Governance


Audio/Video

MetLife Governance Grants for Board Development: Three Audio Interviews with Round One Recipients 

The Columbus Symphony: A Portrait in Stabilization  

Assessment Tools

Assessing Your Financial Health

VlOGs

The Orchestra Beyond Recession with David Nygren
Governing Toward the Future with Fred Miller
Avoiding a Governance Deficit with Lowell Noteboom

ebooks

Boardroom Chemistry
Diversity in Action
Strategic Planning:  Understanding the Process
New Voices at the Table
Fundraising Fitness

BoardSource publishes it’s e-books in the PDF format, which can be read on iPads, and on the Kindle 2 and above.

Looking for more governance resources? Visit The Governance Center >>

 

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ebooks


Boardroom Chemistry
A BoardSource eBook

Making the most of board relationships is not easy. If you are like many board members and chief executives, you may not be sure where to start. Boardroom Chemistry is designed to help your board function more effectively by focusing on board structure, behavioral barriers, engaging detached board members, conflict resolution, and more. You’ll find proven advice and practical tips and techniques for improving board interactions, along with questions to stimulate board discussion around important topics.

Free to League members.  Register here >>   

Earn League Dollars for using this resource – click here for more information!

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Diversity in Action
A BoardSource eBook

In order to function at the highest level, nonprofit boards need to ensure that their members represent diverse points of view. And it is not enough to “diversify” a board; boards must be inclusive in their policies and practices, thereby creating a culture that encourages and nurtures diverse expression.

Diversity in Action provides the tools needed to help your board increase its diversity and adopt the inclusive policies and practices that will create the culture needed to sustain your organization’s commitment to diversity.

Free to League members.  Register here >> 

Earn League Dollars for using this resource – click here for more information!

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Strategic Planning:  Understanding the Process
A BoardSource eBook

They say that those who fail to plan are planning to fail. While it would be a rare organization that does NO planning, too often boards fall into one of two camps: planning for the near term, being essentially reactive to current conditions, or writing a strategic plan and then putting the plan on the shelf and never enacting its provisions.

Strategic Planning:  Understanding the Process will guide you through an understanding of what strategic planning is and help you define the right plan for your organization. It will help determine your board’s and organization’s readiness to engage in the process; help you gather the materials you need and personnel who should be involved; then walk you and your board through the process, all the way to post-planning tips.

Free to League members.  Register here >> 

Earn League Dollars for using this resource – click here for more information!

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New Voices at the Table
A BoardSource eBook

More and more boards are turning their attention to recruiting the next generation of leaders. As your board members age, it’s important to consider the challenges and opportunities inherent in recruiting younger board members.

An educated and engaged talent pool sounds almost too good to be true, but of course there are other issues to consider: Who are these potential board members and how do they function? Where will I find them? How will they affect my board? What sort of orientation will they need?

New Voices at the Table: Welcoming the Next Generation of Board Leaders will answer all of these questions and more. This eBook is designed to help your board, specifically the governance committee, gain an understanding of the habits and perspectives of the next generation of board members and understand how to best integrate them into your organization’s culture.

Free to League members.  Register here >> 

Earn League Dollars for using this resource – click here for more information!

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Fundraising Fitness
A BoardSource book

28 tools to help your board understand the basics of fundraising, how to create good fundraising policies, how to raise funds and evaluate fundraising efforts.

Free to League members.  Register here >> 

Earn League Dollars for using this resource – click here for more information!

 

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VLOG Series with National Governance Experts

This vlog series makes available video interviews with nationally recognized experts across the full range of critical issues faced by nonprofit boards today. Those who participate in this series may sign up for optional shared online office hours with the experts featured in the series.
 

 

The Orchestra Beyond Recession with David Nygren Bio
Founder and Principal, Nygren Consulting, LLC

 As part of the governance vlog series from the League, governance expert David Nygren describes the “new normal” for many organizations operating in an environment of restraint and diminished resources. He examines what this means for orchestras in terms of vision, artistic products, investments, relevancy and staffing and identifies some important board opportunities in such an environment.
Watch David Nygren's Video.

