Christian Leadership Alliance
| 
BoardSource—"Building Effective Nonprofit Boards"
Alliance for Nonprofit Management—a professional association of individuals and organizations devoted to improving the management and governance capacity of nonprofits
Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB)—a resource on every aspect of higher education governance
Canadian Council of Christian Charities
1 of 6
The Problem with Boards
During the height of attention on the Enron collapse, a review of yet another book on board governance stated, "If the 19th century was the age of the entrepreneur and the 20th century was the age of management, the 21st century will be the era of corporate governance." Yet, with recent events exposing board ineffectiveness, poor methods, inability to appropriately control management, and the futility of piecemeal solutions, board governance appears to be in great trouble, even conceptual trouble. The venerable institution, as we know it, is being rethought.
Charitable and religious organizations have not been left out of this scrutiny. In fact several nonprofits have also been caught recently in serious malfeasance. Where were their boards? Henry Goldstein, in a recent issue of Chronicle of Philanthropy, writes "governance counts … Boards are entrusted with the task of acting, first, in the public interest, as the stewards of funds and other assets. The board not only sets the ethical tone, but also has an obligation to make sure the charity lives up to the highest ethical standards."
He makes the very telling point: "The role of the charity board is even more critical, because it is the public's only real protection." Sobering words for a board. Even more sobering is the ultimate spiritual accountability of Christian trustees to God for their stewardship of the organizations they oversee.
A Call to Excellence
Board literature, both secular and Christian, is filled with exhortations to vision, wisdom and excellence. Boards are told they should be strategic, visionary and values-based leaders. They're constantly reminded of their fiduciary responsibility—a modern term for stewardship.
Robert Greenleaf, in his writings on servant leadership, urged trustees to lead in a heroic way, bringing excellence and vision to governance and the organization. He holds the board, not the CEO (or whoever runs the organization), responsible for its own performance. We agree. Good governance—structuring it and doing it—is fundamentally an issue of board leadership. The board must take responsibility for its own performance.
Unfortunately, one's personal board experience rarely lives up to anything near that level of rewarding performance, much less leadership. Should we capitulate to our less than satisfying board processes and assume there's nothing better? Or are our concepts of board governance fundamentally flawed and in need of overhaul?
Certainly Biblical principles should pertain to good governance, but sadly, most boards, while composed of dedicated people desiring to serve well, don't have a clear model for effectively governing, much less one incorporating biblical principles. All board members have is their experience and some occasional training, typically in fundraising or planning.
See also:
board governance, Carver model, CEOs, conflict, non-profit board, organizational structure, policy governance
635 Camino de los Mares, Suite 216, San Clemente, CA 92673 · (949) 487-0900