The Simplest Board Agenda

I’m a governance geek, but not an expert.

I have great appreciation for those well-intentioned volunteers who accept a poorly understood, and often unappreciated, role of legal, ethical, and spiritual responsibility for any charity.

I’ve had both wonderful and (very) difficult experiences serving on boards, sometimes with the same organization.

And I really enjoy the opportunities I have to come alongside charity boards to help them understand their role and make thoughtful, informed decisions about how to best fulfill their responsibilities through my “5 Questions Healthy Boards Can Answer” workshop.

I constantly recommend Jim Brown’s excellent book The Imperfect Board Member as required reading for directors and senior staff. It’s accessible, informative, and written by the best governance consultant I know. You should get it.

But I also like to simplify things, sometimes too much.

So try this on for size:

The role of the board is making sure.

-Making sure the leader of the staff is well chosen, well guided, well developed, and when necessary well dismissed.

-Making sure the organization is compliant with all government and industry requirements.

-Making sure risks are understood, addressed, and managed.

-Making sure financial sustainability, in some relevant form, is prioritized.

-Making sure all necessary policies are in place and appropriately followed.

-Making sure nothing truly important is neglected and nothing too distracting is engaged.

-Making sure Budgets, Strategic Plans, Vision, Mission, and Values statements are current and operational.

-Making sure there’s toilet paper in the staff bathroom.

Okay, that last one may seem like a joke, but it’s the example I give most often in workshops. Ultimately the board is responsible for everything that happens, or doesn’t. But the majority of everything is delegated to staff and volunteers, under the leadership of the ED/CEO/lead staff person.

So the board’s job really does come down to making sure all the important stuff is being done and the charity is on track. And making sure something is being done to address it when that isn’t happening.

Does that help?

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