Board Roles and Responsibilities

January 2012

Nonprofit board members have two basic responsibilities—support and governance—each requiring different skills and expertise. In the role of "supporter" board members raise money, bring contacts to the organization, and act as ambassadors to the community. Equally important, the "governance" role involves protection of the public interest, being a fiduciary, selecting the executive director and assessing his/ her performance, ensuring compliance with legal and tax requirements, and evaluating the organization's work.

IdeaEncore provides hundreds of links and documents that can help your board—and your nonprofit—better understand the important roles and responsibilities of your board. Check out these helpful resources listed below.

• Short, Quick, Easy-to-Use Tools
• Basic Roles and Responsibilities
• Board Chair Responsibilities
• Special Board Roles and Responsibilities

Short, Quick, Easy-to-Use Tools

• Nonprofit Management Services Board-Staff Roles and Responsibilities and Lines of Authority is a simple, easy-to-use chart clarifying the relationship and roles of the board with staff (free).
• Nonprofit Center Board Member Expectation Statement is two pages, easy for your board to understand and use from the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida (free).

Basic Roles and Responsibilities

• Union Square Main Streets' Board of Directors Roles & Responsibilities outlines the basic board member responsibilities and functions (free).
• CompassPoint Nonprofit Services' All Hands on Board: The Board of Volunteers in an all Volunteer Organization breaks down in detail the 10 most important responsibilities of board members (free).
• NonProfit Direct's presentation The Three D's: The Duty of Care, The Duty of Loyalty, and the Duty of Obedience breaks down the responsibilities of board members to ensure legal and ethical integrity (free).
• Boards That Excel's booklet Board Meeting, Calendars, and Retreats contains best practices for board members as well as a calendar to help board members plan the year ($9).
• Ohio Attorney General's Guide for Charity Board Members outlining the roles and responsibilities for board members (free).
• Part of the Capaciteria collection, this Board and Staff Responsibilities form from the Free Management Library lists common activities in a nonprofit organization and explains whether board members, staff or a joint team should perform the function. Following these guidelines helps to define the board and staff relationship and clarify responsibilities (free).
• BoardSource's Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards discusses ten core areas of board responsibility that can be adapted to fit the differing needs of most nonprofit organizations. Basic board responsibilities include determining the organization's mission and purpose, choosing and evaluating the chief executive, ensuring effective planning, and participating in fundraising (off-site price varies).
• Center for Public Skills Training's Building an Effective Board of Directors explains the roles and responsibilities of a board of directors in the areas of planning and policy development; community and organizational development; and, fundraising and support development (free).
• Texas Nonprofit Management Assistance Network's Board Membership: A Privilege & an Obligation defines the roles and responsibilities of board members, including understanding of their legal duties, meeting management, and techniques for improved board effectiveness ($50).
• The Responsibilities of a Nonprofit Board shares the importance of trustees and boards in governing nonprofits today (free).

Board Chair Responsibilities

• If you're a board chair who needs a little help understanding your role, read Scribner & Associates' book Are You Chairing a Board by the Seat of Your Pants? ($7.50).
• Whether you are a seasoned board chair wanting to brush up, an incoming board chair seeking knowledge and skills, or a person considering the possibility of becoming a board chair, BoardSource's The Board Chair Handbook, Second Edition, provides the blueprint for being successful and effective in your leadership role ($54).

Special Board Roles and Responsibilities

• Role of Boards Critical during Crisis, published in the Philanthropy Journal, discusses the importance of the board of directors during an organizational crisis (free).
• BoardEffect's white paper How E-governance Supports the Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards discusses the roles and responsibilities of boards of directors (free).
• Nonprofit Enterprise at Work's The Board Room—Responsibilities, Accountability, & Ethics ($5) includes forms and templates outlining board responsibilities, with an emphasis an ethics, including a gift-acceptance policy and confidentiality agreement.

Flo Green, IdeaEncore Network
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Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Florence (Flo) Green is co-founder and vice president of IdeaEncore Network (www.ideaencore.com), which envisions a future in which every nonprofit shares what they know. Nonprofits can use our online information resource exchange to save time/money by reusing shared knowledge, by uploading files/links for others to use (for free or to sell), by making their expertise visible by "liking," rating, and commenting, and by embedding their branded online library—that displays IdeaEncore resources—within their Web sites.

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