The respected ECFA, Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, recently released its Governance survey, taken by 1,600 CEO’S, Board Chairs and directors from its member agencies. One of the more interesting learnings coming out of the survey was an agreement among all in the four main areas of governance needing the most amount of help. They are:

• Understanding Board Governance Trends
• Cultivating and Recruiting New Board Members
• Helping Board Members Annually Self-Assess their Board Service
• Equipping Board Members to Influence Others in Generous Giving

If you are looking for ways to improve your board’s performance, these are key areas you can use for starters. I can think of several others, but these are good ones…non-threatening ones…to kick off the process of upping your board’s game. The good news is there is ample help out there to address these shortcomings. Various check lists and informal ideas are floating all over the Internet, and by tapping into other friends in the nonprofit world. And, nonprofit consultants are only too happy to help out as needed, too. Members of the ECFA get a lot of great advice through their newsletters, training, and publications.

Also there are many quality attorneys and CPA’S who specialize in the heavy lifting these areas of governance sometimes require.  The point is, ignorance of the myriad of rules and regulations is no excuse when trouble brews so, if you have problems in these areas, you are well-advised to seek competent professional assistance…and consider joining the ECFA, if your organization meets its membership profile.