If we accept as given that a nonprofit has a mission that resonates with you, what makes a board one you would want to join? Likely, the principal reasons are your existing relationships to the organization and its leadership. But for organizations seeking board members, the following list of ten attractive characteristics of a nonprofit […]
governance
Leading with Intent: 2023 Nonprofit Board Survey
BoardSource recently launched its survey in connection with the updated Leading with Intent: BoardSource Index of Nonprofit Board Practices for 2023. Who serves on today’s nonprofit boards? What matters most when it comes to the board’s roles and responsibilities? What impact are they having on organizational performance? How do boards conduct their work? How well […]
Legally Compliant Bylaws – Good Enough?
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
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
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
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
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
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?
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
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 […]