nonprofit board culture

Questions For Nonprofit Board Meetings—And Why They Are Needed

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…)

Nonprofit & Business Directors Must Be Vigilant – Board Liability Costs Could Be $2.2 Million!

Nonprofit & Business Directors Must Be Vigilant – Board Liability Costs Could Be $2.2 Million!

By: Eugene Fram                 FREE DIGITAL PHOTO

All Time Viewer Favorite

The personal cost of director inattentiveness is made painfully clear in an important federal appeals court decision. The U.S. Court of Appeals decided the decision, in re Lemington Homes, on January 26, 2015 for the Third Circuit. … [T]hese difficult facts arose from a small, nonprofit organization. … Yet the standard of director conduct applied by the appeals court is quite similar to that which might be applied to a traditional (business) corporate board. * (The case results) also addresses the appropriateness of punitive damages against officers and directors….

The court determined that (15 of 17) directors were aware of the mismanagement yet took no action, despite clear evidence of deficient care to the institution’s residents. …[T]his breach of care, (led to) $2,250,000 in joint and several compensatory damages. As such, the decision offers a particularly valuable – and practical – board education opportunity. (http://bit.ly/1GQo1jY)

The lack of nonprofit director and officer care is not unusual, possibly because directors are part-time volunteers, sometimes not understanding their potential liabilities. For one other current example see: (http://bit.ly/1GF3yer). (more…)

Raising the Bar for Nonprofit Board Engagement

Raising the Bar for Nonprofit Board Engagementid-100404653

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.

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Nonprofit Board/Staff Relationships: An Uncomfortable Partnership?

 

Nonprofit Board/Staff Relationships: An Uncomfortable Partnership?

By: Eugene Fram   Free Digital Image

Viewer Favorite—Updated and Revised

I have always been of the opinion that nonprofit directors don’t give sufficient consideration to the relationships between the board and staff. The following passage reasserts the complexity of such relationships and why misunderstandings might occur on either side of the fence.

The (nonprofit) governance model is … confounded by the fact that the people with responsibility for oversight, resource generation, and the strategic direction are not the same people who show up every day to deliver the work that fulfills the nonprofit’s mission. …. More often than not, however, the nonprofit board is a bit ungainly and leaves board members and staff alike scratching their heads and wondering how they might fix things so it (the organization) does what it’s meant to do … The challenges are often the greatest for the boards of small to mid-sized nonprofits, where the lines between governance and management seem to be more easily blurred. * (more…)

How Prepared Are Board Members for the Challenges of the Nonprofit Culture?

 

 

 

 

 

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…)

What to Expect When The New Nonprofit CEO Is A Millennial!

What to Expect When The New Nonprofit CEO Is A Millennial!

By: Eugene Fram   Free Digital Image

The nonprofit’s CEO, a baby boomer or genXer, is about to retire or leave for another position. The board has engaged a new CEO a millennial person born after 1980. * His/h age is probably late 30s or possibly early 40s. What changes can the board expect from this new professional?

Following are my estimates based on some suggestions from psychologist, Dr. Jon Warner, http://bit.ly/1IFXK7u plus my 10 years experience collegiate teaching millennials. (more…)

The Nonprofit CEO Exceeds The Authority Boundary – What Happens Then?

 

The Nonprofit CEO Exceeds The Authority Boundary – What Happens Then?

By: Eugene Fram

Viewer Favorite   Updated & Revised

It happens!  When it does, it’s the board’s job to inform the CEO that he or she has taken on too much authority.  As a board chair of a human service nonprofit, I encountered such a situation. The CEO signed a long-term lease contract on his own that should first have been approved by the board.   The financial obligations involved weren’t significant. When the CEO recognized his error, I then asked for formal board ratification. None of us does out jobs perfectly.  But a CEO has to recognize the board’s ultimate authority for long-term contracts and similar issues, even when the financial obligations are insignificant. Obviously, if the CEO continually takes such actions, there is a serious communication problem. (more…)

When a CEO Exits (or should)—what are the Board’s Succession Options?

When a CEO Exits (or should)—what are the Board’s Succession Options?

By Eugene Fram                  Free Digital Image

CEOs of for-profit and nonprofit organizations typically come and go. Those executives that for an extended period may be highly valued for their demonstrated skills and accomplishments. One CEO I know has reached a 30 year anniversary and is still innovating. Other CEOs, including organization founders, may remain on the job past the point of growth. The nonprofit environment can be a comfortable workplace—a board member I once interviewed remarked that his long-serving CEO had a great “deal.” He meant the nonprofit wasn’t even close to its potential   I’ve even encountered CEOs who admit that they can run the organization on automatic, convinced that new challenges will be similar to those of the past. (more…)

Lifestyle & Behavioral Information – Some New Ways To Seek High Performance Nonprofit Directors

 

 

 

Lifestyle & Behavioral Information – Some New Ways To Seek High Performance Nonprofit Directors

By: Eugene Fram            Free  Digital Image

Viewer Favorite—Updated & Revised

Over the last several years, I have conducted nonprofit board recruitment projects. The boards with which I worked had rather similar challenges.
• They had concerns recruiting sufficient numbers of board members to fill their needs.
• Current board members, largely composed of younger people, in the 30-40-age range, had significant problems balancing work and family obligations and attending board and committee meetings.
• Attendance was sporadic. Although the boards were small, directors really did not know each other, and another director sent a subordinate to attend board meetings. In one case, a well-regarded director never attended meeting and only occasionally met with the ED to offer advice. One director, with decades of experience on a board, admitted she did not know other directors. In both instances EDs and board chairs had significant power. One ED complained she was doing the work of operating the organization and operating the board, and She had too much potential liability.
• Although these organizations, with budgets in the $8-$10 million range were operating successfully, the EDs involved realized that they were in line for long-term problems if board recruiting didn’t change. (more…)

Does A New Nonprofit Board Director Really Understand Your Organization? The Board Nurturing Challenge!

Does A New Nonprofit Board Director Really Understand Your Organization?  The Board Nurturing Challenge!

By: Eugene Fram       Free Digital Image

Viewer Favorite—Undated & Revised

The careful nurturing of a board member, whether for-profit or nonprofit, is critical. The pay-off of a robust orientation process is an informed and fully participating board director. The following are very similar occurrences in both for-profit and nonprofit boards:

The CEO of a transportation firm agrees to become a board director of a firm developing computer programs. He has risen through the transportation ranks with a financial background, but he knows little about the dynamics of the computer industry.

A finance professor is asked to serve on the board of a nonprofit school serving handicapped children. She has no children of her own and has never had any contact with handicapped children, social workers or teachers serving handicapped children. (more…)