Nonprofit boards are famously prone to acting in ways that suggest unseen forces. This intriguing, useful, and classic article takes on the pesky but powerful poltergeists in your boardroom.
Nepotism and malfeasance abounded at this youth-serving nonprofit; in this case, we are not only asking where was the board, but what took regulators so long? Perhaps political ties had something to do with it?
As David O. Renz posited more than a dozen years ago, boards are merely one structure of a larger governance system, and you ignore that at great risk to your cause and your organization. This article is one of a cluster of updates on the concept of networked governance.
Some old saws of management are just—well—old, but in this case some due diligence is recommended.
Mainstream reporting about nonprofits can sometimes lose the context and get the story wrong—is employee theft from nonprofits “shockingly” common, as is suggested here?
Is being a big donor sufficient to serve on a nonprofit board? Does it trump sharing a common vision with the organization?
In this webinar, Anne Wallestad and Vernetta Walker of BoardSource delve into the findings from Leading with Intent and share tips for developing a strong board culture.
Let’s start a discussion on board design with the nagging threshold question of board size. BoardSource’s 2017 “Leading with Intent” study tells us boards are getting smaller; is this a good or a bad trend?
FROM THE ARCHIVE: For many nonprofits, recruiting board members is an exercise lacking not only in vision but in common sense. In this recorded webinar session, panelists Vernetta Walker, Ruth McCambridge, and Anasuya Sengupta will walk you through the whys and hows of these new governance processes, step by step.
FROM THE ARCHIVE: The new communications environment has created a new governance environment. It’s far easier for an organization’s stakeholder groups to communicate with one another and organize against boards when they make decisions stakeholders disapprove of. This webinar from November 2015 puts you in touch with the board chairs at Sweet Briar College and the San Diego Opera. What did governance look like before and after the stakeholder action? Check it out and use it as a learning tool for your board!
