Notes from "Doing Good Better - How to be an Effective Board Member of a Nonprofit Organization" - by Edgar Stoesz

The Nominating Committee is arguably the most important committee on a board.

Unseating a director is more difficult than discharging an unsatisfactory employee.

Timing your ask can make all the difference.

Big people respond to big challenges. Small bait only attracts small fish.

A board must understand its governance role as distinct from management.

Governance and management complement each other.

When I was chairman of Habitat for Humanity International, I participated in four Jimmy Carter blitz builds. I took orders from the house foreperson - whoever that was. I was a volunteer builder like all the others. That I was chairman of the board gave me no special status. A build was not a board event.

Good directors have good antennas.

Organizations must resist the temptation to be all things to all people.

The best vision statements are bold and concise.

Vision reaches for the stars; mission is grounded in the here and now.

A mental health facility had a successful inpatient treatment program. When the need shifted to outpatient treatment, it transitioned to satellite clinics. It adjusted its program to respond to market realities. IT prospered, while those who stayed with the old model found themselves on the margins.

Planning is the link between what is and what is to be.

Planning can be thought of as walking a dream into existence.

A long-range plan is vision; the annual work plan is a commitment.

Everyone plans on his or her level.

Great organizations are guided by need.

An organization should always be in the first year of a multi-year plan.

The effectiveness of any decision is only as good as its implementation.

The value of an executive is in how he or she is able to enlist and motivate others.

Making the jump to employing a CEO can become a rite of passage to bigger and better things.

An organization’s resources go beyond money.

Boards are expected to exercise prudent oversight over all of an organization’s financial activity.

The ability to attract and retain strong staff separates the good from the great.

Reputation is earned over many years and can be lost in one careless act.

A plan is good only if it is accompanied by the resources needed for its fulfillment.

Lethargy in the boardroom spreads like a virus.

The review should be a two-way conversation.

The jump from good to great is based on honest evaluation.

Unfortunately, the only time many organizations address their members is when they are asking them for money.

Current contributors are the best prospects for future contributions.

Improvement at the board level is quickly reflected throughout the whole organization.

Planning an effective meeting begins immediately after the preceding meeting adjourns.

Good meetings are not likely to happen without a good agenda.

No raw meat! If someone brings issues that are not ready for board action, consider it raw meat and send it back to the kitchen!

I like the sign I saw on the desk of a busy executive in Bogota, Colombia: “No problemas - Soluciones”.

Good organizations have good meetings.

Great directors think independently while also being collaborative.

Differences exist only where there are multiple options, and options are good.

Ignoring a conflict may make it worse.

The hidden cost of an unresolved, protracted dispute can be enormous.

The effective chairperson keeps the discussion focused on a single issue at a time.

Minutes should record official actions accurately.

The secretary remains legally responsible for the minute record.

Minutes are never easier to write than immediately after a meeting.

A database of active and potential donors is as valuable as a bank account.

Fundraising is about raising friends for the cause.

It takes money to raise money.

Committees can dissect the wholeness that needs to characterize an organization.

Committees are not necessarily always an efficient use of time.

I chaired a board that a program committee and a finance committee that met simultaneously. The program committee, predictably, recommended the approval of a new exciting program. The finance committee, not knowing what the program committee had concluded, projected a year-end deficit and recommended a budget freeze. The two committees cancelled each other out, leaving the final decision to the board.

If nonprofits had to pay for committee time, they would use it more sparingly.

If a meeting is well planned, two hours should accomplish what the committee is capable of doing.

Task forces exist for a defined function.

An organization that does not have a budget is not planning.

A careful reading of the budget reveals an organization’s true priorities.

The real value of budgeting usually becomes apparent only after the second or third year.

The capacity to lead people is among the most sought-after and rewarded human abilities.

Servant leaders are motivated by putting the interests of others and the cause ahead of themselves.

Some organizations need to be allowed to die - maybe even helped to dies.

To get improved results requires some new thinking, most likely from new people.

You need to find directors who bring positive energy to your board.

Boards that fail to set goals get discouraged.

When it appeared that London would succumb to Germany’s relentless bombing, Winston Churchill gave a speech that consisted of just five words. Putting his cigar aside for the moment, he surveyed his audience. Then slowly and deliberately he said, “Never, never, never give up.” He repeated it twice more and sat down. Speech finished. Point made!

Special care should be exercised, and perhaps legal counsel should be engaged, when an organization is contemplating a merger and/or when substantial governmental contracts are in place or under consideration.

I heard that someone walked by a room where we were having a meeting. Not knowing what was going on behind closed doors, he asked, “What is going on in that room?” When he was told it was a board meeting, he said “Impossible - they were laughing.”

Humor can be a lubricant that relieves tension and helps to focus an issue.

Humor sees the lighter side of an issue.

Service is a privilege, not a sacrifice.

Retirement needs to be addressed further upstream.

Team limits are the best of imperfect options.

Leaving properly has a lot to do with leaving at the proper time.