The grit of a board impact includes building the skills of the board, setting board performance metrics and measuring progress, intentionally cultivating leaders, planning for succession, and always engaging in deep reflection on how well the board is supporting the success of the organization.
the highest performing boards embrace, plan for, and capitalize on the challenge and change that new leadership brings to the organization. This requires trust, risk, and courage.
nonprofit boards that develop, use, adapt and proactively test forward-thinking organizational strategies build capacity to thrive in a rapidly changing environment.
It is my deep-rooted belief that a nonprofit board of directors is the anchor for thriving nonprofit organizations that make a difference. As a first step, nonprofits need to invest in strong board governance training to ensure adequate oversight and risk management of the enterprise.
As we move forward as a sector, nonprofit organizations need to embrace honesty, leadership, and relationships more deeply than ever. The community is counting on us.
Clearly it is not a lack of knowledge that leads to underperforming boards but it a lack of intentionality and investment in cultivating a high preforming board. To break the cycle, nonprofits need to make investments in developing the strength, performance, and contribution of their boards of directors.
These four characteristics of a vanity nonprofit conspire to create a nonprofit that, at its best, produces a mediocre social return related to the time, money and human capital investments in the agency….
Organizational success matters most and the board should do everything in its power to support growth rather than becoming a speed bump to organizational success. To be a support, expectations matter, relationships matter, and structure matter. In short, the speed at which a nonprofit organization adapts and grows must be paralleled by a board willing to match the organization’s speed, adaptation and growth. In my experience, the highest performing boards embrace, plan for, and capitalize on such change.
A nonprofit organization that places little strategic priority on individual gifts and/or has no clear expectations of board is not equivalent to a nonprofit organization that raises the majority of its revenues from board engaged small events. I believe thoughtful and sometimes-hard conversations are a place of discovering your organizations unique voice on fundraising.
To be successful, nonprofit organizations need to think carefully about their board design, membership expectations, meeting process, and board accountability. These four ideas create the large framework for developing and maintaining a strong Board of Directors.
