Archive for the ‘Governance’ Category

Nonprofit Governance: Law, Practices, and Trends by Bruce Hopkins

In this comprehensive, one-stop resource, Hopkins and Gross deftly summarize the law that exists and explain and evaluate the many good governance principles that have been promulgated. Nonprofit Governance helps leaders and managers of nonprofit organizations, and their lawyers, accountants, and advisors, to:

* Understand the legal backdrop for nonprofit governance
* Sift through the numerous good governance principles and
guidelines
* Select the ones that most appropriately apply to their particular
organization
* Devise suitable policies and procedures
* Improve their operations and effectiveness
* Undertake a comprehensive governance legal audit
* Be in a position to file Forms 990 that cast them in the best
possible light regarding nonprofit governance

Nonprofit Governance is a must-read for anyone facing good governance decisions in a nonprofit organization and is lost in the maze of conflicting principles, ever-increasing policies and procedures, murky law, and the intensity of the IRS in insisting on adoption of various principles in the absence of legal requirements for them.

Begging for Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient, and Rewarding for All by Robert Egger 

In Begging for Change, Robert Egger looks back on his experience
and exposes the startling lack of logic, waste, and ineffectiveness he
has encountered during his years in the nonprofit sector, and calls for
reform of this $800 billion industry from the inside out. In his
entertaining and inimitable way, he weaves stories from his days in
music, when he encountered legends such as Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme,
and Iggy Pop, together with stories from his experiences in the hunger
movement — and recently as volunteer interim director to help clean up
the beleaguered United Way National Capital Area. He asks for
nonprofits to be more innovative and results-driven, for corporate and
nonprofit leaders to be more focused and responsible, and for citizens
who contribute their time and money to be smarter and more demanding of
nonprofits and what they provide in return.

A wise friend posted this weekend, in Twitter, “Treat
your business as your #1 customer.” Now, I’m not sure if that is Mia’s original
thought, but it was quite timely for me.

Once a quarter, Esther Fleming and I set aside a weekend
to work on our businesses.  We call them,
If I Only Had A Weekend (IIOHAW). Our time during these IIOHAWs has been spent
praying, fasting, and focusing on our businesses. We come to the weekend
prepared to give advice, encouragement, and complete attention to each other
and our respective businesses.

This weekend was very special as we each are saying goodbye
to a client. This gap in our businesses has given us a clearer purpose for
meeting and strategizing. So, we spent a lot of time looking for direction,
being clear about action steps, and identifying our motives. This may be hard
to grasp, but neither one of us wants to run a business for the sake of running
a business. We want the passion we had when we first started our businesses, me 9-years ago and Esther 5-years ago. We spent quite a bit of time this weekend
falling in love with our businesses again.

For me, I can say that I like things plainly defined. I
want to look at a map and understand exactly where I’m to go next. So, I went
back to my life map I created earlier this year. It sits in a prominent spot in
my office (on the wall above my monitor). In the center of my life map is a
picture of the world with God spelled out in the middle of it. For me, taking
my business back to the beginning means reconnecting with my faith. This is what
this IIOHAW afforded me. On the first day, I organized my office, my thoughts,
and created my plan. On the second day: I sat quietly in meditation and prayer,
I revised my business budget (cutting costs and adding expenses for training),
I created the beginnings of a marketing strategy (get out of the office once a
week for business development), and I just did a lot of soul searching. On the
third day, I finalized my budget (I still have a few cuts to make, but it is
pretty much done), and I finalized my marketing strategy by creating a plan
with activities listed for the week and month. I am excited about what I’ve
created with the help of Esther. We have even added an accountability component
this upcoming quarter, to meet weekly for 15 minutes to talk about our progress
in keeping with our plans.

When was the last time you stopped to survey the health
of your business? Is it still on track? Do you need to take a weekend to refresh
yourself on your mission? Take it! Do whatever you need to in order to build
(or rebuild) what your heart desires!

Nonprofit organizations are only as strong as their members. So, questions you should ask yourself as you start your nonprofit: Who’s benefiting from your organization’s mission? How do you keep lines of communication open among your members? What questions do they have that others may be able to answer? Consider creating an environment, such as a community portal, to give your members a way to communicate and support one another.

Just creating a listserv these days will not suffice. You need to have more functionality and flexibility to relay information in several formats. You can use AWeber, Constant Contact, and Vertical Response, just to name a few, to create marketing materials to send to your entire membership.

You can create a presence on Facebook or Twitter where your members can post comments and participate in group discussions. These social networks also allow the members an opportunity to really get to know one another. Don’t forget to investigate creating forums for your website where members can share information, ask questions, and find support with your organization being the catalyst for this one-stop-shop.

