Governance (Boards)

Whether you’re building your board for the first time or taking steps to strengthen it, we’ve put together the following resources to help our nonprofits create and sustain their Board of Directors.

If you have any resources that you’d like to share with the nonprofit community, please email a brief description, and link or PDF to Jennifer Peifer.

Key Governance Policies

Courtesy of Montana Nonprofit Association

Bylaws
Committee Charters
Board Governance Policy
Code of Ethics
Conflict of Interest and Annual Statement
Public Reporting and Transparency Policy
Whistleblower and Non-Retaliation Policy
Document Retention and Destruction Policy
Executive Compensation Policy

Note: Montana Nonprofit Association governance policies may be used as examples of governance policy practices and adapted by visitors to this site. However, these policies should not be used simply as templates. All policies should be reviewed in light of the unique circumstances and needs of each organization and adapted accordingly. All policies should be reviewed by an attorney knowledgeable in nonprofit law prior to adoption.

Board Development

Workbook: Hiring and Performance Appraisal of the Executive Director

Capacity Assessment Survey: Two page, 53 point self-administered assessment of an organization's capacity. Patti Larson, Nonprofit Resources Center (Sacramento, CA)

Start Preparing Yesterday for the Redesigned Form 990: The new Form 990 "requires" substantially all exempt organizations to implement a whole bevy of policies and procedures. Additionally, they must undertake a number of tasks before filing their new 990 for the first time. This presentation, created by a CPA/JD who focuses in the NFP sector, includes a listing of the "required" policies, practices, and procedures and a "To Do List" for your Board. Windes & McClaughry (Long Beach, CA)

BoardSource has created a document that dissects the entire form 990 and explains how your governance is on the IRS radar screen.

Benchmark Against Leading Practice: This bundle of 6 checklists are self-assessment instruments that help nonprofit organizations identify capacity strengths and challenges and establish capacity building goals - information technology, marketing, strategic outcome planning, fund development, & board leadership. ($45)

The BoardLink Handbook: A Resource Guide for Board Members

BoardLink is a program of the Nonprofit Resource Center whose goal is to train and match board candidates and nonprofits in the Sacramento Region. This material is copyrighted.

Board Member Engagement Pack

Sample documentation that provides all you need to recruit for new board members and set up key board committees. Includes position descriptions, recruitment matrix, attribute lists, sample terms of reference for committees and an article on recruiting your best board.

Newsletters & Blogs

Leader to Leader

Philanthropy News Network Online

Board Source

Nonprofit Board Crisis

Internet Resources

Foundation Center's Nonprofit Collaboration Database: Explore different collaboration models, learn about strategies for overcoming challenges to working together, find metrics for measuring outcomes, and more.

American Association of Corporate Secretaries

The Alliance for Nonprofit Management

Development Leadership Network

Free Management Library- Boards

Bridgestar: Bridgestar was founded on the premise that mission-focused nonprofits have greater opportunity to achieve breakthrough results when they attract, assemble, and nurture strong board and senior leadership teams. Bridestar seeks to be a resource for enhancing the flow and effectiveness of capable executives into and within the sector.

Management Information Exchange John Carver’s Policy Governance® model

The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations: Hauser is an interdisciplinary research center at Harvard University based at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. It seeks to expand understanding and accelerate critical thinking about nonprofit organizations and civil society among scholars, practitioners, policy makers, and the general public.

Management Assistance Program

Program for NonProfit Organizations at Yale University (PONPO)

Support Center for Nonprofit Management

Whatcom Council of Nonprofits

Strategic Growth Guide: Nonprofit leadership can use this guide to determine their organization’s stage of development and to assess whether the development of internal management systems is aligned.

The Nonprofit Life Stage Assessment: The tool helps you understand your organization’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to its particular stage of development. It will help your organization plan for future needs, make decisions proactively, anticipate challenges, and determine what adjustments might be appropriate.

Synthesis Partnership: A site dedicated to helping nonprofits in organizational techniques, Synthesis Partnership provides links to several useful, relevant e-letters pertaining to nonprofit boards and planning.