28
2013The Qualities Needed in a Nonprofit Organization’s Board Chair
A Post from James V. Toscano and Dania Toscano Miwa This post dedicated to Amir Gharbi. With a million nonprofits now extant in the United States, we could assume that there may be almost a million unique individuals in the role of chair of the Board of Directors or Trustees. Given the diversity of the nonprofit sector, are there common qualities that all of these groups should be searching for in the individual who will serve as chief volunteer? Clearly, there are. Doing a Google search alone will produce hundreds of descriptions of what a chair does, should be and…
02
2013
A Recap – The Most Popular Posts in 2012
Happy New Year! In looking back over last year, Jim and I were interested to see what resonated with our readers the most and are eager to hear what topics our readers wished we’d written about. (The comment box below is a great place to let us know what you’d like to read more about, or if you’d prefer, send me an email at Dania(@)ToscanoAdvisors.com.) These are the top five most read posts of last year. 1. 5 Myths about Social Media for Nonprofit Organizations 2. Why Does a Nonprofit Board Need Young People? 3. The Ten “Must” Agreements Between…
05
2012Board Selection Mnemonics
A post by James V. Toscano mne·mon·ics: the process or technique of improving or developing the memory Let’s trot out the old chestnuts, those alliterative mnemonics often quoted in training and articles about the type people who should be on a nonprofit organization’s board. Governance is always one of the leading topics of discussion and controversy in nonprofits, both in sector and academic circles. One sometimes hears three prescriptive letters summarizing desired qualities of prospective board members, sometimes not understood, sometimes dismissed, sometimes used cynically, and sometimes followed with insight. A variety of “schools” e.g. Carver, Benevan, cite specific roles…
06
2011Ten Things Every Nonprofit Board Member Should Know
Post by James V. Toscano 1. The Mission is why we do what we do. Let us focus in on it. 2. The Vision is what ultimately we want to achieve. We need to get there reasonably, effectively, and efficiently. 3. Those who show up at meetings decide what happens. Get to meetings or get off the board.
15
2011
Why Your Board Needs Term Limits
Post by Gail Perry (reposted from Charity Channel) Do you have a board that is reluctant to enforce term limits for its members? Or do you have bylaws that don’t even mention term limits? Term limits are important to a smoothly functioning board. In fact, they can be a nonprofit CEO’s best friend. They keep a board from becoming stale and set in its ways. When that happens, your entire organization may be at risk—sooner than you think. With today’s wildly shifting environment, this is a very dangerous place to be. To illustrate just how term limits can make a…
29
2011Why Does a Nonprofit Board Need Young People?
Post by Dania Toscano Miwa I do a lot of board recruiting. A LOT. One of the most common questions I get from those already on the board in question is “Why do I want a college student or young professional on the board? What value does he/she bring?” While it’s true that most young professionals cannot write a 5 digit check to an organization, is money really the only thing of value we gain from our Board of Directors? Assuming a nonprofit organization has the right young individual for board service, it can be a mutually beneficial experience. The…