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In the boardroom: Asked to join that board?
Asked to join that board? Here’s what to look for before you sign on the dotted line Most board recruitment is relationship-based. Often a friend or colleague, already serving on a board, will recruit you to join their Community Benefit Organiza …
The Very Good but Seriously Flawed Executive Director
No executive director has all gifts, and many are brilliant. But what about the nonprofit CEO who is terrific in some ways but whose strengths are matched with some troubling flaws as well? It’s uncomfortable to be a board member when you have s …
Getting Real About Real-Time Evaluation
Every once in a while a field creeps closer to actually being helpful to nonprofits. Thanks to evaluators Clare Nolan and Fontane Lo for explaining a type of program evaluation — and how to make it work for you. Have you ever had an evaluat …
Evaluating the Executive Director
Are you sighing just from having read the title of this article? Why does this topic make us all feel so tired?Virtually everyone agrees that boards should conduct performance reviews of executive directors (EDs or CEOs). Even so, the predominant pract …
Four Ways to Remove a Board Member
Occasionally, a board member needs to be removed from the board. In some cases, a conflict of interest or unethical behavior may be grounds to remove an individual from the board. In other cases, the behavior of a board member may become so obst …
Emma’s Disability is Hurting Performance: Can We Fire Her?
Dear Rita: Emma has worked as a case manager for our nonprofit for over 15 years. Lately, she has outbursts with clients and coworkers and she’s way behind on her paperwork. We designed a Performance Improvement Plan. A couple of weeks later …
A Board Member “Contract”
One way to be sure that each person on the board is clear on his or her responsibilities is to adopt a board member “contract.” Not intended to be legally enforced, the contract outlines explicitly what is expected of individual board members, an …
A Board Leads an Organization Out of the Ashes
Perhaps the least-appreciated aspect of nonprofit boards is their role as a safety net. Even boards that don't seem to be doing much, or that may even have contributed to deep problems, rise up and do heroic work to fix things. Here is a First Pers …
A 360-Degree Look at the Organization: Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us
Who should judge if a meal is good? The cook? The nutritionist? The restaurant critic? Aristotle had a good answer long ago: “The guest is a better judge of the feast than the cook.” There are 360 degrees in a circle, and the 360 …
The Board Builds Its Sense of Self: Body-Building for Boards
Perhaps the single most important attribute of an effective board is also its most intangible: an independent sense of itself. This sense of self is the board’s identity as a BODY rather than, for instance, as a loose collection …
