Nonprofit Leadership Choice Point: Governance

This post is part of our “Nonprofit Strategy Now” series: reflections on nonprofit strategy development in 2020 by Jenny Kramm, Collectivity Senior Consultant, see original post here

What follows are five key choice points that you may be encountering as a nonprofit organization today making strategic choices.  

Choice Point 3: Governance

There are several questions you could ask yourself to observe your board’s response recently. Two main topics come up as issues you could explore for learnings, and to make some choices about what your nonprofit organization needs from a board in this next strategic chapter: 

1. Role 

2. Relationship 

Board Role 

We’ve recently covered topics like the essence of your mission, finances, and program service choices that your organization might have been confronting amidst the pandemic and  pain in our community due the murder of George Floyd.

Has your board been a valuable resource in tackling these big picture strategic challenges? If so, how? If not, why not? 

Does your board view topics of racial equity as part of their role in ensuring healthy governance of the organization? 

• What has that looked like in the past? 

• What could that look like in the future? 

In a recent Nonprofit Quarterly webinar, 70% of nonprofit participants had developed a statement about equity in response to the killing of George Floyd, yet only 20% of the participants had an organization-wide conversation about the statement itself, or what it would take to implement the commitments within the statement. This is an opportunity for the board of directors to take a role in raising these questions, and weaving in attention to equity into the boardroom.  

Board Relationship with Staff 

If it’s needed, moving toward resolving issues in an emergency situation is helpful. Staying in that mode after the emergency is over can eat away at a trusted board staff relationship. Step back and observe:  

I’m imagining your board had one of two responses: 

1. Move toward: step into what would be considered ‘operations’ of the organization to resolve challenges

2. Stay away: Remain distant, or checked out, hoping it will resolve itself

What do you make of the board’s response? And how does the board’s response in an emergency impact the relationship between the board and staff today? 

• Is the board stepping in to deal with issues with staff in a hands-on way? Is that helpful? If so, why was it helpful? Will that be helpful long-term, or is this a context-situational point in time?

• How can the board support staff in this urgency without developing an unhealthy habit of micromanagement / overstepping boundaries? 

• Do your board of directors trust one another?

• Do they keep one another accountable? 

We have experience navigating these topics, and helping your organization evolve as you need.

Is this a discussion you’d like to explore with Collectivity’s help?

We facilitate board, staff, and smaller group strategic discussion virtually and in person. Contact us to get the conversation started.