Posts Tagged ‘board governance’
Posted by Gayle Gifford on October 24, 2011 in Better Boards
I was trolling through some old files today when I came upon this 2007 memo:
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TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Gayle L. Gifford, Chair
RE: Board Meeting
Thank you to A… for graciously sharing his home for what promises to be a delectable board meeting.
The meeting postprandial will be a lively humanities conversation with our special guest, Christopher Lydon, former host of WBUR’s The Connection and Radio Open Source, now live from the Watson Institute at Brown U. Chris is very eager to learn more about our Council and connect with board members. Personally, I can’t wait to pump him for his vast experience in “curating [humanities] conversations” over the airwaves and now in cyberspace.
Of course, before we can get to Chris and refreshments, we’ve got a board meeting to devour.
- Our main course is a discussion, feedback and approval of the goals and programming direction for FY 2008 which RKA, our Executive Director, will be presenting followed by approval of a working budget for FY 2008 that reflects those priorities and outcomes. (Alas, it remains a working budget until Congress finalizes the budget).
- Side dishes include a proposed bylaws change on the residency requirement for Board members and feedback from the Governance Committee on Board self-assessments.
- Of course, no meeting would be complete without THE CONSENT AGENDA which includes the thoughtful recommendation of grant awards from the Grants Committee, receipt of staff and board committee reports, and final approval of the FY 2008 Board & Board Committee Objectives.
Please arrive so that we can start on time (no excuses, we are back in Providence!) and preserve ample time to savor the planned conversations.
Bon Appétit
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Okay, so the memo may be a little cutesy.
But the reason I wanted to share this with you is that I think it is good practice for the board chair to frame the upcoming meeting for the board. This memo was sent out in advance along with the packet of materials for that upcoming meeting.
My memo also illustrates some of the practices that make for a better board meeting:
- Use of the consent agenda to quickly dispose of noncontroversial items, items where the authority for action has been delegated to a committee, or items discussed at a previous meeting that just need a final vote. Of course, any member can ask that an item be taken off the consent agenda for a more complete discussion.
- Most of the meeting spent on a few substantive issues.
- A conversation with someone really interesting from outside the organization but very relevant to the mission.
- And what you can’t see in the memo, good food and social time.
And a few practices that make for a better board and organization:
- Clarity on goals and objectives for the coming year
- A budget that reflects those priorities
- Intentional board practice, including deployment of a governance committee, board self-evaluation, and learning from that feedback.
What does your board meeting look like?
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Posted by Gayle Gifford on April 2, 2010 in Better Boards
- Only choose board service if you are willing to carry the moral obligation of societal betterment on your shoulders.
- Serve organizations whose vision and values you are passionate about (or will quickly grow to be).
- Limit your board service – two boards at one time is usually enough.
- Know what you are getting into. Vet the organization as it vets you.
- There are many organizations of many sizes that need your help. Choose the one where your talents and passion align with its needs and vision.
- Generously leverage your wisdom, strategic sensibility, connections and expertise on behalf of the organization you serve.
- Value service, collaborative and consultation.
- Keep your eye on community outcomes, insist on high standards of performance and legal and ethical behavior regardless of organization size.
- Hold fast to a philanthropic moral compass.
- Study the nonprofit sector and the issues you serve.
- Observe and respect the boundaries between board roles and staff roles.
- Donate at your leadership level (make this organization the top 1 or 2 in your giving).
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Posted by Gayle Gifford on February 22, 2010 in Better Boards
I was just talking to a board chair who was lamenting the lack of attendance at board meetings and general lack of engagement overall.
One of the conditions I always query for is whether the board has any clear objectives for what it plans to accomplish over the coming year (or longer).
Board meetings are not in and of themselves meaningful work. I’ve attended a lot of meetings where I’ve left thinking “really, did they need me here for that!” Usually all I did was listen to reports where there was no action required. And any decisions before us were pretty inconsequential and didn’t really rise to the level of board work. A year of meetings like that and I’d be surprised if you had any attendance at all.
Every board can benefit from a set of annual objectives. I’d put the usual suspects on that list:
- providing performance feedback to your Executive Director
- setting with your Executive Director his or her goals and objectives for the coming year
- reviewing and approving the audit and other critical monitoring of the health of the organization
- recruiting and electing a high quality board
All of these are important fiduciary obligations of any board.
But what is the added value, the real difference that your board will make? Read More >>
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Posted by Gayle Gifford on September 16, 2009 in Upcoming Events, Speaking and Training
Check out the nonprofit workshops we’re giving around New England this Fall. We hope you’ll join us.
- Wednesday, Sept 30th: Gayle will be co-presenting on Annual Giving Campaigns at the Boston Fundraising Summit at Simmons College. Our session runs from 9:30-10:45 am.
- Thursday, Oct 8th: Jon and Gayle will be presenting “How to make the most of your year end appeal” for the RI Land & Water Partnership from 5:30-8:30 pm. The session will take place at Audubon Society of RI headquarters in Smithfield, RI. While the session is open to all, first dibs go to watershed associations and land trusts.
- Tuesday, Nov 3rd: Gayle will be leading a lively discussion “Building Board Leadership: The role of board officers” at TDC’s downtown headquarters in Boston, Mass.
- Monday, Nov 9th: Gayle will be presenting “Funding your work in these times” at the YES WE WILL Conference at the Crowne Plaza, Warwick RI. Her workshop is from 2:45-4:15.
- Friday Nov 13th: Dig deep into board self-assessment at Gayle’s workshop “How are we Doing? Using Self- Assessment to Jumpstart Your Board Improvement Plan” at the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network/Associated Grantmaker’s Conference at the Sheraton Framingham in Framingham, Massachusetts. Session runs from 1:45-3:00 pm.
- Thursday, Dec 3: “Strategic Planning and Succession Planning” will run for the last time in 2009 at the Rhode Island Foundation/ Fidelity Investments Board Development Program. This one is an early morning session from 8:30-11:00 at Fidelity’s Smithfield, RI campus.
See you there.
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Posted by Gayle Gifford on May 18, 2009 in 100 Things We've Learned, Better Boards, Good reads
Can your charitable nonprofit pass the Mom test?
Let’s say your mother came to you for advice:
“Dale, you’re well off, your sisters don’t need my help. I’ve decided to leave what money I have to charity. What do you think of my giving it to the group you’re involved with?”
When deciding what to say to your Mom, you would probably ask yourself two questions.
1. Is my organization worthy of such a big gift?
You can spot a worthy organization pretty easily:
- It has passionate and competent leadership who turn dreams into reality
- The cause really matters and the programs change lives.
- It invests its money well — where it generates the greatest impact.
While worthiness is critical, it isn’t enough to meet the Mom test. You can probably think of a few worthy causes but you’d never give to the organization because you don’t trust how well they are managed.
That brings me to the second question:
2. Is this an organization that my mom could trust to use her gift well?
Trustworthy organizations take their stewardship commitments seriously. They want their donors, their clients, the public and the media to know that their trust is well founded. Trustworthiness means that you:
- Place stewardship and ethics above all else.
- Deliver on your promises.
- Avoid conflicts of interest and always make decisions in the best intereste of the community and people you serve.
- Consider every dollar and every asset a precious resource that must be used wisely.
When your board or staff are evaluating how well your organization is doing, it helps to think about your mother. Because if you don’t believe that your organization is a wise investment for your mother, it really isn’t for anyone else’s mom (or dad or sister or brother) either.
Chapter 9, How are We Doing? A 1-Hour Guide to Evaluating Your Performance as a Nonprofit Board.
You can order the book at Contributions Magazine. Just click here.
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