A nonprofit’s board is key to sustaining a viable, well-regarded and well-resourced organization. This section provides practical guidance on the art and science of excellent board governance.
Board Excellence
Resources
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Having a year-at-a-glance document that outlines key activities for your organization can help keep things on track.
Board room engagement can be made richer by the board routinely asking questions which prompt meaningful discussions and quickly get to the heart of the matter.
What does "high performance" really means for nonprofits? How do you get there from here? The Leap Ambassadors Community, a network of nonprofit leaders has developed clear, actionable answers to both questions.
Use this activity to engage your board in a thoughtful discussion of the culture of the board.
Much of the work of the board is accomplished by standing committees or ad hoc work groups. This document describes several types of committees.
Track the important dates of your board members' terms with this worksheet.
A fact filled Powerpoint presentation on by-laws from Assistant Director of the NH Charitable Trusts Unit.
Create a handy one-page document to the most frequently asked questions from your by-laws
Review this checklist to see what you might be missing in your by-laws.
Adapt this template for use in your organization today.
This resource briefly summarizes some of the key differences between Fiduciary, Strategic and Generative thinking in the boardroom.
Create or update your audit policy with ideas from this sample.
Sometimes knowing which questions to ask is as important as knowing the answers. This resource offers 20 questions to ask about mission, revenue, reputation and infrastructure.
We never want to think about closing the doors, but this document will guide you through what that process entails.
When you're getting ready to write your organization's by-laws it can be helpful to look at samples from other organizations.
This resource reviews the qualities of a high-performing board and outlines a three-step process to aid your board in becoming extraordinary.
Before the board meeting, you need to get some files to your board members for their review. Sending documents via email is not always the best way to accomplish this. This resource offers some tips for low/no cost sharing of files.
Steve Zimmerman has shared this interactive Excel Worksheet for implementing his Matrix Map.
This workplan sample breaks down board initiatives and standard business to identify who is responsible for each item, the timeframe, deliverables and more.
