How Boards Develop Successful Business Practices In Nonprofit Organizations
By: Eugene Fram
Every nonprofit needs a business plan to implement marketing, financial, human resources, etc. activities. The goal of the nonprofit business plan is to maximize the achievement of the organization’s mission within existing resources.
Strong service and business practices should be the hallmarks of any nonprofit board that effectively focuses on four business factors: (more…)
Once Again: How to Keep a Nonprofit Board Informed.
By: Eugene Fram
Viewers’ Favorite—Updated & Revised
With high performing nonprofit boards, directors will rarely be invited by the CEO to participate in operational decisions. As a result, management will always have more information than the board. Yet the board still needs to know that is happening in operations to be able to overview them.
The name of the game is for the CEO to communicate the important information and to keep directors informed of significant developments. Still, there’s no need to clutter regular board meetings by reporting endless details about operations. (more…)
Can Nonprofit Boards Strategically Reinvent Themselves?
By: Eugene Fram
Not many nonprofit boards look to strategic renewal/reinventing as viable options. Dedicated to a specific mission, boards may merge with related organizations as their prospects decline or simply declare victory. March Of Dines has been a classic case of redefining its mission when The Salk Vaccine limited widespread polio epidemics. Today, the nonprofit’s programs serve people with disabilities: children, adults, seniors, military personnel and veterans. (more…)
Can Nonprofit Management Usurp Board Responsibilities?
By Eugene H. Fram
On balance management will always have more information about the organization than volunteer board members. As a result, directors must be proactive in seeking information from management and a variety of other sources, even if they must involve employees other than senior management. Following are three field examples showing what has happened when boards failed to be proactive (more…)
How Competent Are Nonprofit Boards In Strategic Planning?
By: Eugene Fram
Updated Viewer Favorite
“Unfortunately, boards of directors have no clear model to follow when it comes to developing the strategic roles that is best suited to the (organization) they oversee. … More importantly, the board must play a role that matches the strategic needs of the (nonprofit) and the state of its (mission’s) sector.” (http://bit.ly/16e4kT8) For both nonprofits and for-profits the strategic plan needs to be updated or revised every three to five years in a 21st century environment. (more…)
A Nonprofit’s Reputation Rests on the Quality of its Directors
By: Eugene Fram
Reputations are universally seen as valuable, but reputation risk is poorly understood. As a result, reputations are left unnecessarily at risk.*
Reputation matters in the nonprofit world. Few nonprofit boards exist today that don’t worry about how they are perceived in the communities or associations they serve. And to make sure their images remain pristine, many turn to crisis consultants and other forms of expert assistance. A tarnished reputation can have a huge impact on a vast network of stakeholders as confidence in the organization ebbs and support starts to dwindle. Nonprofit board members must be sensitive to signals of impending reputation risk and immediately roll up their sleeves in an attempt to rebuild confidence. (more…)
Strategic Planning: Nonprofit Board Orphan?
By: Eugene Fram
Updated viewer favorite
According to a 2015 BoardSource study, nearly 35% of over 836 nonprofit chief executives gave their boards a C, D or F grade in strategic development efforts. In addition, only 35% reported, extensive use of “meetings focused on strategy and policy.” * This is further evidenced in the frequent absence of long range planning items on nonprofit board agendas. What are the root causes of such a deficit in an area that is of critical importance to the future of the organization? One or more of the following challenges may apply: (more…)
Do Nonprofit Directors Face Cyber Security Risk?
By: Eugene Fram
The cyber security (CS) debacles faced by Target, Sony Pictures and others may seem far afield from the concerns of nonprofit directors, except for the giants in the area, like AARP. However, think about this hypothetical scenario.
A group of high school students hacked into the computer system of a local nonprofit offering mental health services and gain access to records of clients, perhaps even placing some of the records of other teenagers on the internet. (more…)
Nonprofit Boards Prepare – The Millennial Workforce Is Coming!!
By: Eugene Fram
In January, I presented a well-viewed post on the potential impact on the nonprofit board if a new CEO is a millennial – born roughly between 1980 and 2000. (http://huff.to/1zMGi9N) This current post broadens the discussion. Unlike for-profit directors, nonprofit directors are more likely to have contact with millennial staff personnel on task forces and on special projects. (The staff organizationally can be only several levels below the board in nonprofits.)
There is no question that the nonprofit workforce mirrors or exceeds the national workforce in percentages of millennials — expected to be 50% in 2020 and 75% in 2025. Their values center on finding meaningful work, being respected/praised for their accomplishments and having a flexible work environment. Although these working requirements and values, at first, will puzzle older board cohorts, millennials’ dedication to the mission will be outstanding. But nonprofit directors and the public will have to adjust their views because a new generation’s working styles will require changes. (more…)
Once Again: How Should Nonprofits Conduct Board Evaluations?
By: Eugene Fram
Updated Viewer Favorite
Recent (2015) data from BoardSource show that only about 52% of boards have had “formal, written self-assessment of board performance in the last three years.” (http://bit.ly/1xJvf6x) With the rapid turnover of directors that nonprofit boards traditionally experience, this seems inexcusable. As a “veteran” nonprofit director, following is what I think can be done to improve the situation. (more…)
Nonprofit Management 