Our free Big Ideas newsletter is for Boards of Directors, management personnel, other non profit employees and any one else with an interest in the non profit sector.
The 10 Things All New Board Members Should Know
New board members won’t remember everything they are told initially. Here’s Tom’s Top 10 of things they should know.
It Takes Time
We depend on immigration to drive economic growth. But there are other benefits too, including for non-profits. Tom explains.
Predictions of The Death of Libraries Were Premature
Libraries have become a lot of things to a lot of people. At least one library even offers a food pantry. A nice study in resilience.
If You Believe In Planning, Create A How-To Manual
Non-profits are better when they plan. Planning is better with a manual. You can make one. Tom describes what it should contain in this Blast From The Past .
The Story
There is a ton of knowledge that newbies to non-profit Board of Directors need to absorb. Bearing in mind they won’t take in it all, what is critical for them to understand at the outset of their tenure?
The Skinny
Here’s my Top 10 list:
1. The duties of the Board are dictated in equal measure by government and the board itself. The Board must comply with not-for-profit corporations legislation (which in large measure is reflected in the organization’s bylaw) and to other legislation. But they can add to how the Board will operate by developing Board policies. Taken together, the bylaw and Board policies constitute the organizational bible.
2. The Board may be accountable to a larger membership group, or only to itself. Knowing which applies is important.
3. The organization’s articles and bylaw can be “forgotten documents”. New Board members need to ensure they are “unforgotten”. They matter.
4. Non-profit Boards are held to a high standard of performance. If the organization is also a registered charity, the standard is higher still. Due diligence is not an optional extra.
5. Many pieces of both federal and provincial legislation impose personal liability on Boards of Directors if things go south. Know those pieces of legislation and ensure the organization is in compliance.
6. Board members must have a sound knowledge of what the organization does. This may not be easy, depending on its mission or how many acronyms the Executive Director/CEO uses when reporting to the Board.
7. The Board governs and the ED/CEO operates. Staying out of the other’s kitchen is mandatory. The divide is usually clear but sometimes a gray area may arise. Be prepared to sort it out with the best interests of the organization in mind.
8. The most important action the Board is likely to take is selecting the Executive Director/CEO.
On hiring, the Executive Director/CEO should be considered the Board’s only employee and the relationship should be viewed as a partnership.
9. While the Board’s role is three-fold - leadership, oversight and managing itself - the Board’s key contribution is leadership – positioning the organization (vision, mission), ensuring the existence and execution of a strategic plan, insisting on financial prudence, being attentive to risk, promoting the organization and advocating for its cause.
10. There is no magic bullet for recruiting Board members. It’s mostly hard work. But the job should be sold, based on its benefits to the candidate. Altruism is worthy, altruism combined with personal growth and satisfaction are more worthy. Resorting to the BIG LIE – i.e. perpetuating the myth that being a Board member is easy and doesn’t take much time – is a disservice to the position and the candidate.
The BIG IDEA
Use this list as a primer for new Board members. It will quickly give them a fix on the job and help avoid many preconceptions that can arise, especially related to the Executive Director/CEO.
At CMCS, we offer a range of free resources to help non-profits be even better. For your copy, contact us at info@cmcsconsulting.ca.
The Importance of Planning
Management Best Practices
Dealing with Risk
Canada’s Great Non-Profit Websites
Board Duties
Policy Board Model
Board Decision-Making Checklist
Board Evaluation Form
List of Possible Board Policies
Board Recruitment (Stop the BIG LIE)
Member and Director Qualifications
Provides details about the three key duties of a Board - Leadership, Oversight and Managing Itself
When our digital really took hold, many thought the death of libraries was sure to follow. Not so! Au contraire, mes amis.
Instead, libraries have become information and activity hubs.
Need technology? They’ve got Blu-ray burners, Chromebooks, Cricut Joy, Gopro cameras, Makeymakey kits, Micro:bit climate action kits, Ozobots, ring lights, sewing machines, Webcams, Wonderbooks and Yoto players, all available on loan, for free.
Can’t afford to buy something else you need? Items to borrow including light therapy lamps, nature backpacks, birding kits, telescopes, electric pianos and my favourite, ukuleles, also free!
