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Does Your Board Deserve A Raise?

February 4, 2015 by Spokes For Nonprofits

Time for annual reviews. For many nonprofit organizations, this is the time to review staff performance over the last fiscal year and reward good performance or address poor performance. And, the same is true for your board members. Like your employees, your board members are critical human resources to your organizations and, like employees, they, too, require a performance review.In order to conduct an effective and equitable review, however, you must be very clear in your organization’s definition of “good performance” –  starting at the board level. Board member service isn’t easy.

The men and women who choose to serve as board members for your organization are making a tremendous personal gift toward the welfare of your organization. Their intent is to do good and to strengthen your organization. Honor that intent by ensuring that they understand what your organization needs from them, providing them with the information and education required to meet those needs, holding them each equally accountable to their responsibilities, celebrating those who serve the organization well and “thanking and releasing” those who do not serve your organization well.

Not sure how to start this discussion and review process?
Read Nonprofit Quarterly’s article “Enhance Attrition or Thank and Release? Firing Lousy Board Members” for great tips on how to improve the functionality and health of your board today.

10 Tips for Better Board Leadership

February 23, 2014 by Spokes For Nonprofits

  • Understand Your Role
    Are you the champion, visionary, ambassador, auditor, consultant, or investor?
  • Ask Questions
    Play Devil’s Advocate/Devil’s Inquisitor to create transparency and clarity.
  • Remember Why
    Why does your organization exist?  Whom do you serve? Why is it important to you?
  • Be Present
    “80% of success is showing up!” ~Woody Allen.
    Make attending Board meetings a priority.
  • Partner with the CEO/Executive Director
    Mutual respect, trust, commitment and effective communication.
  • Self-Assess
    Conduct regular assessments to measure Board member satisfaction and overall Board performance.
  • Plan, Plan, Plan
    Continually scan the environment for shifts and plan to meet them.  A strategic vision is like a living organism and needs regular attention and care.
  • Focus on Deliverables
    Micro-volunteering, ad hoc committees, internal vs. external committees; define a governance structure that works for you and allows you to best deliver on your goals.
  • Mentor
    Find your replacement and make sure he/she understands his/her role.
  • Operate For Impact
    Evaluate and quantify program impact so that you can obtain partners and investors.

Want more insight on being the best Board Member you can be? Get in touch with us, we’re here to provide resources and solutions. email [email protected] or call 805-547-2244.

Not Your Mother’s Board – Jan Masaoka Event Recap

November 20, 2012 by Spokes For Nonprofits

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!

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