Sep 22, 2020
Ever wonder about the do’s and don’ts of nonprofit board member’s responsibilities? Saturday, October 26th, the Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNPE) hosted their “Getting Started in Board Service” training, equipping attendees with the knowledge to understand the core role of nonprofit board members.
“Being on a board means work,” Anne Nokes, an active community volunteer with extensive nonprofit board experience and training co-facilitator said. “It means showing up and being prepared.”
The training was also led by Tsiporah Nephesh, Founding Director of New Mexico Thrives and Jeff Hoeh, Executive Director of Cuidando los Ninos.
Identifying whether an individual is a good fit to be a board member is one of the most critical aspects in making sure your board is successful, Hoehn said. He suggested allowing an interested board member to volunteer within the organization before appointing them with a board position.
In addition to discussing board member’s responsibilities, training attendees also learned about policies and procedures, how to record meeting minutes, drafting organization mission and vision statements and insurance policies nonprofit organizations should have.
The training facilitators suggested organizations evaluate their mission statement every couple of years to make sure it still aligns with their overall vision.
“Everything in (your) agency needs to be guided by your mission statement,” Nokes said. “It controls all of the policies and procedures.”
Those policies and procedures are created by board members and they detail the work the organization does. They also protect organizations by establishing a guideline for operations. “Procedures is a day-to-day operating work of an organization,” Hoehn said.
CNPE’s next training, “Creating Culturally Inclusive Communications Strategies and Messaging” scheduled for November 22nd will help nonprofits develop culturally inclusive communications strategies in branding and message development.