Got kids? How about Zumbini for Babies, STREAM Storytime, Inclusion Storytime, Stroller Meetup, PA Day Collage Craft, Kids Arts & Crafts and LEGO Club.
Like cinema? No problem, they play independent and award-winning films.
Want an activity? Try English or French Conversation Circle; Cricut & Coffee; Are You Smarter Than a Librarian Trivia Night or Book Club.
Libraries provide space for social services organizations to set up information booths. They partner with service clubs like our client Dresden Rotary to sponsor reading programs for children.
And now we can add food pantries to the list, at least in East Gwillimbury.
Instead of being anachronisms, libraries have become the heart of their communities. What a great story of innovation and resilience!
A while back, my colleague Nancy Collins and I did work for an organization involved in settlement services. We were asked to create a booklet that would welcome new arrivals to the country and provide helpful information.
As we were doing our research, it became clear that the road to engaging in Canadian life was full of potholes. Some were created by the contrast between what immigrants were told before they arrived and what they found when they were on the ground. That included about jobs. As an example, a settlement worker we talked to, referenced two recent arrivals from South America who were qualified physiotherapists in their home country. They had been led to believe that the job market was wide open. Which may have been the case. But what they weren’t told, or didn’t discover prior on their own, was that they would have to requalify if they were to practice here. The settlement worker added that they eventually headed back home.
Accessing the research data was easy and the data were clear about finding work, especially work in one’s chosen field. It takes time. If I remember, the figures suggested it would take several years on average before you were likely to get work in your field. Yet many new arrivals seemed unprepared for that eventuality.
This phenomenon continues to the present. My car dealership offers an Uber shuttle service when my vehicle is in for repair. The last two times I have shuttled, my Uber drivers have been recent immigrants, one holding a university degree in architecture, the other in computer science. They were discouraged by their lack of success in finding positions in their fields, in spite of their international experience. Unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised, knowing what we had discovered years before. I told them this is a great country, they have made a good choice, they will succeed. It just takes time.
The Conference Board of Canada recently did a study on retention of immigrants to Canada. Its findings were as follows:
· For Canada to meet its immigration goals, the country must not only attract newcomers but also retain them. Yet few attempts have been made to evaluate Canada’s immigrant retention rate.
· Onward migration—immigrants leaving Canada—is increasing among more recent cohorts of immigrants, which suggests immigrants may not be seeing the benefits of moving to Canada.
· Onward migration has been steadily increasing since the 1980s, but it surged in both 2017 and 2019, reaching levels 31 per cent higher than the historical average. If onward migration remains high, it could undermine Canada’s strategy to use immigration to drive population and economic growth.
· Onward migration is the highest four to seven years after arrival, indicating that positive early experiences may be key to retaining immigrants in Canada and reversing the recent spike in onward migration.
This matters to you and me, because immigration is being used as the driver for economic growth in this country. Without it, we are advised our economy would stagnate. But immigration needs to work for those arriving as well as those already here.
This also matters to non-profits that play a role in immigration. To that end, the Conference Board has the following recommendations:
· Invest in settlement services and other programs that make immigration to Canada rewarding and enjoyable. Further research can help stakeholders understand settlement needs and which initiatives can ease immigrants’ transitions.
· Support employers to recruit, hire, and retain immigrant workers. All three levels of government can provide tools and training to improve practice in this area.
· Invest in infrastructure. As Canada seeks to increase the population, all levels of government need to plan for increased infrastructure. Investments in health care, transit, education, and childcare will ensure that communities can thrive with a growing population.
Finally, this matters because some of those people may become your friends and neighbours. Here I am thinking about immigrants like my friend Gabriela, who arrived in Canada from Costa Rica as a student and a young single mom. She spent her first years studying in Guelph, surviving one of the snowiest winters on record. Her family thinks 20 degrees Celsius is cold. She bundled up, bought a good scarf, and persevered. She is now a Canadian citizen, making an important contribution in the field of education.
The Story
Planning is the cornerstone of successful organizations. Without planning, there is no way you can get the most out of your resources. Since most non-profits are resource poor, not planning is THE cardinal sin. Yet this lesson continues to be lost on many.
Of course, planning on its own won’t get you where you want to go. You have to break out responsibility for the various parts of the plan once it’s done, then implement, monitor and adjust as you go. At the end of the time period you also have to tally up and see how you made out overall.
