“Board Building” – Articles
5 Nonprofit Challenges and How to Fix Them: #1 — Your Board
Challenge #1: The Failing Board I offer advice to many nonprofit leaders and board members each week. Over time, several common nonprofit challenges have surfaced from those discussions. This week, we will be taking a look at five of the most common challenges...
Leading With Data: 5 Ways To Make Better Decisions For Your Nonprofit
As Nonprofit leaders, it can sometimes feel like we are facing a never ending barrage of important, agency-defining decisions needing our immediate attention. On a good day, this can be an exhilarating and rewarding process that fuels our passion and clarifies our...
Nonprofit Bylaws Discussion: An In-Depth Overview
Bylaws are one of an agency’s most essential yet least understood documents. Along with the Mission, Vision and Values statements, bylaws describe the basic foundation for the entire agency. They define the agency’s purpose and crucial elements of its operation.Every...
Strategic Planning for Nonprofits: 3 Ways to Make the Process Easier
How To Make Strategic Planning for Nonprofits Easier And More Successful Many agencies will shortly begin holding planning sessions, or retreats, for 2018. The announcement of these events is usually met with either groans or cheers, depending on how your past...
Board of Director’s Role: What Exactly Should Your Board Be Doing?
Do you know the Board of Director's Role for Your Nonprofit? The board of director's role in an organization can make or break it. Individual directors (and boards as a whole), play key roles in the success of a nonprofit agency. Yet two of the most overlooked steps...
12 Biggest Board Meeting Myths – Exposed
How to Make Your Board Meetings... BETTER. Sometimes, being a leader feels like you are out in front of a marching band, with everyone smiling and marching closely behind you, in lock step to your tempo. One tight team all in sync. It is a beautiful thing. But other...
Is Your Board a Little Too Close for Comfort?
Most nonprofit board of directors fall into two categories — Governance boards and Working boards. Both have important responsibilities. Either can be necessary at times. They can each can be the perfect board for a nonprofit, based on the agency’s characteristics,...
Is Your Board Going Bad? 8 Things You Need to Know…
You're likely a nonprofit leader, an executive director, maybe a board chair. At minimum, you're probably on the board. You've helped to lead your agency for a long time and things have gone well, other than the periodic crisis you've had to manage through. All of...
10 Ways to Have Better Board Meetings
Anyone who has served on a nonprofit board, will know this feeling all too well. We’ve all been there… suffering through a board meeting that makes a root canal seem like a night on the town. Whatever the reason, too many board meetings feel like a waste of time with...
15 Simple Ways to Use Your Board For Marketing
Nonprofit marketing can be challenging at best. If you’re like most agencies, you're constantly on the look out for new ways to share your mission, more effective ways to build awareness, and new cost-effective avenues to get more people to help your cause. While...
Is Your Board Missing The Most Valuable Ingredient?
Board development is critical for building (and maintaining) a high-functioning board. Year after year, best-in-class nonprofit organizations have an amazing impact in their communities. Their boards have directors who understand the agency’s mission, are fully...
The Kickoff: 20 Steps to a Better 1st Board Meeting
How can you make the first board meeting of the year effective, engaging, and use it to set the stage for a great year? In a recent article we discussed expectations for your new board. If you missed that post, you can check it out here. It will set the stage for...
What Should You Do With New Board Members?
How to get the most out of your non profit board of directors. Now that the new year has begun, the makeup of many non profit board of directors may look quite a bit different from last year. Yours is probably no exception. Some experienced and high value board...
How to Fill Empty Nonprofit Board Seats
This is the third and final chapter in a recent series about removing nonprofit board members who no longer fit the future needs of the organization. The first two articles offered suggestions on how to remove board members — How to Deal with Difficult Board Members,...
When Should You Let a Good Board Member Go?
10 Steps to Follow to Make Your Nonprofit Board Better Last week we discussed how to deal with a previously high-value nonprofit board member who has become difficult, argumentative, and even divisive over time. We reviewed approaches you might take to address the...
How to Deal With Difficult Board Members
What do you do when a good board member goes bad? One of the most important roles you have, as part of a board of directors, or as the executive director of a nonprofit, is to help identify and “vet” new board candidates. You use comprehensive checklists, you...
5 Questions Every Nonprofit Leader Should Ask
How to change your thinking to make 2016 your best year yet. We're quickly coming up on the end of 2015, and it's time to start thinking about the new year. How can you help your nonprofit board and leadership team ignite its entrepreneurial spirit and begin the new...
Where is Your Nonprofit Going?
Understanding the key role Mission, Vision, and Values play in moving an organization forward. These elements are probably some of the most important in your organization, yet they are often the most overlooked. They help guide decision-making, budgeting, and...
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