Building the Board of the Future: Exceptional Non-Profit Governance

Transcription

1 Building the Board of the Future: Exceptional Non-Profit Governance Developing an Exceptional Non-Profit Board of Directors in a Rapidly Changing World Facilitator: Michael G. Daigneault, Principal - Quantum Governance, L3C

2 Michael G. Daigneault, Esq. Principal & Founder Who Are We? Quantum Governance, L3C is a low profit, limited liability service organization dedicated to the public good. ~ One of the first such "hybrid" organizations in the U.S. ~ We have significant experience in the nonprofit, credit union & corporate communities. Governance Consulting, Advice & Counsel Assessments, Research & Knowledge Building Keynote Presentations, Workshops & Seminars Strategic Planning, Retreats & Facilitation

3 Why Are You Here Today?

4 The Path Ahead... The Roles & Responsibilities of a Board Governance as Leadership Fearless Fundraising Forces for Good The Board of the Future Please Note: The phrase "Governance As Leadership" and many of the core ideas upon which this presentation is based are from the wonderful book "Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work Of Nonprofit Boards" by Richard Chait, William Ryan & Barbara Taylor, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ (2005). The book is available though BoardSource at or Amazon at

5 A Key Goal: More Effective Boards & Nonprofits... Exceptional Responsible Functional Dysfunctional Unconscious Conscious Enlightened

6 Boards need to stop and think about governance instead of just constantly doing what they think is governance. -- Richard Chait

7 What is... "Governance?"

8 To govern is to steer, to control, and to influence or persuade from a position of authority. As such, governance deals with the legitimate distribution of authority throughout a system whether a country, corporation or nonprofit. -- BoardSource

9 What are the Core Roles & Responsibilities of a Nonprofit Board?

10 Governance & Leadership The Core Roles & Responsibilities of a Nonprofit Strategic & Planning Board CEO Support & Oversight Performance & Results Ethics & Financial Integrity

11 What is an Engaged Board Member? Actively build relationships necessary to succeed Are emotionally connected to organization Are working at their appropriate skill/challenge level Act to improve their and the organization s performance Understand what to do to help their organization Sustain their involvement throughout the year

12 Governance as Leadership Fiduciary Strategic Generative

13 The Fiduciary Mode Board s core work: Ensure legal compliance Ensure fiscal accountability Conserve organization s resources, public stewardship for assets of the foundation Evaluate CEO, hold leadership accountable Oversee operations Monitor results

14 The Strategic Mode Board s core work: Scan internal & external environments. Review, modify & assist strategic plan/vision. Assess strategy performance via needs assessment, critical success factors, benchmarks, and competitive position. If necessary, recruit strategic leadership.

15 The Generative Mode Board s core work: Sees current challenges in new light. Perceives and frames better problems and opportunities. Asks key questions! Acknowledges organizations are not always logical or linear. Discovers strategies, priorities, & realities. Suspends the rules of logic to tap intuition and intellectual playfulness. Encourages robust discourse not quick consensus.

16 Exercise: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts conserves preeminent collections and aspires to serve a wide variety of people through direct encounters with works of art. It serves as a resource for both those who are already familiar with art and those for whom art is a new experience. The Museum has obligations to the people of Boston and New England, across the nation and abroad. It celebrates diverse cultures and welcomes new and broader constituencies. The Museum's ultimate aim is to encourage inquiry and to heighten public understanding and appreciation of the visual world.

17 What is Board Success?

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19 Fearless Fundraising

20 The 15 Fundraising Questions Are prospective board members clearly and unambiguously made aware of their fundraising responsibilities BEFORE they join the board? 2. Are fundraising responsibilities AND personal giving included in a written board member job description? 3. Do ALL board members make a yearly personal stretch gift to the organization? 4. Does the board chair personally solicit board members annually? 5. Does the board chair take time to personally cultivate, solicit and steward higher level prospects and donors?

21 The 15 Fundraising Questions Does the executive director take time to personally cultivate, solicit and steward higher level prospects and donors? 7. Does the development director take time to personally cultivate, solicit and steward higher level prospects and donors? 8. Does the board s fundraising committee assist in organizing the overall board s fundraising RATHER than doing all (or nearly all) the fundraising itself? 9. Is the organization s mission statement clear, concise, and compelling AND can all (or nearly all) board members recite it?

22 The 15 Fundraising Questions Can at least 80% of the board members convincingly articulate the official case for support? 11.Is there a clear and shared fundraising strategy at the board AND staff levels? 12.Do meeting agendas give clear AND regular priority to fundraising? 13.Are there regular board training opportunities in fundraising? 14.Are board members - who fulfill their fundraising responsibilities consistently AND publicly acknowledged? 15.Are you meeting your fundraising goals?

