nonprofit executive director

Markers For An Open Culture Within Nonprofit Boards

Markers For An Open Culture Within Nonprofit Boards

By Eugene Fram

Board Culture is really about having chemistry that works. Is there transparency, and by that I mean openness? It is very intangible but critical. Is there a spirit of inquiry? That means, for example, that a director can disagree with another director or with the CEO without actually being hostile or being viewed as hostile. All should be able to have civil but active discussions. Does the board have a few really insightful board members who spark real dialog? I’m talking about people who have an ability to smell and “opportunity” or “problem” or “roadblock.’ Do the organization exude creativity – from the CEO and from board members? (more…)

Why Are Some Nonprofit Boards Missing the Mark? What to Do?

Why Are Some Nonprofit Boards Missing the Mark? What to Do?

By Eugene Fram

Stephen Miles of the Miles group (http://milesgroup.com) recognizes that many business boards are coming up short in performance. As founder and CEO of a strategy and talent development agency, Miles has identified five areas of potential improvement for commercial boards. I believe these categories are also quite relevant to nonprofit board operations in the following ways: (more…)

Does A New Nonprofit Board Director Really Understand Your Organization? – Reissue

Does A New Nonprofit Board Director Really Understand Your Organization?

By: Eugene Fram

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.* (more…)

Retaining Excellent Nonprofit Board Members by Keeping Them Meaningfully Involved – Part II

Retaining Excellent Nonprofit Board Members by Keeping Them Meaningfully Involved – Part II

By: Eugene Fram

Board members will stay interested and involved in their nonprofit organizations if they are convinced that their activities have a purpose and serve the organization. This is what I call meaningful involvement. And as a side note, being pertinent and time-limited is especially applicable for younger individuals building a career, only because this group is now used to immediate gratification and to projects that last no longer than the equivalent of a semester. When board members feel their involvement is meaningful, they will often remark, “Assignments are interesting and well organized.”

Following are some hypothetical examples: of meaningful involvement: (more…)

Retaining Excellent Nonprofit Board Members by Keeping Them Meaningfully Involved – Part I

Retaining Excellent Nonprofit Board Members by Keeping Them Meaningfully Involved – Part I

By: Eugene Fram

In the 20th century, it was not unusual for nonprofit boards to grapple with operational questions related to buying new equipment, firing a custodian, hiring a new program director, choosing new furniture for the reception area, revising budget forms, revamping the accounting department, etc.

In order to retain desirable directors in the 21st century, the board only needs to be generally aware of these types of operational decisions, not make them, and then needs to focus its meeting times on questions such as: (more…)

Nonprofit Boards Can Drive Organizational Innovation & New Strategic Directions

Nonprofit Boards Can Drive Organizational Innovation & New Strategic Directions

Recently, Marla Capoozzi, Senior innovation Expert at McKinsey Company, provided some guidelines to assist business directors to help drive organizational innovations and lead to new long term strategic planning.* Following are my suggestions how nonprofit boards can adapt her guidelines.

1. Have a Defined mission A mission statement guides most nonprofits. However, few if any, have innovation as an inherent part of that statement. For example, a counseling nonprofit will want its staff to work with the latest treatment modalities. But few boards will want their staffs to actively seek ways to improve on these modalities. Budget constraints, related to staff costs, interfere. However talented staff members may develop new innovative practices within the confines of regular contacts with clients. These can lead to new strategic directions. To drive innovation, boards will need to stay on message to management and staff that innovation is desired outcome to support the mission statement. (more…)

Establishing Effective Nonprofit Board Committees – What to Do.

Establishing Effective Nonprofit Board Committees – What to Do.

By Eugene Fram

Following are ways that many nonprofit boards have established effective board committees using my governance model as described in the third (2011) edition of Policy vs. Paper Clips. http://amzn.to/eu7nQl

• In the planning effort, focus board personnel and financial resources only on those topics that are germane to the organization at a particular time. For example, financial planning, long-range planning or
short-range planning. However the board needs to be open to generative planning if new opportunities present themselves or are developed via board leadership. (more…)

Once Again: What Makes for a Successful Nonprofit Board? – Reissue

Once Again: What Makes for a Successful Nonprofit Board?

By: Eugene Fram

Successful nonprofit boards come in a variety of organizational structures and sizes, largely determined by the their mission, vision and values. However, Carter Burgess, Managing Director & Head of the Board Practice at RSR Partners, an executive recruiting firm, suggests three of the most prominent success factors. Although his article is directed to for-profit boards, there are many suggestions that apply to nonprofit boards. (more…)

Nonprofit & Business Boards Have Similar Challenges – Some Reflections on Them

Nonprofit & Business Boards Have Similar Challenges – Some Reflections on Them

My blogs often highlight how nonprofit and business boards have similar challenges. Following I will highlight some business board challenges reported by William George, a Harvard professor, former board chair-CEO of Medtronic. Then I will show how his experiences can be related to those of nonprofit board directors.* As usual, I will quote or briefly paraphrase William George’s insights through italics.

Independent Directors

Most nonprofit directors are independent ones. They typically have limited engagement with the (nonprofit) and its board, meeting six to eight times a year. Consequently, management’s knowledge of the organization’s information and data is superior (more…)

What To Do About Weak Nonprofit Board Practices – Reissue

What To Do About Weak Nonprofit Board Practices

By Eugene Fram

Peter Rinn, Breakthrough Solutions Group, recently published a list of weak nonprofit board practice. * Following are some of the items listed and my estimation of what can be done about them, based on my experiences as a nonprofit board director, board chair and consultant. (more…)