Executing A Nonprofit Organization’s Planning Function With Radar & Traffic Cops 

By Eugene Fram

A nonprofit board has the primary responsibility for ensuring that proposed programs and services that the organization can offer are in the best interest of the clients it serves and the community or membership it represents.

Specifically the board’s board planning and resource committee provides the “radar” for the nonprofit board and also acts as its “traffic Cop.”  <–more–> It provides the radar by evaluating whether the organization is being correctly positioned to meet the current and future needs of clients.  As a traffic cop, it helps make certain that new board projects align with the mission, are completed in a timely manner and that wise use is made of volunteers’ efforts and time.

The committee has an obligation to seek the best sources of information for policy changes and to review and filter proposed changes that come before it, as suggested by the staff, board, volunteers and community members.

The entire nonprofit board is responsible for monitoring the implementation of adopted changes, which should be those that best fit the organization’s mission, vision, values and resources.

Source: Policy vs. Paper Clips, Third Edition (2011), p. 102. 

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