 

 

Governing Toward the Future Parts I and II by Fred Miller Bio
President, The Chatham Group, Inc.

In this four part series, Governing Toward the Future, organizational consultant Fred Miller describes four critical issues that orchestra boards and management must address.

I.  Avoiding the Tyranny of Mission
In this vlog organizational consultant Fred Miller defines the differences between mission, vision and strategy and warns of the consequences of relentlessly pursuing an organizational mission when changes in the external environment require a different approach.  Miller argues that the "tyranny of mission" occurs when organizations are driven to pursue plans that are not realistically aligned with evolving public needs, changing markets, competition and resources.

II. The Imperative of Positive Net Financial Margins and Capitalization
Fred discusses the consequences of poorly understood and deficient business models and undercapitalization.  He argues that often inadequate cash flow, insufficient positive margin and reserves to fund investment and innovation, limit the capacity of organizations to adapt and invest in the future.   Watch Fred Miller's Video.  

 

 

 

Governing Toward the Future Parts III and IV by Fred Miller Bio
President, The Chatham Group, Inc.

In this four part series, Governing Toward the Future, organizational consultant Fred Miller describes four critical issues that orchestra boards and management must address.

III. Assessing Organizational Independence with Potential Scale and Impact
In this vlog organizational consultant Fred Miller describes the need for honest assessment of the alignment of vision, mission, programs, and resources in organizations.  Such assessment can provoke the asking of critical strategic questions such as:  Would an alliance among organizations for collective impact create greater public value?  Does the value proposition attract the people, including board, and funding to deliver to scale?  Can the market sustain the number of organizations in the environment?

 

IV. Ensuring the Adaptive Capacity of the Board
In this vlog organizational consultant Fred Miller addresses the topic of adaptive leadership and developing this capacity in board members. When fundamental change is needed effective leaders recognize the adaptations they must make and determine what that means for their organizations.  Building adaptive capacity into board assessment is essential if boards are to provide adaptive leadership to govern into the future. Watch Fred Miller's Video.

 

 

Avoiding a Governance Deficit by Lowell Noteboom Bio
Chair, League of American Orchestras

I. Avoiding a Governance Deficit:  Part 1 by Lowell Noteboom
In this vlog, governance expert, Lowell Noteboom describes some of the essential steps that board members can take to correct any governance deficits that may exist in their orchestras.  Based on the work of management guru, Jim Collins, Noteboom describes three critical steps that board members can take to improve governance:  1) Getting the right people on the board bus, with everyone in the right seats; 2) Fostering a culture of discipline, with disciplined leaders, thought and action; and 3) Focusing energy and attention on the stuff that really matters.

II. Avoiding a Governance Deficit:  Part 2 by Lowell Noteboom
In this vlog, governance expert, Lowell Noteboom explores four specific tools to help board members keep their orchestras on the right track and avoid a governance deficit.  These steps include:  1) Accessing the right information; 2) Understanding the information and its implications for your orchestra; 3) Creating a vision informed by your reality, coupled with a clear, ambitious strategy to realize your vision; and 4) Building the discipline to stick to your strategy and see it through to a successful outcome, regardless of road blocks along the way.
Watch Lowell Noteboom's Video.

 

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The above ebooks are based on resources in BoardSource’s vast library of governance, material that has shown hundreds of thousands of nonprofit board members and other leaders how to develop sound practices to carry them through the best of times and the worst of times.

In addition to our publications and online resources, our consulting team of governance experts is ready to assist your board and may be reached via email ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or by calling 877 892 6293.  

Governance resources are made possible by a generous grant from MetLife Foundation.
 
Additional support for these resources is made possible by grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Hearst Foundation, Inc., and National Endowment for the Arts, and, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.