Board Development

A Process for Developing Effective Nonprofit Board Leadership

The board of a nonprofit organization is one of its most valuable resources. Boards best serve the organization and their members, when they become engaged in the focused productive work that is their responsibility -- planning, financial oversight, program oversight, executive director evaluation, fundraising, board development, outreach, and advocacy. When the work of the board does not call upon board members to actively engage their skills, passions, and creativity, this great resource can become lost or misdirected.

Active board engagement is fostered when the board has committed to the accomplishment of jointly established goals and when there is support and guidance to help them to overcome the inevitable obstacles to the achievement of those goals.

The The Board Development process

The The Board Development process will guide boards to identify their goals, develop an action plan to achieve them and, most importantly, provide support for the implementation of that plan.

1. Board Assessment
   • An assessment of the organizational needs for board action
   • Interviews with the Board Chair and Executive Director
   • Observation of a Board meeting and board self assessment
   • Assessment review

2. Training and planning
   • Training on board responsibilities and management
   • Agreement on board goals and priorities
   • Creation of a board action plan and timetable

3. Implementation
   • Coaching to assist the Board Chair, Governance Committee, Executive Director and board leadership in executing the action plan

4. Evaluation
   • Evaluation of the board's achievements
   • Evaluation of the value added to the organization

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Experience

Board Development Accomplishments