Do you wanna guess what committee it is? In my years of working with many different types of nonprofit organizations, it has been proven over and over again. It’s the Board Development Committee. Sometimes it’s called the Governance Committee, or the Nominating Committee. I prefer "Board Development", because when functioning well, it's doing exactly that [...]
You know the one. They show up to board meetings- sometimes. Or they say they’ll do some stuff but there’s a 50-50 chance it will get done. Or they DO have good intentions but they haven’t been truly plugged in for a while. Or they’re the first one to leave a meeting. Or they [...]
Are you wondering where your board unicorn is? You know the one – every board meeting is well attended. Board members follow through on tasks. Committees are strong with clear goals. They even raise money for your cause! Shoot, people are asking how they can join your board because it has such a great reputation [...]
The board meeting has been on the calendar for months. And yet, you show up to find only a third of the members in attendance. How frustrating!! What the heck is the problem? Don’t they care about your mission anymore? Are they all travelling suddenly? Are they thinking about leaving the board? Dang, you certainly [...]
Yep, I get it - you hear the words strategic planning and your stomach clenches. I get it - hang on for a minute. I had the pleasure – and I really mean that; it was wonderful – of presenting at the Enterprising Nonprofits conference in Green Bay today. I’ve never been to Green Bay [...]
I hear it all the time – “Our board isn’t engaged.” Hmmmm. If you want an engaged board then YOU need to engage them. Let’s think about how you’re thinking about board engagement. Think about how you recruited them. Then how you oriented and onboarded them. Then how you equipped them for success. Then how you [...]