Board & Committee Management

Stages of Board Life Cycle

Published Mon, Jul 3, 17 at 2:00 am | Updated Mon, Jul 3, 17 at 7:36 am by Joe Patti

Non-Profit Quarterly recently published a piece charting out the cyclic nature of boards of directors. If ever you have been frustrated with your board and wondered why it is acting the way it is or if you love your board and prayed the great dynamic would stay that way forever, it is worth reading the piece to better understand what is happening and where things are probably headed. In the piece, author Julia Classen examines the cycle in the context of her own experience. She labels the stages as the Founding Period … Read more

Protecting Yourself Against Embezzling Grannies

Published Thu, Apr 20, 17 at 2:00 am | Updated Wed, Apr 19, 17 at 6:16 pm by Joe Patti

Every couple months the treasurer tells our board of directors how easy it would be to embezzle funds due to the lack of sufficient checks and balances. She is especially wary of the fact that current technology allows her to have the bank generate checks at her request rather than having to issue a physical check. The organization is lucky because she has taken the lead on creating better processes and policies, including moving the bulk of the money to an account that is more difficult to access and takes longer to … Read more

Managing Micro-Management

Published Fri, Jan 20, 17 at 2:00 am | Updated Thu, Jan 19, 17 at 3:17 pm by Joe Patti

Many people have horror stories about working for a supervisor that micro-manages their work. While that may be a hellish experience, it is even worse if you are the executive officer of an organization that has multiple board members attempting to micro-manage you. Even if everyone on the board isn’t interfering, others may be providing tacit support or reluctant to oppose what they see as the majority will. A few months back Ellis Carter provided some good advice about how to deal with a micro-managing board. In her view: Sometimes, micro managing … Read more