Best Practices in Nonprofit Governance

Best Practices in Nonprofit Governance • Part One • CBHC Annual Conference • September 29, 2012

Your Presenter • Peter Brinckerhoff • peter@missionbased.com • www.missionbased.com

Our agenda-part one • Three Rules; Four Keys • Best Practices in Governance • Officer Roles and Responsibilities • Staff Roles in Governance • Barriers to Effective Governance

Our agenda-Part 2(4:15-5:45) • Reducing Board Liability • Better Decision Making • Getting and Keeping the Best Board • What to do Now... • Resources

Focus on Governance • Governance is a key to good stewardship for all nonprofits • More and more funders, who have focused on management or infrastructure are not focusing on governance • As a result, there’s a great deal of research on best practices and trends

The Three Rules of Nonprofits • Mission, Mission and more Mission • No Money No Mission • The ED works for the board. All the rest of the staff work for the ED

The Four Keys to Good Governance • Balance • Sticking to policy • Serving as a check and balance on staff • Providing outside credibility

Best Practices in Nonprofit Governance • Term Limits • Diversity • Boards NOT primarily acting as fundraisers • More strategy time at meetings • Conflict of Interest policies • Clear board job descriptions and expectations

More Best Practices • Effective Committees • Regular assessment of meetings • Transparency • Avoiding nepotism

Trends boards are wrestling with • Board members harder to recruit and retain • Shorter/fewer meetings • Smaller boards • Electronic attendance policies • Others you want to discuss?

Board Responsibilities • Supports the organization in public • Fulfills government reporting requirements • Ensures policies are up to date and followed • Helps recruit new members • Raises/donates funds • Understands the mission and acts to implement it consistently • Sets policy • Acts as a check and balance on staff • Works primarily with the ED/CEO • Changes over time

Officer Roles and Responsibilities • President • Manages the Board--and manages board meetings • Works closely with the ED • Connecting with the community

Vice President • Usually the President in waiting.... • Fills in as needed • Give this person a big job to do

Treasurer • Has to provide financial credibility to the board • Needs to truly “get” the finances • Chairs the Finance Committee • Do you need a vice-treasurer?

Secretary • Responsible for minutes and records of the corporation • May need to sign off on some documents in some states

Committee Chairs • Need to manage their committees--and their committee meetings • Work closely with committee staff

Staff Roles in Governance • Staff have a big role in good governance • If they can’t do their job well, the quality of governance will suffer.

Staff Roles • Provide accurate, timely and focused information--with recommendations • Inform the board of key events • Develop ongoing board orientation and education (with Board Development Committee) • Participate in Board Recruitment • Support Board Committees

Barriers to Effective Governance • Board committees are ineffective • The board violates the Third Rule • Board members don’t know about all the the organization’s programs • The board regularly lacks a quorum • Meetings are poorly managed • Information doesn’t get to the board on time

More barriers • The board slides into management • The board does not keep board discussions private • The board is not given anything meaningful to do • Staff lacks the skills to support the board

In Part Two..... • Reducing Board Liability • Better Decision Making • Getting and Keeping the Best Board • What to do Now... • Resources

Thanks for coming • I hope to see you back here in 15 minutes! • If not, have a great rest of your conference.

Best Practices in Nonprofit Governance