Boards and Financial Uncertainty

I’ve been carrying around a letter to the editor that I ripped out of the May 26^th issue of Crain’s New York Business. The letter by Chief Executive Gordon J. Campbell of the United Way of New York City is topped by this headline: Nonprofit Boards Aren’t Piggy Banks: Trustees Have Broader Duties. It was written in response to an article about how nonprofit boards in NYC are scrambling for deep-pocketed trustees to help organizations weather this climate of financial distress.

Much of the grousing I routinely hear from executive directors is about how their boards aren’t raising enough money no matter the financial environment. This is a long-standing complaint. There are a lot of board members out there who don’t give much – or at all – in the way of personal financial gifts nor do they actively work on behalf of the organization to seek financial gifts from others. One prevalent response to this state of affairs is, “I give of my time.” And yes, that, too, is important.

As the letter-writer so aptly pointed out, “…the concept of nonprofit boards as essentially serving the function of a piggy bank overlooks the broader duties required for effective governance, including reviewing the organization’s mission, providing long-term strategic planning, articulating smart policy choices, maintaining constant fiscal vigilance and partnering effectively with executive staff to diversify funding streams.”

Deep-pocketed or not, every person around the board table bears a financial responsibility to the organization in the way of personal giving, financial oversight and shepherding of resources.

(Looking for a board member job description? The paragraphs above make an excellent starting point.)

Campbell concludes his letter, “If board members have been prepared to govern well – through governance training, new member orientation and group self-evaluation – a board is likely to be in a strong position to navigate through stormy financial times. A nonprofit’s health, effectiveness and sustainability do not rest on emergency infusions of cash alone.”

Photo: Piggy Bank 1 - S5isPiggyBank_1by Daniel Y. Go , Flickr

What Would Make You Turn Down an Invitation to Join a Board?

THERE'S SO MUCH WRITTEN ABOUT RECRUITING BOARD TALENT, I thought I'd spend a little time thinking about it from the prospect's point of view. Clearly, there are boards where the line is long to get on them. But what would make you turn down an invitation? Here's a short list to get the conversation started: 1. You've had no prior exposure to the organization. Your immediate reaction is "did you pull my name out of a hat?" (Is that lady in the picture the head of the Nominating Committee?) Seems as though there must be a hidden agenda at work (like you're rich and once you become a board member you'll pour all your resources into the organization) or the organization is simply looking for any warm body to fill a seat. 2. The organization doesn't have a good reputation. There's something to be said for street cred. An organization that's floundering may be strengthened by your participation or you may find yourself sucked into...

Three Most Important Nonprofit Executive Director Soft Skills

If you were asked to narrow down the list of executive director qualifications to the three most important, which ones would you identify? Would the list consist of soft skills, hard skills, or some combination? Would your list be based on the great ED you are or one you've worked for, or would it be your wish list for the ED you haven't been fortunate yet to work for? This was an assignment in my recent online class in leadership and administration for the American Association for State and Local History . I asked the class to review three-five advertisements for museum directors and analyze what these listings intimated about the organization’s past experience, current focus and goals, and future aspirations. Then, I asked the class to identify what they consider to be the three most important qualifications they would look for in a director. (Okay, so there's more than three if you dissect my three big groups.) Soft skills outnumbered hard skills, although ...

What to Do With Dead Wood on Your Board?

MY POLL ASKED WHAT ONE BOARD DYNAMIC YOU would change this year and the top response was "remove dead wood". For my first post on this topic I'd like to start with two obvious facts: 1) most boards have some non-performing or under-performing board members AND 2) most boards already have mechanisms in place for removing dead wood...or at least the non-attending dead wood. Those mechanisms are found in the Bylaws and perhaps in a board job description. Few boards, it seems, invoke these mechanisms, mostly out of fear of offending the offender. We end up side-stepping the dead wood, dancing around it, ignoring it, wishing mightily it would go away. Oh, and complaining about it. So, even though the dead wood isn't doing much, it's sapping the energy and focus of many others. (There must be a Law of Physics about this!) Where to start and how to implement? While removing dead wood is not the most pleasant of responsibilities, it does not need to be -- and s...

Leading by Design

Search This Blog