Not Your Mother’s Board – Jan Masaoka Event Recap

Last week’s Jan Masoaka event “Not Your Mother’s Board…” was a sold out success. She has this amazing ability to show the nonprofit sector how to solve “complex” Board issues with organized and simplistic action items. Below we outlined how to simply identify critical paths for the year, how to identify the boss, and how much of an impact nonprofits and our Boards have on our organization and economy.

Identifying Critical Paths in Strategic Planning

Rather than getting caught up in everything that needs to get done to make your nonprofit run, dial in the make or break items that have to happen in order to keep your organization alive and thriving. Ask these two questions in strategic planning and identify all action items and people needed to make them happen.

1. What are the two most important things our organization needs to accomplish this year?
2. What are the two most important things for our BOD to accomplish this year? Do we have the right people on the Board to make these things happen?

Understanding Who Really Is The Boss.

Is the Board of Directors or the Executive Director the boss? In a nutshell, pieces of advise are always welcome from individual board members, but only the Board as a whole is the boss.

In a Governance Role, the Board is the Boss:

• Oversight
• Hire/Fire CEO
• Big Decisions
• Planning

In a Support Role, the Executive Director is the Boss:

• Fundraising
• Advice & Ideas
• Community Ambassador
• Help & Volunteer

Understanding our Impact.

• Get guidance from trusted resources. Jan is ranked 1 of the top 50 influential people in the nonprofit sector. For those of you who have heard her speak, you know why!
• Only continue with something if it’s working. Jan believes that standard processes for board orientation and board buddies maybe work 1 in every 100 times; if these or other standard processes are not work for your organization then stop implementing them.
• Nonprofits created Boards! The 1st corporation in the world was a nonprofit organization – Harvard College.
• Nonprofits mean business. The NFL is a nonprofit.
• Boards hold power and impact. Annually, $65 Billion in tax dollars are managed by nonprofit Board of Directors.
• Keeping Boards accountable ensures forward motion. To keep your Board members accountability to the items promised to complete at the latest Board meeting, notate action items and those accountable to them at the top of the Board Meeting Minutes, for all to see.

We certainly took away valuable information and tips from Jan! Check out the “Critical Path for the Board” hand-out that covers more of what was discussed in her presentation. Another great resource straight from Jan is her non-profit publication, Blue Avocado magazine.

Thanks to Jan Masaoka, Leadership SLO, Jaffa Cafe, SLOUMC and all of our attendees for making this event a success!