But the lack of strategic thinking, and even more, being able to do that in the moment while you are executing, is a much,much bigger challenge than just the nature of the content of strategic planning processes. It takes a lot of work for many boards and staff to first understand the promise it holds, then to figure out what true strategy would be, and then, to practice it. For many, the specifics of old fashioned plans and approaches are like comfort food, reinforcing the status quo in a place where they are very happy to stay.

I am simply suggesting that developing a high performing board is a larger proposition than hosting an annual board retreat or new board member orientation. While many nonprofits use development plans as a way of building staff capacity, few boards have intentional written plans for strengthening the board capacity. A starting point for a board is to create an annual development plan that might include “the” annual retreat and “the” board orientation but might also include board in-service training workshops, job shadowing by board members, partner panels or collaboration fairs. I think it also includes print resources such has emerging and timely articles and … you see… Imagination.

I would also suggest that if a board is simply “A part time voluntary group who don’t know each other well, they’re told over and over that their primary responsibility is fundraising, not governance” then the agency staff best start looking for new jobs. While we may be bumping out of the recession and some measure of stability is returning to foundation endowments and individual giving, the next wave of economic challenge will be in deep government cuts to grants and contracts that will destabilize and further fracture the funding ecosystems for nonprofits. Any nonprofit without a board that can be a voluntary group with a “full time” mindset and commitment to support the agency –strategically is one that is at increased risk for eroding fundamentals or even a rapid demise.

Finally, while I am a local consultant, it is clear to me that the impetus for change must be primarily internal to an organization. While an external consultant might be able to objectively assess an nonprofit agency and help design a board development process, the fundamental change must become part of the DNA and culture of an organization. Without an internal commitment to developing a high performing board, it simply will not happen.

Again, Alexandra, thanks for your contribution.

So what’s the next step? How do boards create their own community, understand how they can effect change, and engage in planning processes? I think your ideas are more than germinal – and this is a critical discussion fir the nonprofit sector.

And PS, I love that npcons tweet chat. Reminds me of a successful party with a great noisy discussion going.

I wish I could say that the reframing of evaluation questions was original to me but I know I stole the concept from someone else tho I can’t remember from whom. Making evaluation accessible and useful are two concepts most clearly articulated in Michael Quinn Patton’s work on utilization-focused evaluation and his work on developmental evaluation.

Your question about practically integrating network analysis is a great one. Personally I think that the concept of network analysis is the most hyped buzzword of the year, especially when it is paired with a spider web diagram (example). While I believe that the term nonprofit network is useful to help organizations recognize that they are connected, I also believe that when it comes to measuring “network effects” I default back to the concept of utility. What is it about the network do we want to know? Most often the answer to that question is some measure of collaboration. When we make the leap from “network analysis” to “network functional collaboration” we rediscover the old school of evaluating coalitions and collaborations. For a great example of such an evaluation see: Measuring Collaboration Among Grant Partners.

In terms of a well designed workshop approach collaborations and outcomes, I would also highly recommend IDRC’s “Outcome Mapping” workbook. Finally, a year ago I wrote a blog post on measuring network effects and I think it still has some additional useful ideas.