23 12 Q s Every Board Should Ask (1-6) Is our organizational purpose/mission clear and distinct? What s our strategic plan? - How are we going to improve, grow or move forward? Have we defined organizational success and agreed on how to measure it? Are our revenues and cash flow sustainable? What could really hurt or kill our organization in the next few years? Is our board genuinely engaged and working in constructive partnership with staff?

24 12 Q s Every Board Should Ask (7-12) If our executive director were "hit by a bus tomorrow," who would manage the organization? How can we collaborate with others even more effectively? How does bad news get to the top? What are our internal controls? Do we have the right "people on the bus?" Do I really understand the answers to questions 1 through 11?

25 The Question... H O W C A N Y O U B U I L D A N O N P R O F I T T H A T H A S H I G H I M P A C T?

26 Contemporary Nonprofit Meta-Strategies Replicate Successful Programs To Increase Scope & Impact Of Mission ( ) Create More Effective Nonprofits Through Organizational Capacity Building ( ) Employ "Leverage" To Become Catalytic Agents Of System Change (2008 +) Crutchfield and Grant argue that: "...the most effective nonprofits "employ a strategy of leverage, using government, business, the public and other nonprofits as forces for good, helping them deliver even greater social change than they could possibly achieve alone." p. 6

27 Forces For Good: The Six Practices of High Impact Nonprofits The Theme of the Book: "Forces for good is about the six practices that high impact nonprofits use to maximize social good." p.11 The Core Research Question: What enabled twelve exemplary nonprofits to have extraordinarily high levels of impact? p.1 The Secret to Success: Success = Impact. "The secret of success has more to do with how nonprofits work outside the boundaries of their organizations than how they manage their own internal operations."... " Great organizations work with and through others to create more impact than they could ever achieve alone."p.19

28 Forces For Good: The Six Practices of High Impact Nonprofits The Strategy of Leverage: The key, the authors suggest, is the power of leverage - "the ability to influence people, events and decisions." p.19 The New Way of Thinking: "The building of a great board or delivering adequate services or even running an efficient nonprofit are not enough. In order to be true forces for good we must learn new ways of thinking and acting." p.4 The Next Leap: See nonprofits as catalytic agents of change...catalysts that work within, and change entire systems. p. 6 The Most Effective Nonprofits: "...[E]mploy a strategy of leverage, using government, business, the public, and other nonprofits as forces for good, helping them deliver even greater social change than they could possibly achieve alone." p. 6

29 Forces For Good: The Six Practices... Foster Individual Evangelists Advocate To Government High Impact Nonprofit Partner With Business Innovative, Adaptive & Nimble Collaborate & Network With Nonprofits Shared Empowering Leadership

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32 What Are Some of The Key Challenges Facing Non-Profit Boards? The Economic Landscape - The New Normal The Conceptual Age - Success Redefined Key Demographic Shifts - A Time of Challenge Leadership & Governance - A Crisis & New Framework A Matter of Impact - Are We One or Many?

33 The Economic Landscape... More Competition for Money Strategic Fundraising Increased Scrutiny Mergers, Dissolutions, New Entities

34 A Key Challenge Faced By Many Nonprofit Leaders... One of the key challenges today is frequently not a lack of information but, rather, the flood of information that is delivered by the internet... It can be a bit like trying to satisfy your thirst with a fire hydrant!

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36 The Emergence of the Conceptual Age...

37 "Success" is Different in the Conceptual Age... Information Age Conceptual Age Rational Sequential Literal Functional Textual Analytic Success is now much deeper than just... "information." Creative Simultaneous Metaphorical Aesthetic Contextual Synthetic

38 Key Demographic Shifts... Generations Gender Race Increasing Populations... present opportunity for growth

39 A Time of Challenge...

40 Leadership & Governance... Engagement The Purpose of Board Meetings Strategic Thinking & Planning A New "Constructive Partnership"

41 A Nonprofit Governance & Leadership Crisis?

42 A Matter of Impact... The Four External Practices Foster Individual Champions Advocate To Government Partner With Business Innovative, Nimble & Adaptive High Impact Nonprofit Shared Empowering Leadership Collaborate & Network With Nonprofits The Two Internal Practices Source: Forces For Good

43 Younger Smaller Increasingly Diverse Strategically Adept Thoughtful Innovative Technologically Savvy Financially Skilled Highly Accountable Partnered With Staff Final Thoughts...