Board Members Discovering Their Role

It is amazing how often I meet individuals who are board members of various size nonprofit organizations and who share with me the fact that they don't know what they are suppose to be doing as a board member. "Am I there to yes the CEO?" They ask me. If you are a board member, do you know what your role is in the process of governance? Do you understand what your fiduciary responsibilities are? Do you understand their origin under your state's laws? If not, it's time to educate yourself. While you could always read my book, I also recommend that you read Governance as Leadership by Richard P. Chait et al, published by Wiley. Two other authors that I recommend are Cyrus O. Houle and John Carver. The former wrote Governing Boards, published by Jossey-Bass, and the latter wrote a number of books on governance. I recommend his Reinventing Your Board, also published by Jossey-Bass. An educated board member works on strengthening his or her governance skills through out the year, by ateending workshops, conferences, and reading pertinent material. One last recommendation: read the summer 2007 issue of The Nonprofit Quarterly, which is devoted to nonprofit governance. Go to www.nonprofitquarterly.org. This is an excellent periodical devoted to the nonprofit sector.

Conferences of Note in the New England Area

The Massachusetts chapter of AFP, Association of Fundraising Professionals will hold its annual conference on philanthropy on November 27, 2007 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place in Boston. Go to www.afpma.org for further information. The New England Museum Association will hold its annual conference November 7-9 at the Holiday Inn By the Sea, Portland, Maine. Go to www.nema.org for further information. The Third Sector, New England will hold its fall meeting on November 9 at the Hyatt Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Go to www.tsne.org for further information. If you know of other professional meetings that might be of interest to readers of this blog, let us know.

Advocates For Nonprofits

Umbrella organizations for nonprofit organizations exist to help them weather the storm of a rapidly changing world, sharpen staff and board skills, and foster opportunities for continued professional development. Here in Massachusetts, where there are more nonprofit organizations per capita than any other state, there are organizations like Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, Massachusetts Human services Coalition, Massachusetts advocates for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities, Massachusetts Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Board Source, and even one started in Lexington, Massachusetts to benefit the 100 nonprofit organizations in the community: NonProfitNet. To get an idea how it functions go to www.nonprofitnet.us. I know there are others out there. Refresh my memory and share them with the readers of this blog.

Welcome Observer

This blog mainly focuses on the nonprofit sector in America, with occasional commentary about NGO's in other countries. I call your attention to my recent book, published in June 2007, entitled Cardinal Principles of Governance: Strengthening the Governance of Nonprofit Organizayions in America's Communities. Check out its website: http://www.cardinalprinciplesofgovernance.com/. The nonprofit sector comprise approximately 10% of the American economy, and it is growing by leaps and bounds. There are 1.4 million nonprofits in the United States. Everyday they cross our lives in many ways in the form of charitable organizations and institutions...schools that we attended, organization dedicated to medical research, local hospitals, religious organizations and social service organizations. There are a variety of non-charitable organizations that are nonprofit and exempt from paying taxes. These include burial societies, unions, membership organizations, and many others. For a detailed list see Appedix A (p.147) in my book. Let's discuss the issues that you are faced with or that you perceive within the nonprofit sector.