There are various tools to help us establish relationships, make connections both business and personal, and to become a little more real to people, who in this day and age are looking for authenticity. Study your market, and get a feel for the various ways they are reaching out to each other now; then use that as a starting point to build your member network.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted in 2002 in response to scandals involving several public corporations such as: Enron, Tyco International, and WorldCom just to name a few. The reason why this is important to your nonprofit is that it is a public company, and is therefore subjected to the regulations within the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Now, I’m neither a lawyer nor accountant, so this blog post is in no way giving you advice. However, my intention is to expose you to websites that will assist you in increasing your understanding of this Act. Thus, I think it is always best to start at the beginning, and here is the full Act. Then next I would just visit a few blogs to see what people are saying.

Happy reading!

Things change constantly in such a regulated industry as the not-for-profit one. So how are you keeping up with the changes?

Here are some of the things I read:
The Chronicles of Philanthropy
Nonprofit Times
Foundation Center’s newsletters (I’m subscribed to a few of their newsletters.)

I read not just for updates and changes to the industry, but also for a sense of the flair of the people working within the industry. My favorite example of style and flair is the White Courtesy Telephone. Their wit and humor makes their approach to these serious issues interesting, apparent, and clear.

Here are some other Blogs that I read:
Beacons on the Frontline
Perspectives From the Pipeline
Nonprofit Eye
The Nonprofit Consultant Blog
Tips and tools for nonprofits
Nonprofit Blog Exchange

Now, tell us what are you are reading? Even if it is something listed above; we really want to know.

It is prudent to check what the community that you serve thinks of the programs you offer frequently. I would recommend that you institute this process every year, and six months after a new program has been introduced, at the least. You’ll know exactly when this should happen as it is (or should be) stated in your Bylaws.

An evaluation is a list of questions to help you gauge the success of your program. It’s obvious that you want to mention your programs to have the community weigh-in on them. “Outcomes” evaluations are increasingly required by nonprofit funders as verification that the nonprofits are in fact providing practical help to their constituents. See the Basic Guide to Program Evaluation for more information.

Questions you might ask of your patrons include:
- Does the nonprofit organization provide needed services to the community?
- How did you find out about this program?
- What do you believe are the strengths of the program?
- What do you recommend in way of improvements to the program?

Goals-based evaluations, process-based evaluations, and outcomes-based evaluations are discussed in detail at the Free Management Library.

The Utica Public Library has put together a list of Internet resources for nonprofits seeking help with outcome measurement and program evaluation tools..

A board consists of individuals who can actually make decisions, especially financial ones, and therefore, adults sit on boards and govern the organizations. However, there are instances where a board would opt to have an advisory team that properly represents the demographics of their targeted audience, children.

Just recently an example of this was seen as The Shade Tree in Las Vegas, NV had a team of children design the look of the new playground. This is a very effective method when the board needs to be very specific about an activity or program.

Don’t discount your small constituents. Their voices are just as important as anyone else’s.

Directors & Officers Insurance (commonly referred to as D&O insurance), is often overlooked by nonprofits for the simple reason they are uncertain whether or not they really need D&O coverage. Read this article noting compelling reasons to protect your organization. This should reassure you that D&O insurance has significant value to even the smallest nonprofit organization.

When a person becomes a board member, she assumes a level of responsibility for the organization and thus exposes herself to claims for not managing the organization properly. Even if the case brought against a board is thrown out, the organization still bears the brunt of having to pay the legal fees. Legal expenses could be brutal for a small organization and could even put them right out of business.
In general, D&O insurance includes coverage of an officer or director in the discharge of his/her duties. This includes but is not limited to:

• Any actual or alleged act
• Misstatement or misleading statement,
• Neglect or breach of duty
• Omission and/or error

As with all insurance policies, read the policy carefully to ensure it includes all the necessary components for your organization. Here is a checklist of issues to review when looking to purchase D&O insurance.

Setting up a nonprofit is complicated and overwhelming. So, make the creation of your policies and procedures basic. Here are five things that will help you to keep it simple:

Keep it general- At this point in the creation of your policies, your goal is to keep it basic. You are only doing the preliminaries at this stage in the game. Once the final board has been identified, and put into place, then together you’ll revisit what you’ve started. It is up to the entire board to make the final decision on the policies.

Don’t reinvent the wheel- Take help and use available templates.

Make sure your policies support your Bylaws- We talked about the Bylaws and their importance. Make sure your policies agree with and support your Bylaws. You don’t want contradictions between the two.

Remember to tie in your organization’s mission statement- At all times, remember to reiterate your organization’s mission statement in everything you write, share, and produce. Your mission statement is one of the key elements of your organization; make sure to promote it.

Ease into the process - Don’t stress and feel as though you have to complete this document all at one time. As your organization grows and changes, you’ll find that you’ll revisit your policies quite often. This is a growing and changing document.

Enjoy this time of discovery as you explore the depths of what your organization can be!