Joining a Nonprofit Board

Often business executives serve (or are asked to serve) as board members of nonprofit organizations. However, without a clear understanding of how nonprofits work, service on a board can be a frustrating experience. Joining a Nonprofit Board offers an important guide to the roles and responsibilities of a nonprofit board member. Marc J. Epstein and F. Warren McFarlan provide a step-by-step guide to how board members can work with a nonprofit organization to achieve the organization’s overarching mission, attain financial sustainability, and develop and execute the systems needed to accomplish both. Based on more than 10 years of research from Rice University and Harvard Business School and filled with illustrative examples, Joining a Nonprofit Board explores the basic structure of a nonprofit, explains how to build and monitor a nonprofit’s mission, and identifies how the board performs an effective assessment of a non-profit. The book also explores the challenges posed by the duality of leadership between the unpaid volunteer non-executive chairman of the board and the CEO. Joining a Nonprofit Board includes a helpful explanation of a “board member’s life cycle.” The authors start with the decision to join a board and explain how to prepare for the first meeting. The book explores how to serve effectively the first two years and reveals what it takes to develop your ongoing role as a trustee. Finally the book describes how to transition off the board to other forms of service with the organization. Joining a Nonprofit Board is a comprehensive resource for anyone who wants to take their experience in the business world and serve a nonprofit with passion and clarity.

Exhibits, Figures, and Tables ix Foreword xi Preface xv Acknowledgments xix 1. Introduction 1 2. Mission 25 3. Performance Measurement 45 4. Financial Strategy and Oversight 63 5. Philanthropy 81 6. Board Structure and Role 111 7. Leadership Chairman and CEO—a Complex Partnership 141 8. You as a Trustee 165 Notes 181 References and Reading List for Senior Managers and Board Members 185 Case Studies of Interest 187 The Authors 189 Index 191