Before the scandal – 5 questions for your board

Taking a good look at someone else’s unfortunate sign of man diggingsituation before a scandal happens could head off a problem for your organization tomorrow.

Asking tough questions today can save deep trouble down the road.

Our local news has brought us more nonprofit scandals in the last few months – financial mismanagement, executive directors run
amok, programs ruined.

If this has happened in your area, consider this is an important learning moment for your board of directors. At your next board meeting, schedule some time to talk about the scandal and how vulnerable your organization might be to a situation like this.

Here are five questions to get your discussion started.

  1. What temptations led to this situation?
  2. Could this happen in our organization? How?
  3. What would our board have done in this situation?
  4. How can we prevent this from ever occurring here?
  5. How can we support and enable courageous questioning by our board members?

If you take our advice, we’d love to know how this conversation went for your board.

What other questions would you add to our list? Drop us an email.

For more on this topic, read

Employee theft – it can happen to you.

WHERE WAS THE BOARD? Too often, complicit

 

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