Not-for-profit Director Resources

This document provides a sample position description for a board chair (in this example, for an association).   This template may be used as a guide to help you build a position description appropriate for your organization. 

The board calendar, a yearly plan of items that need the board’s attention is a basic governance resource and an easy one to construct. It is an essential tool for agenda planning, committee work and ensuring that the board makes time for fiduciary, strategic and board development work.

Given the importance to clients and staff of continuity of operations of the organization, the executive director will have the following in place in the event that an emergency, such as illness, injury or death, makes it impossible for her to effectively provide executive leadership for a period of 5 or more working days.

This publication includes some suggestions for how to improvie a non-profit board business meeting.

Board orientation refers to a process for helping new directors contribute fully, and as early in their tenure as possible, to the governing work of the board.

Guidelines on how to best use ICD's board self-evaluation questionnaire

A tool that may be used for improving the governance practices of non-profit organizations.

The role of the recording secretary in not-for-profit organizations may be an expansive position in terms of duties and be filled by the Assistant to the CEO or by another staff person as a formal part of their job.

The Board Secretary is an executive member of the Board of Directors of the Association and is to be appointed in a manner consistent with the by-laws.

A sample board member position description.  

The board treasurer is an executive and voting member of the Board of Directors of the Association and appointed in a manner consistent with the by-laws.

Most nonprofit boards meet monthly or quarterly and many of those meetings are “business meetings”, that is meetings with multi-item agendas.

Although presiding over directors’ meetings is not the only role of a president or board chair, it is certainly the most visible and arguably the most important volunteer role in a non-profit organization

This sample policy could be considered an omnibus policy including all the HR areas where some more detailed policies are needed, or, for some not-for-profits, a global board level policy intended to leave further details to be implemented by the CEO.

A clear policy or set of policies describing the financial management practices of a not-for profit organization and the responsibility for following them is part of the bedrock of good governance.

The use of committees or task groups by non-profit boards is a common practice. Committees can be useful for drafting board policies, studying an issue, taking on a project or organizing an event.

The board of directors is committed to teamwork and effective decision-making

Some not-for-profit organizations are governed by “representative” boards of directors. This means that the composition of the board is determined by the formal connection of the directors to particular constituencies or stakeholder groups.

Meeting minutes are important in documenting and reporting on the scope and practice of governance around the board table and serve as a legal record of an organization’s deliberations.

Not-for-profit organizations are not immune to unwanted and unwelcome public attention.  Scandals, and there have been some high profile ones, can threaten the reputation and fundraising potential of both large and small NFPs and those scandals can take on a particularly ugly character.

A lot has been said about the need for for-profit and not-for-profit organizations to develop leadership succession plans. Most of the attention has been on CEO succession.