governance

BoardSource: Putting Purpose First

Published on: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 […]

Nonprofit Governance: Coronavirus and COVID-19

Published on: by Gene Takagi

Nonprofits must recognize and manage the impact of the coronavirus and associated disease known as COVID-19 that has created great concern and fear for an ill-prepared and under-educated country and world. Quarantines, canceled conferences and events, staggering drops in economic markets, deserted public spaces, self-isolation, and social distancing are all eye-opening impacts we’ve increasingly seen […]

Nonprofit Directors and Officers – Not the Same Thing

Published on: by Gene Takagi

Many nonprofits fail to respect the differences between directors and officers. When an individual holds both the position of director (i.e., board member) and an officer position (e.g., chair of the board), we often see such individual elected for only the officer position. It is then assumed that such person automatically also becomes a director, […]

Governance and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – JFKU

Published on: by Gene Takagi

I’ll be presenting on Governance and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for The Sanford Institute of Philanthropy and The College of Law at John F. Kennedy University on Thursday, May 2. Recent movements have energized the drive towards greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across our society. Nonprofits have played a major role in these movements, […]