How do you build on a commitment to create an effective and powerful Board? Board members come from diverse backgrounds and represent a variety of interests, skills and experiences. Molding a group of people into an effective Board takes both the commitment of the individual Board members and a process for forming the Board as an effective team guiding the organization.
How confident are you as an effective governing body, the board:
- Monitors and evaluates the performance of the executive director on a regular basis?
- Ensures legal compliance with federal, state, and local regulations?
- Ensures that government contract obligations are fulfilled?
- Monitors financial performance and projections on a regular basis?
- Has a strategic vision for the organization?
- Has adopted an income strategy (that combines contributions, earned income and other revenue) to ensure adequate resources?
- Has a clear policy on the responsibilities of board members in fundraising?
- Has adopted a conflict of interest policy that is discussed regularly?
- Currently contains an appropriate range of expertise and diversity to make it an effective governing body?
- Regularly assesses its own work?
How confident are you that most or all board members:
- Understand the mission and purpose of the organization?
- Are adequately knowledgeable about the organization's programs?
- Act as ambassadors to the community on behalf of the organization and its constituencies?
- Follow through on commitments they have made as board members?
- Understand the role that volunteers play in the organization?
- Understand the respective roles of the board and staff?
- Are appropriately involved in board activities?
Here are some major principles that underlie the key elements of our Board Development program:
- Defining the role of your board in guiding the agency
- Defining the accountabilities of the board and of individual board members
- Designing your board committee accountabilities, structures and practices
- Creating an on-going board development program
- Inventing a shared vision and mission for your board
- Designing long-term and short-term objectives
- Creating strategies and plans to guide the work
- Identifying and designing key projects
- Fashioning clear priorities to guide the work
- Designing ways of working together that foster one team and one mission.
ACMG combines our personal experience in serving on Boards with our skill as management consultants to organizations of all types and sizes, including nonprofits.
