A well-run board retreat energizes people and propels your foundation forward. Unfortunately, many board members approach retreats with about as much enthusiasm as a trip to the dentist. This dread often is justified: Lack of preparation, hidden agendas, or unproductive communication can make a retreat seem like a big step backward for the foundation. The... Read More
The full board generally is responsible for shared leadership of the foundation. The board ensures clarity of purpose and goals, and assesses and implements the best approach to get the work done. Officers, in particular, are responsible for broad oversight and general leadership. The foundation may choose to have any officer positions that serve it... Read More
Role for our purposes is not your position as president or committee chair; rather, it is how you choose to behave to match the needs of a situation. Everyone holds multiple roles, adopting them almost without thinking. For example, parents play an impressive list of roles in situations with their children: confidante, disciplinarian, advocate, chauffeur.... Read More
A board retreat can be an excellent way to spend time on an issue too significant or time intensive to be handled properly within a normal meeting agenda. Many foundations hold board retreats on occasion (ranging from every year to every few years) to ensure that the board addresses important topics, such as the foundation’s... Read More
The National Center on Family Philanthropy (NCFP) finds that most donors don’t begin to think about succession in the earliest days of the foundation. Even donors with adult children at the time of start-up tend to delay thinking about the children’s involvement until a much later time. In both cases, the delay can be a... Read More
Whether your board meets once a year or monthly, your meetings will be more effective with a good agenda. A good agenda organizes the meeting so it flows logically, keeps discussions on target, and keeps the meeting on time. A good agenda also makes it easy to create your meeting minutes. Terms to know Agenda—An... Read More