Business Board Experts Offer Nonprofit Board Gems!!
By: Eugene Fram Free Digital Image
The wise person learns from his/h own experiences. The wiser person learns from the experiences of others
The CEO Forum published an article covering the governance views of five business board members, known for their wisdom and vision. Following are some of topics in the article that relate to nonprofit boards. * (more…)
Wanted: Nonprofit CEOs with Entrepreneurial People Skills
By: Eugene Fram Free Digital Image
Viewer Favorite—Revised and Updated
The need for superior leadership skills is as critical to CEOs in nonprofits as it is in the entrepreneurial world. * Following are four such skills and the unique challenges they bring when employed in the nonprofit environment. (more…)
A Nonprofit Board’s Best Friend: A Robust Business Plan
By Eugene Fram Free Digital mage
Viewer Favorite—Updated and Revised
In 2014 after a 70-year run and a terminal struggle to keep it alive, the 70-years old New York Opera declared bankruptcy. At the time, Anthony Tommasini noted critic for The New York Times summarily commented, “In short, artistic excellence isn’t enough.” Mayor Bloomberg, observed that the opera’s “business model doesn’t seem to work.” *
The opera’s demise is a classic reminder that all nonprofits, even those offering quality services, need to do deep-dive reviews of their business plans every three to five years. Following are some alternatives that can be developed if changes are needed. (more…)
Major Donor Has Remorse–Nonprofit Board/CEO Failed to Meaningfully Engage Him?
By: Eugene Fram
After the gift is received, announced and celebrated, where does a nonprofit board and its management go from there? And whose job is it to see that the donor remains engaged and involved in the organization? These are questions that I have been thinking about after a friend brought facts of his donor experience to my attention. (more…)
Beyond the Bylaws: A Clarification of Nonprofit Board Responsibilities
Viewer Favorite–Revised and Updated
By: Eugene Fram
A nonprofit director’s duties may be much more difficult than those of a for-profit board member. Both types of directors have the same basic duties: fiduciary responsibilities; establishing, with staff input, mission vision and values; setting policies/strategies; over-viewing outcomes/impacts and conducting annual meetings.
I suggest nonprofit directors may not be fully addressing some duties specified in the bylaws and some that are culturally driven. This latter group might be called “latent duties.” (more…)
(Free Digital Image)
More Than Passion Needed in Prospective Nonprofit Directors
By: Eugene Fram
What nonprofit selection committee would reject a candidate who demonstrates passion for the organization’s mission? I can attest to the fact that in many recruitment processes, an interviewee who shows strong empathy for the cause is a “shoe-in” for the director position regardless of any obvious weakness in other skill areas. By contrast, one who appears ambivalent about the organization’s mission can be overlooked or even eliminated from the list. (more…)
Questions For Nonprofit Board Meetings—And Why They Are Needed
My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions. – Peter Drucker
By: Eugene Fram
Knowing the right questions to ask at a nonprofit board meeting is a critical part of a board member’s responsibility. Following is a list that, as a nonprofit director, I want to keep handy at meetings. * I also will suggest why I think each is important in the nonprofit environment. Compliance and overviewing management alone do not guarantee success. (more…)
Raising the Bar for Nonprofit Board Engagement
By Eugene Fram Free Digital Image
It’s no secret that some directors cruise through their term of board service with minimal involvement. McKinsey Company, a well-known consulting firm, has suggested five steps that can be used to counteract this passivity in for-profit boards. * With a few tweaks, McKinsey suggestions (in bold) are relevant to the nonprofit board environment where director engagement is often a challenge.
The Nonprofit Board’s New Role In An Age of Exponential Change
By Eugene Fram Free Digital Image
Most nonprofit boards are being faced with huge pressures—reduced financial support, challenges in integrating new technologies, and difficulties in hiring qualified personnel at what are considered “nonprofit” wages. To survive long term, directors need to be alert to potential opportunities. These may be far from the comfort zones of current board members, CEOs and staff. (more…)
How Prepared Are Board Members for the Challenges of the Nonprofit Culture?
By: Eugene Fram Free Digital Image
Viewer Favorite–Updated & Revised
Given that the typical tenure of a new board member is six years. And assuming that a new director’s intention is to make his/her unique contribution to the organization’s progress before he rotates off the board and is supplanted by another “new” director. With these factors in mind, I estimate that many volunteers enter the boardroom with little understanding of nonprofit culture. Even those who have served previously on business boards may initially spend valuable time in accommodating to the nuances of nonprofit practices and priorities before being poised to make contributions to the “greater good” that nonprofit create. Nonprofits have a way of acculturating new board members to current culture in steady of allowing the new board member to insert his/h culture into the flow of nonprofit’s stream of ideas. For example, a financial executive familiar with financial strategy may be asked to assist the CFO with accounting questions, instead of being asked to develop a financial strategy for the organization. Following are some areas that are endemic to nonprofits: (more…)
Nonprofit Management 