Nonprofit Boards That Work
The End of One-Size-Fits-All Governance
Chapter One
Assigning Value:
Do Boards Matter?
I'm starting a nonprofit. Do I really need a board? (caller to a
technical assistance provider)
The caller is tentative, perhaps hopeful that the answer will be
no. The question itself is an interesting one-Do I really need
a board? It is both a request for information and the beginning
of a lament. It is a good question, worth asking: Do we really
need boards?
Which is more important to a nonprofit organization, an
executive director or a board? Even with the experience of
watching some good boards in action, it is very tempting to
choose the executive. Boards, even if they are very good at
their jobs, intersect with an organization on an intermittent
basis and from a distance. There may be individual board
members whose relationships are more than intermittent, but
their enthusiasm, as valuable as it can be, can present its own
drawbacks.
On balance and given a choice, many would choose an executive
director over a boar ... read full excerpt from Nonprofit Boards That Work: The End of One-Size-Fits-All Governance ebook
