A non-profit board is an important group of people that will give life to your organization’s mission. But, new members have to be informed of their responsibilities prior to when they sign up so that they can participate fully.
The first thing to remember for new board members that they are not responsible for the day-to-day operations of a non-profit. These tasks are the responsibility of the executive director, paid employees, and go now volunteers. The role of the board is to oversee and provide direction.
To do this they must be aware of the organization’s finances and operations. They must know what their fiduciary and legal duties are, how to evaluate the executive director, and the organization’s governance policies.
New board members also must be able to effectively manage and oversee fundraising initiatives. Some nonprofits require all board members to contribute financially, whereas others encourage donations without requiring them to do so. The most successful fundraisers will be those who find the most effective method of creating revenue, and then help the board members implement it.
To help them accomplish this, the organization should give board members an explicit description of their responsibilities and also regular communication channels, both in person and remotely through tools like MemberClicks association management software, to keep them up-to-date with what’s happening. The organization should also make it easy for board members to access information by offering them an individual section on the website, where they can find agendas, documents and meeting minutes.