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leadership

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Board Governance and Documents

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What Information Does Your Board Need Access To?

repost from Boardable | The Nonprofit Board Governance Guide

Agenda and Minutes: These items help your members always have up-to-date details on meetings and recent history. Check your state laws to see if there are requirements for how long you keep these records and whether they need to be publicly accessible.

Bylaws: These ensure your meetings run smoothly and that members know your expectations. They also spell out procedures for common issues from voting procedure to board member attendance.

Strategic Plans: Whether they are long-term or short-term, board members need to document strategic plans to be able to provide you with the best insight and assistance for moving forward.

Your History and Mission: Members should always know who your nonprofit serves, and why you do what you do. It’s a good idea to review your history and mission at board retreats and make sure everyone is on the same page.

Board Expectation Agreement: This essential document outlines exactly what you expect from board members in detail, avoiding miscommunication or unwanted results. It should include topics such as attendance, personal donations, fundraising support, ambassadorship efforts, and anything else your organization expects board members to do.

Board Member Job Description: Specific details of what board membership looks like and how directors serve your board helps prospective members decide if board service is for them.

Committee Charges: Details about what a committee does, who is responsible for it, and how decisions are made set this reporting structure up for success.

Legal Documents: From your articles of incorporation to your legal status and other essentials, have important legal documents available for board members to easily access.

Financials: Budget, financial statements, and your last annual audit results are among the important documents that boards need to make decisions. Again, check with local laws about requirements for what needs to be made public and how long documents need to be retained.

Contact Details: Maintain this information for the current board, any active emeritus members, and key executive employees. Identify who emergency contacts are in various situations and consider making contact info shareable (as desired) among board members.

Calendar: A clear, easy-to-understand calendar of your upcoming events, activities, and important dates for your nonprofit—updated every meeting—ensures better attendance.

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Board and Executive Director Roles

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DIVISION OF DUTIES

MISSION

Board of Directors

  • Approve mission, vision, values, strategic plan

  • Review and approve annual implementation plan to ensure consistency with strategic plan

  • Ensure legal and ethical integrity

  • Maintain accountability, including complying with reporting and accounting requirements

  • Be aware of key risks and mitigation strategies

Executive Director

  • Work with board to develop mission, vision, values, strategic plan

  • Develop annual implementation plan and advise board when milestones in implementation are reached

FINACIALS

Board of Directors

  • Approve annual budget

  • Approve internal control policies

  • Hire financial auditor

  • Review financial indicators and ensure adjustments are made

  • Approve investment policies and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements

  • Support fundraising activities

Executive Director

  • Develop annual budget, establish income and expense parameters, determine specific expenditures within approved budget lines

  • Work with board to develop financial policies and internal controls

  • Respond to auditor findings

  • Report to board on cash flow, budget to actual, and other key financial measures

  • Comply with board-approved financial policies and reporting requirements

  • Work with board to develop and execute fundraising strategy

PROGRAMS

Board of Directors

  • Ensure that programs are achieving objectives

Executive Director

  • Develop and implement programs

  • Provide evidence of program effectiveness

PEOPLE

Board of Directors

  • Hire and evaluate the executive director

  • Approve personnel policies and review salary information

  • Draft grievance and whistleblower policies

Executive Director

Hire and supervise all other staff

Set compensation and benefits for individual employees within organizational policies

SAMPLE POSITION DESCRIPTION TABLE

 
 
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Introduction to Service Leadership

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Service-Leadership

Service Leadership is a management style and a process that prioritizes the greater good over individual interests. Nonprofit Service Leaders serve employees, program participants and the community with humility, intention and care. When considering service leadership the goal is to understand service as a leadership model and discuss its significance, characteristics and role in nonprofit management.

What distinguishes service leadership from other leadership models is the connection to community and commitment to developing others holistically. It’s a compassionate approach to management that results in high morale, increased engagement, strong ethical standards for the organization, and the development of future leaders.

Service Leaders are empathetic, persuasive, big-picture thinkers with a high degree of emotional intelligence, and they are active and curious listeners who are open to feedback. Building relationships through service leadership takes time and leaders have to find the balance between reaching business goals and objectives that serve the whole community.

Service Leaders are:

  • humble and know how to quiet the ego

  • active and curious listeners

  • empathic relationship builders

  • focused on building others up

  • emotionally intelligent

  • persuasive communicators

  • big picture strategic thinkers

  • open to feedback

  • patient with the pace of progress

  • able to balance business goals and community objectives

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Self Reflection

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Self-Reflection is the ability to observe and evaluate our thinking, emotions, and behaviors. Articulating our personal values, mindsets, habits and desirable outcomes, helps us make better decisions and live more fulfilling lives. When we are operating in alignment with the vision we hold for our highest self, we are happier and can accomplish our goals with ease.

Self-reflection helps us manage our emotions and improve relationships with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, partners and all of nature. Here we will focus on self-reflection as it relates to our work and community service.

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Meaningful Service

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Meaningful Service is action that is both personally relevant and important to the community. When our programs reflect the vision we have for neighborhood improvement they tend to be more exciting, more rewarding and have a greater impact.

Participating in intentional service is a powerful experience that helps to maintain motivation, improve confidence and deliver effective community service programs. When the work is meaningful we become passionate and informed advocates for our causes and we’re able to describe a world made better because of our efforts.

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Servant Leadership

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Service Leadership is a management style and a process that prioritizes the greater good over individual interests. Nonprofit Service Leaders serve employees, program participants and the community with humility, intention and care. When considering service leadership the goal is to understand service as a leadership model and discuss its significance, characteristics and role in nonprofit management.

What distinguishes service leadership from other leadership models is the connection to community and the commitment to developing others holistically. It’s a compassionate approach to management that results in high morale, increased engagement, strong ethical standards for the organization, and the development of future leaders.

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Inquiry and Research

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Inquiry and Research are both about gathering information. Inquiry involves asking and answering questions, while research is an investigation and review of content and data to reach a conclusion.

Information gathering is an essential part of the nonprofit development process. As we are positioning ourselves to solve problems in our communities, we want to be able to demonstrate knowledge of our cause and readiness to take on the challenge.

We have to be able to answer the ‘Who, What, Where, When, Why and How’ questions easily and consistently when writing proposals and sharing our story with stakeholders.

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Building a Service-Based Business

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Gaining Perspective and Having Fun!

In 2019, my friends at PowerPro Assistants asked if I would provide a few tips and a bit of inspiration for their virtual assistants who were joining their team. Of course, I was happy to do it. :-)

The unexpected trip down memory lane, refreshed my thinking about the importance of positive perspectives, an attitude of excellence, belief in self and the right relationships to accomplish our goals and achieve more than we imagined.

In this video I cover the virtues of sincere service and curiosity. Working for projects and people that I care about, and actively seeking solutions to challenges has been a major key to my professional success.