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Is It Time for an Audit?
Blue Avocado reader Bill Mitchell writes: “As a board member of both a small ($400k/year) and a much larger ($1.8m/year) nonprofit, what are the criteria to determine whether or not to conduct a formal outside audit? I have worked on staffs, sat on boa …
Should the Board Hold Executive Sessions?
Nonprofit boards are often criticized for a lack of vigor, being subservient to their executive directors, and for weak evaluation of their chief executive. The need for frank and informal discussion about staff performance, and the importa …
Board Meetings by Phone: Legal? A Good Idea?
With gas prices rising and everyone getting busier, more and more board members want to participate in board meetings by telephone. The advantage: more people participate. The disadvantage: there's a lot lost in human interaction for both the board …
Nonprofit Budgets Have to Balance: False!
As nonprofits serving people and communities in these difficult financial times, we don’t expect things to turn around for our communities in the near future. Many of us are wondering: how can we achieve a balanced budget in these times? When is it oka …
Abolish Board Committees?
A fresh and radical idea: consider eliminating all (or most) of your board committees. Too many boards are bogged down by committees that are inactive or maybe even semi-fictitious. And board members can feel compelled to be on three or four committees …
What Do I Say to a Donor or Funder?
Let’s say you’re at a reception, a conference, or a holiday party and across the room you see someone who has made a donation or a grant to the organization on whose board you serve. What do you say? First, thank the donor: “Glad to meet you. I …
