Nonprofit Governance: Is This the Board’s Job?
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Boards
Nonprofit Governance: Is This the Board’s Job?
When it comes to nonprofit governance, what role should your board play and what role should your ED play?
Nonprofit boards are often told that governance is part of their job while also being told not to micro-manage day-to-day operations. This can often leave boards feeling confused.
In this micro-training, we will demystify the role of governance and help your board (and your Exextive Director) get clarity on what they should really be focused on.
What is Governance?
This word gets thrown around a lot. Again and again, boards are told that they are responsible for governance. Unfortunately, governing is a slippery slope to micromanaging or doing the day to day work and driving executive directors nuts. And I’m sure you’ve also been told “Don't get into the day to day of managing the organization”. So what do we really mean when we talk about governance?
I really believe that the words we use and the way we use them can really impact how we end up taking action.
So let’s break down this concept of governance and try on some new words to bring clarity around what your board needs to be doing and what your executive director and their staff as a team should be doing so there's no confusion between the two roles.
When you think about governance, what comes to mind?
In a nutshell, governance is not a single action. Governance is the whole system by which we lead our organizations. So who owns this system? The truth is it's neither the board or the Executive Director and staff, but they have specific roles within. So let me come down here.
- Policies and procedures.
- Systems and processes/Procedures
- Strategic planning
- Compliance
In a nutshell, governance is not a single action. Governance is the whole system by which we lead our organizations. So who owns this system? The truth is it's neither the board or the Executive Director and staff, but they have specific roles within. So let me come down here.
"In a nutshell, governance is not a single action. Governance is the whole system by which we lead our organizations."
The Board's Role In Governance?
The board needs to ensure that the organization has a good system of governance, and I like to call this oversight or quality control.
The board should be asking:
- Do we have policies in place?
- Do and do they make sense?
- Logically, do we have systems and processes?
- Do we have a plan?
- Are there people accountable for decision making at all levels?
- Do we have a system for staying in compliance?
- Are we gathering information?
The Staff's Role In Governance?
The Executive Director's role, with the staff, is refining and carrying out the governance.
The Executive Director with their staff should be taking action and making decisions around:
- What the policies should be
- Developing systems and processes
- Creating the strategic plan
- Setting up systems of accountability
- Implementing systems for staying in compliance
- Gathering and communicating information
Summary
So when we ask “Who's accountable for governance?” The answer is that the board is accountable for oversight and ensuring that there is a system of governance and the Executive Director (with the staff) is accountable for actually building that system and carrying it out.
Free Download
THE 5 RESPONSIBILITIES
OF THE QUALITY CONTROL BOARD
[oversight checklist]
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