During the past year, I’ve worked with several nonprofits to reimagine their boards – a museum, a grassroots organization, a Junior Achievement, a veterans service nonprofit, and a statewide housing development organization.
It’s work I love to do because it involves harnessing the energy, ideas and intellect of committed volunteers to the engine that drives a nonprofit forward.
It brings excitement to the governance process as boards move from mundane to mission-driven in partnership with the staff.
Even the process of creating a new governance structure is fun, as board and staff think together about how to design the strategy for making use of these high-level highly-engaged volunteers.
I’ve developed this graphic as a quick guide for Reimagining a board. Here are a few definitions to keep in mind as you look at it:
Fiduciary leadership ensures the integrity of the nonprofit by performing due-diligence pertaining to its legal, regulatory and financial obligations to make sure that resources are available, accounted for, and being deployed in the best possible way.
Strategic leadership helps the nonprofit move from its present state to its preferred state by actively engaging in the exploration of models, outcomes, and opportunities that can advance the organization.
Both types of leadership require a steady focus on mission, governance, and operational integrity.
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