Legally Compliant Bylaws – Good Enough?

Published on: April 15, 2023April 15, 2023 by Gene Takagi

It’s easy to find a copy of nonprofit bylaws on the Internet. Fine tune it a little bit – like by changing the desired number of directors and the number of meetings – and it can seem like you’re good to go. But just in case the bylaws you used are not legally compliant in […]

Nonprofit Board Member Conflicts of Interest

Published on: April 9, 2023April 9, 2023 by Gene Takagi

A board member of a charitable nonprofit organization may find themselves in an awkward position where the board is voting on a matter in which the board member has a conflict of interest. Perhaps the matter has to do with contracting the board member or their company, paying the board member for some service they […]

NPQ Webinar: Boards as Social Movement Spaces

Published on: July 30, 2022 by Gene Takagi

On July 28, 2022, the Nonprofit Quarterly presented an intriguing and highly insightful webinar, Changing the Subject: Boards As Social Movement Spaces. It featured Dr. Carmen Rojas, President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, Makiyah Moody, Founder and President of Kairos & Heart LLC, and Jenifer Gager Holland, Founder of JLG Consulting. Below is […]

Compensating Nonprofit Board Members

Published on: April 16, 2022April 17, 2022 by Gene Takagi

Many of us serve as volunteer board members of a charitable nonprofit organization. But some nonprofit board members get paid for their service. There are strong feelings about the propriety of compensating nonprofit board members that are worth exploring before arriving at any conclusions. The Law Federal tax laws applicable to public charities do not […]

BoardSource: Putting Purpose First

Published on: March 13, 2022March 12, 2022 by Gene Takagi

Late last year, BoardSource published an important new book on nonprofit governance, Putting Purpose First: Nonprofit Board Leadership Today. The book incorporates the governance framework first introduced in the article The Four Principles of Purpose-Driven Board Leadership written by BoardSource CEO Anne Wallestad for the Stanford Social Innovation Review. This highly influential piece sparked several […]

Key Nonprofit Governance Report: Leading With Intent

Published on: June 23, 2021June 27, 2021 by Gene Takagi

Last week, BoardSource published its highly anticipated governance report Leading With Intent: BoardSource Index of Nonprofit Board Practices. This report highlights the results of BoardSource’s latest biennial study on nonprofit governance structures, practices, and performance. Key Findings Boards are disconnected from the communities and people they serve. Almost half (49%) of all chief executives said that […]

Georgetown Nonprofit Governance: Where Was the Board?

Published on: April 15, 2021April 15, 2021 by Gene Takagi

Georgetown Law’s annual nonprofit governance conference was held virtually earlier this week – 2021 Nonprofit Board Governance: Identifying Issues, Assessing Effectiveness, Managing for Organizational Success. The opening session was presented by James G. Sheehan, Chief of the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, and Anne Wallestad, CEO of Board Source. This post will highlight part […]

Purpose-Driven Board Leadership, Legally Speaking

Published on: March 29, 2021May 27, 2023 by Gene Takagi

Last month, the Stanford Social Innovation Review published a groundbreaking article on nonprofit governance authored by Anne Wallestad, CEO of BoardSource: The Four Principles of Purpose-Driven Board Leadership. The article focuses on the board’s obligation to prioritize decision-making and direction-setting on the organization’s charitable purpose, even ahead of the organization itself. Wallestad defines purpose as […]

Nonprofit Radio: Building Your Best Better Board

Published on: March 25, 2021March 25, 2021 by Gene Takagi

I spoke with host Tony Martignetti on his Nonprofit Radio podcast about building your best better board. Our discussion stemmed from a blog post I wrote on Setting Up an Effective Nonprofit Board, though we focused on existing nonprofits rather than startups. Board roles – Financial oversight is of course important but that’s far from a complete description […]

California AG: Charity Governance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Published on: May 16, 2020May 16, 2020 by Gene Takagi

Earlier this month, the California Office of the Attorney General (“AG”) published Charity Governance During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Here are some excerpted highlights from the publication applicable to California nonprofit corporations with some comments: Emergency Provisions Unless prohibited by the nonprofit’s emergency bylaws, the following actions can be taken to conduct the corporation’s ordinary business […]