Nonprofit board communcations

My Nonprofit Governance Blog-Site has reached a Landmark at 500 Followers! And here’s a sampling of the most viewed posts of 2014

My Nonprofit Governance Blog-Site has reached a Landmark at 500 Followers!
And here’s a sampling of the most viewed posts of 2014

By: Eugene Fram

Over the last several decades I have published about two dozen articles and four books related to corporate governance, most of them covering nonprofit governance. These have appeared in a range of publications including MIT’s Sloan Management Review and, more recently, in the Huffington Post.

About two years ago, I decided to “become modern” and use social media to generate comments about my (sometimes controversial) ideas for improving corporate governance. There are now over 250 blog posts available on my site. I am amazed at social media’s drawing power and the daily reports of “likes” and professional comments about my ideas. The work has been fun and has allowed me to reach people worldwide, sometimes in as many as 12 different countries daily.

I am happy to share this list of my followers’ favorite posts. Feel free to forward it to others, especially nonprofit CEOs and board directors.
Blog site: http://bit.ly/yfRZpz

# Most Viewed Posts -1/1/2014 to 5/15/2014

Can Nonprofit Boards Suffer From Agenda Deficits? -272*
A Special Relationship: Nurturing the CEO-Board Chair Bond – 178*
Is Your Nonprofit Board Ready to Recruit a Transformational Leader? – 195*
Do Today’s Business Leaders Make Effective Nonprofit Directors? Revised & Updated – 145*
What Nonprofit Boards Are Not Doing – But Should! Revised & Updated -256
When Will Nonprofit Boards Learn to Plan for Succession? – 236
Does the Nonprofit CEO Need to Go?? – 469
Is Your Nonprofit Board Fundraising Committee Strategically oriented? Revised & Updated – 305
Nonprofit Boardroom Elephants and the “Nice Guy” Syndrome: A Complex Problem – 578
A Nonprofit Board’s Most Important Job! – 347
Major Donor Has Remorse — Nonprofit Board/CEO Failed to Meaningfully Engage Him? -350
Once Again! Should a Nonprofit CEO Become a Voting Member of the Board of Directors? – 208
Nonprofit Boards 2014 – Two Recurring Concerns of Directors & Managers – 326
A Nonprofit Board’s Best Friend — A Robust Business Plan – 276
An Action Agenda for Nonprofit Board Management Discussions -211
* Current posts receiving views and comments.

Maintaining World Class Integrity in a Nonprofit Boardroom: Guides for Action

Maintaining World Class Integrity in a Nonprofit Boardroom: Guides for Action

By: Eugene Fram

There is little question that boards have overall responsibility for ensuring a nonprofit’s integrity. Take, for example, the case of a nonprofit where the former executive director and a board member conspired to steal $4 million of the organization’s funds. While the board did operate within its fiduciary duties and had no personal liabilities, an attorney in the case reported: This does not prevent a state’s attorney from laying blame on the board, however. Although there may be no personal financial loss, the board its individual directors and the organization can suffer significant repetitional loss when integrity issues arise. http://bit.ly/REmSoC (more…)

Can Nonprofit Boards Suffer From Agenda Deficits?

Can Nonprofit Boards Suffer From Agenda Deficits?

By Eugene Fram

In a recent study of 772 for-profit and nonprofit directors from around the world, McKinsey & Company found that 25% of the sample assessed their board impact as moderate or low, “… while others reported having a high impact across board functions. “ http://bit.ly/1iFEINR

Following, in italics, are brief abstracts from the study, followed by my analysis of the importance of the information to nonprofit boards. (more…)

A Special Relationship: Nurturing the CEO-Board Chair Bond*

A Special Relationship: Nurturing the CEO-Board Chair Bond*

By Eugene Fram

Here are tips to assure the best possible partnership between the board chair and CEO.

Keeping boards focused on strategic issues is a major challenge for nonprofit leaders. One problem is that non- profit CEOs are leaving their jobs in droves, partly because they’re reaching retirement age and partly due to the increased stresses of the position. ** This leadership crisis is intensified by the fact that board chairs tend to have short terms (according to BoardSource, 83% stay in office only one or two years). Thus, nonprofit CEOs and board chairs need to bond quickly. For the good of the organization, they must come together swiftly and create a partnership that works. Here are golden rules for the CEO and board chair to follow: (more…)

Can Nonprofit Boards Learn From The Mistakes of Others?

Can Nonprofit Boards Learn From The Mistakes of Others?

By: Eugene Fram

An old Chinese proverb states: “A wise man learns from his own mistakes, the wiser man learns from the mistakes of others.” Since nonprofit boards of directors are continually changing, volunteer directors typically serving three to six year terms, it seems that board members should immediately want to learn from the experiences of others. (more…)

Is Your Nonprofit Board Ready to Recruit a Transformational Leader?

Is Your Nonprofit Board Ready to Recruit a Transformational Leader?

By Eugene Fram

A CEO friend recently shared her organization’s remarkable success story. She had been a first time CEO for about 10 years when a new director was elected to her board. This one individual, whom she described as a strategically focused transformational director because of his board influence, helped position the organization to expand services and become nationally recognized. (more…)

Do Today’s Business Leaders Make Effective Nonprofit Directors? Revised & Updated

Do Today’s Business Leaders Make Effective Nonprofit Directors? Revised & Updated

By: Eugene H. Fram

The names of the new board nominees have been announced. They include several outstanding recruits from the business community. Will these new formidable directors perform well in the nonprofit environment? William G. Bowen, a veteran director in both the for-profit and nonprofit environments, raised the following questions about such beginnings in a 1994 article:* Is it true that well-regarded representatives of the business world are often surprisingly ineffective as members of nonprofit boards? Do they seem to have checked their analytical skills and their “toughness” at the door? If this is true in some considerable number of cases, what is the explanation? (more…)

Great Nonprofit Boards I Have Known

Here are three “greats” among the nonprofits of my past. Their characteristics: (1) Long tenured CEOs, 15 years or more: (2) Boards and CEOs who can embrace change and act on it; (3) Boards who take pride in their CEO’s dynamic achievements internally and externally; (4) CEOs who can work with a continual parade of different board chairs and board members. (5) Boards who can support dynamic entrepreneurial CEOs and who understand the need for strategic planning.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eugene-fram/great-nonprofit-boards-i_b_5139669.html?utm_hp_ref=impact&ir=Impact

What Nonprofit Boards Are Not Doing – But Should! Revised & Updated

What Nonprofit Boards Are Not Doing – But Should! Revised & Updated

By Eugene Fram

A recent New York Times article* last May reported that public company directors are coming under scrutiny this proxy season based on what they are not doing. Based on my experiences with dozens of nonprofit organizations, the litany of complaints cited in the Times article, can easily apply to nonprofits, whether they are professional organizations, trade associations, educational institutions or charitable organizations. (more…)

Is Your Nonprofit Forward Focused or A Prisoner of the Past?

Governance arguably suffers most … when boards spend too much time looking in the rear view mirror and not enough scanning the road ahead. *
It has been my experience that nonprofits rarely address the possibilities and perils of “…the road ahead.” …. Here are some “prompts” that might guide nonprofit board members and CEOs as they attempt to provide leadership in this important but often neglected area:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eugene-fram/is-your-nonprofit-forward_b_5101415.html