Basic Responsibilities of Non-Profit Board of Director
Abstract
As world business has changed dramatically during recent years, chargers of business entities, including Non-Profit entities, urged to find a perfect rules in order to enhance their competence within an excellent environment. To fulfill the requirement, the National Center for Non-Profit Board has issued a paper on "Ten Basic Responsibilities of Non-Profit Boards" to clarify the roles and responsibility of the board about 30 years ago. This regulation paper requires ten basic responsibilities including Determine the organization, Select the executive director, Support the executive and review his/her performance, Ensure effective organizational planning, Monitor and strengthen programs and services, Ensure adequate resources, Protect assets and provide financial oversight, Build a competent board, Enhance the organization’s public standing and Ensure legal and ethical integrity (Richard T. Ingram, Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards, Second Edition (BoardSource 2009). We will first introduce the Board of Director and purpose of Non-Profit Board of Director, then introduce all of ten responsibilities in detail and finally make extension about it.
1. What is Board of Directors
A Board of directors, in my opinion, is a body of one person or a group of people who should oversee the performance of a organization. The goal of Board of Directors is to protect the organization 's assets and to use source to
The role of the board of directors is to oversee their operations that consists of community-based volunteers. They work with other community members that are composed of youths and graduates of their shelter programs. Also, to provide resources, allocate funds, monitors the activities of management, as well as electing outside individuals to serve as officers of the organization.
The nonprofit board and its governance are critical to an organization’s success. Brown (2007) stresses the need for governing boards to be informed, effective, and engaged, especially because the current environment (i.e. increasing competition for resources, etc.) demands high-quality board performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine existing literature as it relates to nonprofit board governance and performance. This analysis includes an examination of nonprofit boards’ roles, responsibilities, and functions along with a review of best practices. In addition, board roles and best practices, and their correlation to board performance is emphasized. Finally, a discussion of the practical implications of the literature as it relates to DavidsonWorks’ board ties the literature to real-world application.
The elements of a board as a defining factor in the self-governance character of a nonprofit is affirmed by Worth (2014). For example, the “control of the nonprofit lies with a board of directors…who have overall responsibility to [care for and oversee] the organization” (Worth, 2014, p. 57). Big Brothers Big Sisters exemplifies volunteerism in both its history and present service practices. For example, the organization currently utilizes “400,000 volunteer mentors and families” (Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, 2016a, para. 3) to work with youth and facilitate the organizations critical programs and relationships (Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, 2016a). Big Brothers Big Sisters history is also reflective of volunteerism is critical role. To illustrate, in 1904 Ernest Coulter founded the Big Brothers movement with 39 volunteers, who each agree to befriend and mentor an individual youth (Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, 2016a). The statistical data from Big Brothers Big Sisters reveals that the organization have a tremendous impact on community individuals and therefore provides a public benefit through
The diversity of nonprofit organizations, services provided and the problems faced shows that nonprofits require leadership with an in-depth understanding of the multifaceted nonprofit landscape. Understanding the culture of nonprofit work is also crucial and much easier to understand once you have been through a nonprofit management program. My career interests lead me towards an avocation of a deeper knowledge of strategic management/planning, legal structure and standards, increase my skills in quantitative analysis of policy, financial governance and developing fundraising strategies. These areas allow for macro management within the nonprofit
“The governing board of a non-profit organization holds ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the organization serves its mission and for the overall welfare of the organization itself.” (Worth, 2017) This week’s reading was about how boards of non-profit organizations or better known as “governing boards”, operate and the types of responsibilities they have. Before taking this class, I thought that boards held the same responsibilities and held the same amount of power. Elected boards, self-perpetuating boards, appointed and hybrid, and advisory boards were discussed in this chapter. I was able to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of each board. For example, an advantage of a self-perpetuating board would be the board is able
It is the utmost concern of the leadership in the nonprofit to guide the organization through financial control. Through the guidance of the board of directors and officers, the organization aims to achieve its mission and vision. This accomplishment cannot be done without the strategic plan of financial control put into place by the leadership. It is important to set up internal controls and according to the Council of Nonprofits, financial management practices that are systematically used to prevent misuse and misappropriation of assets, such as occur through theft or embezzlement" (Council of Nonprofits, 2016). Leaders in the nonprofit world would do well to ensure they are following all the standards of best business practices and remaining accountable to the board, state, and
The Board of Directors for United directs the company’s affairs in the appropriate way by meeting the interests of its shareholders and stakeholders. The board’s focus is to determine and review the company goals and policies, manage the organizational structure to ensure that the all the strategies are being implemented successfully, delegate authority to the management, and evaluates the implementation of business plans and strategies. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest position in the United’s corporate hierarchy. The role of a United’s CEO is to develop high level strategies, take major corporate decisions, and manage the overall operations and resources of the company.
Being that my nonprofit organization is a dog and cat rescue in Visalia, California, it is important that I develop a plan for organizing and staffing for my organization along with developing the board. As mentioned previously, we are located in the Central Valley in the city of Visalia, California. Now that we have assessed our needs and objectives for the organization, we must now focus on developing a plan for organizing, staffing our organization, and working on the development of our board in order to help the organization be more successful in the future. A big responsibility of being on a board is raising awareness and funds for the organization (Blakemore, 2013).
Board of Directors – are responsible for overseeing the activities of Innovative Widgets so that the company meets the expectations of our founder.
Joshua Kennon (2007), stated that “The board of directors is the highest governing authority within the management structure at any publicly traded company and is usually made up of the directors who are elected for a specific number of years by the shareholders”. According to Wikipedia,” A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization”.
The non-profit [Spell as one word without hyphen] governance plan a function that provides standards and guidelines for a structured board of directors (McCambridge, 2004; Renz, 2013) and controls the organization to meet stakeholders and business goal (Goergen, 2012). To further explain governance, it is the manner in which decision-making is processed based [Passive voice ] on the approved and established mission, values, and vision. Bienvenidos mission, values, and vision are as follows:
The Board of Directors are in charge of determining the corporation’s leadership structure on an annual basis and determine if the board will be led by an independent Chairperson or an independent Lead Director. The board has decided that Ronald Sargent, the CEO of Staples, will remain and the Chairman of the board. The Board of Directors is broken down into five committees made up of around three or four board members. Each committee has there own responsibilities and are in charge of making critical decisions that they must assure is communicated properly throughout the entire company. This leadership structure assures that the Board of Directors has a proper balance of leadership roles that allows for a system that prevents any conflict of interests that may come from having the CEO serving on the board.
2. Board of directors is elected by, and represents the interests of the shareholders of the corporation.
1) According to the judgement of the court in AWA Ltd v Daniels, we know that the board of director’s duties include: setting goals for the corporation; appointing the corporation’s chief executive; overseeing the plans of managers for the acquisition and organisation of financial and human resources towards attainment of the corporation’s goals; monitoring the progress of reaching its goals.
In the United States, all states require nonprofits to choose directors to sit on its board, however, the number of directors required varies per state. While, the board of directors perform a significant role within a nonprofit organization, providing the framework for its operations. The precise roles of a board remain determined by a nonprofit's value bylaws, however, there are some consistent value roles that a board should display in any successful charitable organization. Understanding these value roles of the board provides the structural behavior required to operate a successful nonprofit organization.