The complaint I hear more than any other from nonprofit execs and/or board chairs is this: Board members disappear between meetings. Poof! They’re gone. Most… Read More »When board members go AWOL between meetings, try this.
Motions are the primary means by which a governing board provides directions to the CEO and other staff, so you’d think considerable care would go… Read More »Will someone state that as a motion?
Many a boardroom discussion is prolonged in hope of achieving unanimity on an important decision. And nonprofit CEOs and board chairs are often chosen and… Read More »Breaking ranks with consensus thinking about consensus
As part of prepping for a workshop with a nonprofit board that’s new to me, I asked the chair to name his must-be-addressed topic for the day. Almost before the question was out of my mouth, he shot back his answer. “I need help in structuring meetings so that the board stays out of administrative detail.” He went on to describe the tedium of agendas dominated by staff reports and the frustration of never enough time to focus on the future.
If misery loves company, this chair has it – in droves. Or so suggests a long-running exchange over at the BoardSource LinkedIn discussion group. The conversation began in June 2011 with the question, “Does anyone have an example of a board agenda that helps steer the conversation towards strategy and away from operations? A year later that starting query continues to generate comments (more than 600 to date).Read More »Strategies for avoiding meddling by meeting
A few posts back I suggested that for fundraisers, who it is that’s on the mountain with you makes a world of difference. The annual… Read More »It matters who’s on the mountain with you (part 2)
Next to a pithy phrase, a meaty metaphor is my favorite rhetorical device. It’s possible to say a lot with a few words. Case in… Read More »My mother-in-law’s Christmas cactus, Policy Governance, and a meaty metaphor
On Monday of this week, I highlighted a list of spruce-up projects guaranteed to enhance your fundraising results come fall. But it’s not just development… Read More »7 mid-summer projects for more productive board work in the fall
Number 1 Anticipation seated at the table, board members ready. Number 2 Motions caught in time, actions out of inaction. The pace of board (bored)… Read More »Governance haiku
With a board meeting staring me in the face, I feel a bout of performance anxiety coming on. Everything I’ve taught or written about board… Read More »Advice for anxious board chairs (and members who are led by them)
You know the scenario. As the clock ticks down on a board meeting, seats begin to empty. No matter the announced ending time, there are… Read More »The problem of the incredible shrinking board