Since planning is complicated, consider creating a planning how-to manual that explains how your organization goes about the various steps involved in developing and implementing a plan and share it with your management team.
The Skinny
If you like the idea of creating a planning how-to manual, here is an outline of possible content. You will probably have to adapt the content somewhat depending on your organization’s particular approach, but what follows lays out the essentials:
1. Why we plan
Start with explaining why the organization plans its future. Include things like planning helps it to:
· Provide the best services (or products) to its customers
· Make optimal use of available resources
· Avoid major problems.
Throw in the idea that the planning process brings other benefits:
· Providing a forum for discussion and decision-making on important organizational issues
· Building consensus, motivation and commitment
· Creating a common vision of the future that all stakeholders are aware of and can work towards
· Providing clarity regarding actions to be taken and goals to be met, a kind of roadmap
· Enhancing the work environment
· Ensuring financial viability
· Demonstrating accountability
· Avoiding surprises as the year unfolds
Or, as some have suggested, plans are helpful in “avoiding chaos” and “keeping out of the muck”.
2. The Kinds of Plans We Develop
Talk about the fact that the organization works from three kinds of plans:
· Strategic Plan
· Board Governance Year Plan
· Management Operational Year Plan.
3. Our Planning Cycle
Describe the planning cycle:
· Start with a strategic plan that lasts three or four years and contains a small number of key directions the organization will move in and major goals it will achieve
· Then create an implementation plan that describes who will undertake each action and when it will be completed.
Once the strategic plan is done, reference the need for yearly Board and Management work plans that add to the actions needed for the strategic plan with others that are not “strategic” but need to be done if the organization is to succeed.
4. More About Our Strategic Plan
Go into more detail about the strategic plan by describing:
· Who is responsible for ensuring the plan is developed and used
· Who develops it
· How it is developed and when
· Who approves it
· What it contains
· How it is implemented, and
· How it is communicated.
For example, related to communications, consider noting that a communications strategy starts with advising stakeholders in advance that the process will be undertaken and how it will be done. Once it is completed the content of the plan should be shared. This should be followed by periodic updates, at least yearly, on progress in achieving the goals established in the plan. The Board and especially management should make a concerted effort to link actions taken and results obtained to the goals of the strategic plan, so the various stakeholders, especially staff, see the connection. The contribution of stakeholders, especially staff, to the content of the plan and to achieving results should be continuously acknowledged.
5. More About Our Board and Management Year Plans
Do the same for year plans developed both by the Board and by the management team, i.e.
· Who is responsible for ensuring the plan is developed and used
· Who develops it
· How it is developed and when
· Who approves it
· What it contains
· How it is implemented, and
· How it is communicated.
Explain that yearly Board Governance plans:
Provide a similar framework for the yearly Management Operational Plan:
○ Describes key goals to be met, actions to be taken
○ Includes goals and key actions set out in strategic plan but goes beyond to address other operational issues related to services (or products), staffing, facilities, management and admin (HR, IT) and collaborations
○ Once finalized is broken out for each member of the management team
○ Is monitored and reported on throughout the year to ensure implementation
○ Results recorded in final report
○ Final report is used to evaluate management performance (each person and whole team)
Pay special attention to explaining that each member of the team will own a piece of the management year plan and that each will meet with her/his direct reports individually on a monthly basis to update on progress, as well as with his/her supervisor:
6. Samples of Our Work
Last, provide samples so everyone can see what you are talking about.
The BIG Idea
Sorry about the length of the article, but it was even longer until I stopped trying to recreate a complete draft manual.
Regardless, my BIG Idea for this week is that you create a manual that explains how your organization goes about planning and implementing those plans. Use it as part of your orientation for new management staff and Board members and keep it up to date as your approach evolves. Ensure it is shared and informs the work of the Board and management. Then say goodbye to the well-warn phrase: “I didn’t know we were going to do THAT!” or worse “I didn’t know that was part of MY job this year!”
The planning manual can be added to a more encompassing manual that describes what management means within your organization – i.e. what management does and why it does it. I have spoken about this recommendation before and have an outline of the key elements of such a management manual that I would be pleased to share. Just email me and I will send it along.
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