Board Governance

The software company, Boardable, offers many free ebooks and webinars on board governance, recruitment, and engagement. Their selection of titles includes:

Board Recruitment

"Does Your Board Need To Be More Diverse? Here's How To Do It." provides guidance for when and how nonprofits can create a board with demographically diverse backgrounds that achieves inclusivity and equity among board members.

Your nonprofit's response to a crisis or bad publicity greatly affects your organization's reputation. Use this sample nonprofit crisis communications plan template to ensure that you respond promptly, accurately and confidently during an emergency, and in the hours and days that follow that crisis. (Bloomerang, 2016)

Conflict is more common than most people think. However, the sooner internal conflicts are addressed and resolved, the better it is for the organization. How to Handle Conflict Between a Board and an Executive Leader is provided by MissionBox to help avoid and/or resolve conflict between a Board and an Executive Leader

Your board has voted on the new directors and are now ready to get to work. From the first hello to the first few meetings, there are many actions, some small but all intentional, that when woven together create a strong and sustainable onboarding program. By following each thread, it is possible to engage your returning board members in leadership positions, incorporate micro-trainings, and provide a platform for new members to become successful in your nonprofit.

Leading a dynamic nonprofit board is challenging. Often, it can feel like an episode of the television show “Survivor.” In this session, you’ll explore practical and unique ways you can transform your board journey into an “Amazing Race.” Moving beyond a simple review of board roles and responsibilities, you’ll dive deep into the key practices of dynamic nonprofit boards, potential pitfalls to avoid, as well as current trends and hot topics. You’ll also begin developing your individual plan to elevate your board effectiveness.

These days, many organizations are asking themselves: Could we have been better prepared? While organizations use strategic planning to prepare for opportunities and challenges and to chart a course forward, nonprofits have spent 2020 adapting and evolving, and are taking a new look at future strategic planning needs.

The Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) is a national nonprofit with offices across the US which offers educational materials on nonprofit financial management. Their Fundamentals for Nonprofits offers a wealth of templates, workbooks, and self-assessment tools.

Nonprofit leaders often tout their own accomplishments and capabilities and those of the teams and organizations they lead. Rarely do they openly share their lessons learned, especially since many of them come from failures and setbacks – painful experiences that they try to keep hidden from public view, and even from themselves.

This Nonprofit Learning Lab resource entitled, Building an Effective Board of Directors, offers detailed information on how to manage a board and avoid potential pitfalls that might arise. This guidebook includes activities and worksheets to help staff and board members create a more effective board.