Board

Part of good succession planning for your nonprofit should include the following question: What should we do if a longtime CEO is planning to leave? An exit agreement may be a good answer for your organization. There generally are four reasons nonprofit boards explore an exit agreement. These reasons correspond to the type or focus of the agreement...

People often ask about how to handle a problematic board member. The question is a good one, and most boards likely will confront this problem at some time. In fact, these types of board members turn up much more often than we like. Joan Garry, an expert in nonprofit leadership, called these people toxic board…

How many of these are true for you and your nonprofit board? You make assumptions that are incorrect about board members knowledge, skills or comfort level. You make board members wrong, mostly behind their backs, and they feel it. Board members, especially the new ones, are nervous about making a mistake or overstepping their bounds.…

One of the dangers nonprofits face is the cult of personality. That is the idea that one person is the organization. Beyond the initial founding years, an organization’s leadership must work diligently to build an organization to last. Not an organization that is about or dependent on one person. Building a nonprofit board to last is essential. It is the board that is the steward of the organization, transcending CEOs and other staff leaders...

It’s all about your organization’s culture. And affecting your organization’s culture shift absolutely will not happen overnight. It takes patience, consistency and commitment. And, as the development director (or executive director), you primarily are responsible for building a culture of philanthropy. So how do you become a dedicated key player?...

A colleague asked me to write about what board members can do to be helpful to staff. Nonprofit board members are critical to the success of organizations. We rely on them for so many important things and are deeply grateful for all the time, skills, connections and resources they give, especially considering that the majority…

The best question I’ve been asked was from an executive director: “Can you help me figure out how to fire my board chair?” Unfortunately, there is little an executive director can do with an underperforming, ineffective, inappropriate or bullying board chair. I would suggest a policy that provides a grievance process for the executive director. The…

Healing Arts Initiative, the New York charity at the center of a $750,000 embezzlement controversy, on Friday fired executive director D. Alexandra Dyer and chief financial officer Frank Williams. The board said it fired the pair for withholding “critical financial and other information,” according to The New York Times. But Dyer and Williams say they were forced out for exposing the board's financial negligence...

A really effective executive can make a nonprofit successful. But, a really ineffective or even incompetent executive (e.g., rising to your highest level of incompetence but a really good practitioner) can destroy a nonprofit. And, while there is a modicum of literature about what makes a great executive, there is little literature that describes the…

How did the board meeting go? “Great,” said my client. “Actually, I was so relieved! The budget passed in like 15 minutes. There were two or three minor questions, but nothing substantive.” Um, I’ve got some bad news. This is not what I consider a great budget discussion. Executive directors, like my client, are afraid…