Effective Board Building
Essential to every nonprofit Christian ministry organization is an effective board of directors. However, all too often boards are far less than genuinely effective. The result is a heavy cost to the effectiveness of the organization and its mission. Consider,

• The CEO/Executive Director does not have necessary support and counsel.
• The staff gets less attention paid to their development as leaders.
• The organization’s operations may not be as effective and efficient.
• The level of funding will be less.
• The accomplishment of the mission may suffer.
• The future will be less promising.

Board consultant Robert Andringa says that “…one of the best lists of board functions is found in Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards, published by BoardSource. (quoted in Andringa’s book Nonprofit Board Answer Book pages 3-4) These ten functions provide a checklist for clarifying the roles and effectiveness of your board:

1. Determine the organization’s mission and purpose.
2. Select the chief executive.
3. Support the chief executive and assess his or her performance.
4. Ensure effective organizational planning.
5. Ensure adequate resources.
6. Manage resources effectively.
7. Determine, monitor, and strengthen the organization’s programs and services.
8. Enhance the organization’s public standing.
9. Ensure legal and ethical integrity and maintain accountability.
10. Recruit and orient new board members and assess board performance.

Andringa goes on to offer a framework for clarifying board role definitions when he suggest that we think of each board member as having three hats to wear:

1. Governance hat: Worn only when the full board meets, proper notice has been given, and a quorum is present.
2. Implementation hat: Worn only when the board gives one or more board members authority to implement a board policy.
3. Volunteer hat: Worn at all other times, when board members are involved with organizational activities as volunteers.

This wise counsel is just a small sample of the abundance of advice that is available to anyone interested in building and maintaining an effective board of directors.

The truth is that every board needs at least one standing committee – A Board Building Committee. Their ongoing role is to help provide for the board the ingredients for health and effectiveness, including:

1. Recruitment of new board members per by-law requirements.
2. Orientation of new board members.
3. Leadership of the board’s assessment of their own performance.
4. Regular board training and education.
5. Ways to insure that all board members are fully involved.
6. Creation of opportunities to build Christian community within the board.

Those interested in building a healthy board will need to find the resources necessary for their work. In consideration of this need, the purpose of Christian Leadership ADVANCE Resources is to provide tools and ideas for board development. Here are some helpful places to look:

Board Resources
BoardSource, an organization committed to building effective boards. Check them out at www.ncnb.org

Annotated Bibliography
Nonprofit Board Answer Book by Robert C. Andringa and Ted. W. Engstrom (published by BoardSource, 1997). The authors answer thirty-six questions about board functions, structure, process, board-staff relations, the selection and development of board members, board and committee meetings, and a host of other critical issues.

Boards That Make a Difference: A New Design for Leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organizations by John Carver (published by Jossey-Bass, 1990). Carver creates a model for board governance, and shows how boards can create policies that support the overall purpose of an organization, guiding them in their work with leaders in accomplishing effective end results.

Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards by Richard P. Chait, William P. Ryan, and Barbara E. Taylor (published by Wiley, 2005). The authors delve into the work of the board, and identify two traditional types of board work — Type I Governing: Fiduciary and Type II Governing: Strategic. Building on these two they offer Type III Governing — Generative Thinking, a creative and energizing role for boards that brings members into a valuable leadership role.

Called to Serve: Creating and Nurturing the Effective Volunteer Board by Max DePree (published by Eerdmans, 2001). This small handbook is designed for easy use by board members. DePree offers warm and practical advice about board effectiveness, the work of the board, board structure, the board chairperson, promises of a trustee, living with tensions, and what the board owes the organization’s CEO.

Return to top