Successful Board Leadership
Guiding Organizational Leadership & Nonprofit Management Forward
Reviews
“Great content, well arranged, detailed and easy to follow. Something that can be used as either a teaching tool or a reference book. You’ve put a lot of effort into it!”
— Nancy Foster, Founder, Foster Tourism Marketing
“I could write a fifty-page review and wear out a dozen highlighters writing ‘read this’ for any sitting or potential board member.”
— John Jatcko, Retired Executive and Former Member of Nonprofit Boards
NEW RELEASE – COMING SOON
An Example-Filled Book Detailing the Consequences of Board Action and Inaction
85 Dumb Things Nonprofit Boards and Management Do
and How to Avoid Their Mistakes
Board of directors serve an essential role in making a community a better place to live, work and play. This helpful handbook is designed for new and existing board members ascending to office. It covers the basics but then dives right into areas many are unfamiliar.
- Learn the fundamental difference between nonprofits and quasi-government boards.
- Understand the role of a board and staff.
- Gain a clear understanding of vision and mission statement.
- Recognize the importance of board and annual meetings and critical elements of each.
- Compare board committees with program committees.
- Discover the foundational role of the finance committee and all of its responsibilities.
- Take a closer look at the personnel committee.
- See why the long-range planning committee is crucial.
- Find out why nominating is a year-round job and the intricacies of elections.
- Take note of why governing documents should contain all the answers.
- Consider the many income and revenue-generating options.
- Realize the importance of communicating to each audience in its language.
- Clear your calendar for a retreat and get a new board year off to the right start.
- Dealing with the uncomfortable things – when staff and board break the law and the organization’s policies.
- Have fun reading the things employees won’t tell you.
- Prepare for the next pandemic or crisis now.
Whether you’ve served on multiple boards or just gotten started, discover the ins and outs of servant leadership.
This book offers helpful insights when hiring management or contracting for support services for the first time.
Lost confidence in your current Executive Director? Advice is shared on the best ways to proceed.
Email Me when your new leadership book becomes available.
Speaker
The person best suited to address a particular subject is someone who has lived all sides of the experience. Meet Lynn.
Have you ever said to yourself, “What have I gotten myself into?” Lynn is pleased to answer that question while explaining the larger landscape of board service. Other speaker topics:
- How to Establish Your Nonprofit as a Working Board
- Why Board Members Should Read Those Pesky Governing Documents
- Who Has Time for Compliance?
- Why It’s Not Smart to Become Management’s Best Friend
- A Flat Volunteer Organizational Chart is a Recipe for Disaster
Board Training
Nonprofits are businesses. Unfortunately, not every board member is familiar with how nonprofits or businesses operate, creating challenges.
Board service isn’t necessarily prestigious; it’s a commitment of time and sometimes money. It can involve tough love, asking hard questions, and not accepting everything one is told.
A board of directors is held in the public’s trust, and every member has a fiduciary responsibility. In the same way that management leadership is accountable to the board, it is responsible to its members or industry.
Whether it be explaining the fundamentals or subtle nuances, our goal is to improve the functionality of your board and agency or organization.
Resources
The Leadership Resources page provides valuable links to help nonprofit organizations: a list of associations by state, essential links to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Robert’s Rules of Order, Freedom of Information Act, among many others.