE ORGANIZATION and ITS SUCCESS? SHARED VISION IS ESSENTIAL.
What makes a good board member?


Passion!

For the people served

For the cause

For the community
Contribution

Skills (Time) (Talent)

Experience (Talent)

Contacts

Understanding of the community

Influence or Affluence (Treasure)
What do Board Members Do?
Board service can be organized
around 3 essential functions
 Governance
 Fundraising
 Community
Connection
Collaboration and
Function One:
GOVERNANCE…not sexy but necessary!
According to nonprofit corporation law, a board member should meet certain standards
of conduct and attention to his or her responsibilities to the organization.

Duty of Care

Duty of Obedience

Duty of Loyalty

And now featuring the Sarbanes-Oxley-inspired Duty of Transparency
Sarbanes-Oxley and its implications for non-profits (could be a whole other workshop!)
Duty of Care

Board members must exercise due care in all dealings with the
organization and its interest. This includes careful oversight of financial
matters and reading of minutes, attention to issues that are of concern to
the organization and raising questions whenever there is something that
seems unclear or questionable.

A director must be informed and discharge duties in good faith, with the
care that reasonable people would exercise in similar situations

This is not about the decision being a good one, it is about the way the board
member carried out his/her responsibility in making the decision
Duty of Care (continued)
Board makes sure
this happens!


Your (CHIEF) responsibility:

Attend meetings regularly (and review materials before meetings!)
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Stay adequately informed about the organization
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Exercise your own good judgment when voting

ASK questions when you need clarification

Hold staff accountable—the Executive Director is your direct report
Staff responsibility

Communicate with the Board

To orient new staff

Provide materials in a timely manner

Provide opportunities for professional development and education
Duty of Obedience

Obedience to the organization’s central purposes must guide all decisions..

Internal – ensure the organization remains true to mission, purpose (e.g., bylaws), and
policies

External – ensure the organization complies with all laws (e.g., nonprofit, employment,
client services)


Preserve/protect organization’s nonprofit status
Responsibilities (to accomplish internal and external duties)

Clear expectations

Schedule annual strategic planning or mission review

Annual policy review

Documents in order and available for review
Duty of Loyalty

Total and undivided allegiance to the organization in
decision making

Conflicts of interest, including the appearance of
conflicts of interest, must be avoided. This includes
personal conflicts of interest or conflicts with other
organizations with which a board member is connected.

Your responsibility requires that you complete a conflict
of interest statement annually and update it throughout
the year if circumstances change.
Duty of Transparency

Boards have an obligation to ensure that their organization is
appropriately transparent in its operations.

Staff must ensure that the IRS Form 990 is filed on time

Your responsibility

Approve financial controls
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Review public documents

Ensure that donors have access to information about the prudent and
responsible use of resources.
Source: Legal Duties (BOARDSOURCE, 2005)
Function Two:
FUNDRAISING…need not be scary

Provide adequate resources through establishment of resource
development goals and commitment to fundraising through giving
and soliciting (getting)

Each Board member should be expected to make an annual contribution
according to his/her means

Each Board member should take an active role in raising money for the
organization. MANY ways to do this!

Formulate a fund-raising strategy, including a case statement that includes
the rationale for financial support.


Your ability to speak about the mission=cultivation
It begins with story-telling. Can you tell your organization’s story?
“
The telling and hearing of stories is a
bonding ritual that breaks through illusions
of separateness and activates a deep
sense of our collective
interdependence.”
ANNETTE SIMMONS, LEADERSHIP TRAINER AND STORYTELLER
TELL YOUR ORGANIZATION’S STORY by ANSWERING THE FOLLOWING FOUR
QUESTIONS:
WHY WE WERE FOUNDED? WHO WE SERVE? HOW WE SERVE THEM?
WHAT OTHERS CAN DO TO HELP?
”
What is your role in building
relationships?

Host an event at your home

Join your Executive Director for a lunch with a prospective donor

Introduce your Development Staff to your corporate connections

Make personal phone calls to thank donors for their support

Write thank you notes

Send a personal note to lapsed donors

Speak publicly (Chambers/churches/service organizations) about your
organization

Reach out to your friends and talk about your passion for your
organization…invite them to an event.
Can you do one of these things? Two? Three?
This is development and cultivation!
Function Three:
COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Be a bridge (or buffer) between organization and
community

Advocate for the organization to business, government,
education, and the media to inform them about the
organization

Join forces with other nonprofits to create a stronger
community

Develop organizational viability through networking
and linkages to the community
Community Role and Responsibility

Working together to make DeKalb and Sycamore a healthier,
happier, safer community

Helping the entire nonprofit sector and the broader community
DCNP- an important resource!
What do we hope you take away from today?
RESPONSIBILITY…RESOURCES…RELATIONSHIPS
BOARD SERVICE IS IMPORTANT, GRATIFYING (and fun) WORK. WE’RE SO GLAD YOU HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO DO IT!
Resources

Chuck Loring work for Boardsource

Nonprofit Quarterly (Winter 2012)
www.boardsource.org