The Nonprofit Boards Role

Nonprofit boards are essential to the success of any organisation. They are responsible for the oversight of finances, ensuring that nonprofits have managing virtual board meetings sufficient resources to achieve their goals, and ensuring they operate within legal guidelines. They also participate in fundraising initiatives. Board members are bound by a fiduciary obligation to treat the nonprofit’s assets as such as if they were their own. This means they should not make decisions based on the interests of their own or on favoritism and must be honest in their dealings with the organisation.

Nonprofits should find board members who have the following characteristics:

Passion Board members should be passionate about your nonprofit’s mission and have the urgency to act. If your board lacks this and is not passionate, it will be unable to improve its productivity.

The commitment: To succeed a non-profit organization must have the dedication of its staff and volunteers. Additionally your board needs to be willing to invest time, money and energy.

Skills: A reputable nonprofit board should be proficient in areas like governance, strategic planning, and organizational oversight. It should be able to recognize potential talent and find people to fill leadership roles.

All employees of a non-profit must adhere to a conflicts-of-interest policy. Failure to adhere to this policy can result in fines and penalties from the IRS or the state-level “Sunshine Laws.” It is for this reason that many nonprofits require board members to sign agreements regarding conflict of interest.