I think it can be safely said that nonprofits that have revenues and equally important, savings, have an enhanced ability to pursue mission. It of course is worth saying that volunteers and donated goods and services matter and matter a lot, but unrestricted assets and income equally matters and often are a game changer for a nonprofit's pursuit of ission.

So what happens if, in a moment, assets dissapear? Impossible you say? Not really as I reagularly feature events when internal…

Nonprofit boards often establish committees to "take care of" tasks the whole board might not want to do or might need done on their behalf. Often enough these tasks embody what I refer to as "taking care of the homework" that can helpfully inform the full board when decisions are to be made.

Finance Committees are an excellent example of a small sub-body of a nonprofit that can take a magnifying look at the income and expense statement and the balance sheet to be sure the rest of the…

What constitutes meaningful nonprofit board conversation? I pose that meaningful nonprofit board conversation, (usually what goes on in a board meetingand/or board planning session informs and/or results in action around fiduciary and strategic policy, planning and evaluation.

One of the topics I believe should be on the table of many human service nonprofits: pay-for-success. PMany US state and federal legislators are considering payfor-success as an answer to both cost savings and…

Why don't CEO's have term limits like boards? Really, why don't they?

And, why am I asking? Because the Wall Street Journal noted today that the Anti-Defamation League has announced a replacement for its longtime national director who is leaving after almost a half century working for the Jewish nonprofit. The New York-based organization on Thursday said Jonathan Greenblatt will take the helm when 74-year-old Abraham Foxman steps down in July 2015.

If I'm doing my math…

Today's Wall Street Journal article on corporate branding as a source of revenue for children's musuems introduces some great nonprofit board policy questions. Making policy to inform day-to-day decisions is part of a nonprofit board's fiduciary duty of care. Policy also reduces the need for a nonprofit's management to need board action on every single decision.

According to the article, corporate branding can play a significant role in the sustainability of a nonprofit. Children's…

What happens when all the lines of governance and ownership and family and program and action and, well just about everything, get entangled with "issues"? The following story about a Charter School and its "arm".

MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

When Imhotep Institute Charter High School opened its new building in East Germantown five years ago, officials dubbed the $10 million facility "the Miracle on 21st Street."

Now, as the school with an African-centered…

The annual "Women on Boards" is out and the dissapointing findings about Philadelphia area publicly traded companies and nonprofit boards include learning that:

Nearly four in 10 - 39 percent - of top executive positions at 18 area colleges are held by women. Yet women make up only 14 percent of executive ranks at public companies.

At public companies, females fill 12 percent of the board seats, but they more than double that - at 26 percent - at 17 of the region's health care…

The decision by Susan B. Komen For the Cure to accept a pretty large (by most nonprofit standards) gift from an oil fracking company appears to be creating for other nonprofits a stir akin to drilling teeth. You can read a "bit" about the issues here.

Included among the "issues":

a) tainted money -- when is it tainted and when/if should a nonprofit not accept such resources

b) public perception - when/if should a nonprofit respond to the "noise"

c) board position…

Many find sports to be a good source for life lessons and so I found the following interview in the Washington Post and by Howard C. Fero, the co-author of “Lead Me Out to the Ballgame: Stories and Strategies to Develop Major League Leadership” and an executive coach and director of graduate leadership programs at Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut quite useful…

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has introduced to the ALS board a challenge: more money that it dreamed of. Now, the board must, in accordance with its fiduciary duty of care, determine by policy or strategy, what it must do with its newfound wealth.

I believe that the Wall Street Journal did a fine job describing the choices unexpected prosperity introduces.

As far as challenges go, too much cash is a good one to have.…

I frequently hear nonprofit board members express their frustration about their inability to attract new and maybe even different kinds of prospects to become board members. True, they may not actually have a recruitment plan and they don't have a governance committee whose job it might be to think very intentionally about what needs the board has and where individuals might be identified and wooed to joing and they may not even have opportunities for prospective board members to lend their…

For those afraid to fly, a sometimes helpful piece of advice: the pilot has the same interest as you in arriving safely. Trust by passengers in the airline and pilot that all will be safe and secure and that both have the same interests is essential.

A recent contract agreement reached by the Metropolitan Opera raises for me the question: does the union (employees) not believe the board has the same interests as the employees? My initial answer: I don't think so. I should add, history…

What should nonprofits boards expect from foundations?

I propose: very little. There's a paradigm I recall hearing about the purpose of foundations: 1) identify "issues"; identify solutions to issues; test the solutions. Three years is a norm. After all this is done: the nonprofit should get supported by the public.

So, today's reality? Except for the public support, yes, I believe this is indeed what nonprofits who think foundation money is a great source, should expect. And…

When it comes to a nonprofit board's taking action (aka voting), numbers often matter. Most often a board's by-laws instruct how many board members need be present and what portion of that number needs to vote positively on an item.

I'm working with a team right now to update the organization's by-laws and during this process we came upon two questions: what happens when there is no quorum and equally important, what happens when quorum is lost during or more likely, toward the end of…

Here's an interesting set of thoughts from Dr. Eugene Fram who discusses nonprofit board roles "beyond the by-laws". I'm interesting in learning your takeaways. Also, as another thought, I propose that what's not contained in a board's by-laws might be contained in the board's governing policies. John Carver proposes that such policies be divided into those that are focused on mission (mission, purpose and values and strategic direction); those that are specific to the board; those that are…

Which of the following tool (s) has the best prospect of making your board meeting THE EVENT of the month or quarter or whatever:

*consent agenda

*planning and choreography (including food)

*actionable agenda items

board-driven conversations

*nonve of the above

*all of the above

I believe if you checked "all of the above" you would be correct. Each of these activities can contribute to making happier and productive board meetings. Without these…

An editorial in today's New York Times discussed state and federal government crackdowns on private for-profit colleges and in particular, Corinthian College.

In the editorial, the paper notes:

Last year, the California attorney general, Kamala Harris, sued Corinthian, charging that it had lied to students and investors about job placement rates for its graduates. The company advertised job placement rates as high as 100 percent for certain programs, when, in some cases, there…

It is pretty much the practice of nonprofits to establish board term limits. Most common among these practices is the 2-3 year term and 1 year off rule recognizing that for large organizations, 3-3 year terms takes into account the learning curve that may be needed to create effective boards. Admittedly, there are quite a number of nonprofit boards that I have encountered that do not implement their term limits for all kinds of lame reasons: we don't want to lose our invaluable member (what,…