Board Education & Training
The board of a nonprofit plays a vital role in the organization and has an essential job to ensure the nonprofit meets its full potential. The reality is that many board members, often individuals who care about the mission of the organization as a whole, may join without an understanding of what the role really entails. Being an effective board member requires not only good intentions and a commitment to the mission, but also an understanding of the responsibilities of a board and a willingness to make decisions with the organization, team, and community in mind.
The Nonprofit Center has developed a suite of Leadership Development Programs for High Performing Boards. All are tailored to the needs of your board through review of a survey that goes out to the board prior to the session, review of organizational documents including bylaws, and financial statements, and one-on-one interviews with the chair of the board and chief executive.
Building the Board Your Organization Needs Training
This 2.5 hour session will take a holistic look at the role and responsibilities of nonprofit board members, identifying not only the individual but also the collective role that boards have with nonprofits. Participants will learn key elements/responsibilities of the board such as their role in culture development, defining governance, board/executive director/staff balance of power and collaborations, modern and reasonable expectations/obligations, and connecting with community centered work including fundraising.
Goals for this interactive session include:
- Understanding the origins of nonprofit boards and influences that shape recent thinking about “best practices.”
- Exploring why your board exists and what kind of board your organization needs, in the context of its purpose.
- Discovering how each participant, as an individual, can be an effective and productive board member in a way that honors the reasons they got involved in the first place.
Day of Clarity Board Retreat
The Nonprofit Center has used its four decades of experience in the nonprofit sector to create a “Day of Clarity” board retreat that effectively conveys insights and skills to nonprofit boards and enables them to move forward to engage in strategic thinking and prioritizing to successfully fulfill their goals. Based on the same content as the Building the Board Your Organization Needs training, this full-day (5 hour) retreat is designed to help your board define its priorities and create a plan for moving forward.
Advanced Board Training Offerings
Continue building your boards skills with the following sessions. These can be done as a 2.5 hour session, or extended to a Day of Clarity:
- Community Engagement for Nonprofit Boards
This session will explore practical strategies for board members and the full board to ensure strong community connection through reflective composition, effective feedback methods, equitable practices, and transparent policies. - Cultivating an Impactful Board
This session will revisit and expand on the themes of “Building the Board Your Organization Needs” and then explore the ways in which you might enhance a board’s effectiveness. - Recruiting and Retaining Board Members
Learn strategies to recruit, prepare and retain the board members your organization needs to support its mission and the community it serves. - Generating Support for Your Nonprofit
This session explores fundraising trends, helps board members identify why people support their organization and explores how they can engage in fundraising. - Preparing For Financial Success
Board members will learn the skills needed to successfully perform their fiduciary duties in partnership with the staff. - How to Make the Ask
If your board is actively involved in gift solicitation, this session will help them learn to ask for gifts and leverage their passion for the organization’s mission.. - Strategic Planning for Boards
This session will help the board to understand the critical elements of the strategic planning process, understand the role of the board and the staff, and help them to feel prepared to move forward with strategic planning for your organization. - Succession Planning For What’s Next
This session will take a holistic look at the overall succession dynamic and help boards to understand their role in ensuring smooth leadership transitions for their organization.
“When I attend seminars, I come away personally thinking they are successful if I have one new idea to consider and possibly implement. I left [The Nonprofit Center Board Training] with no fewer than 12 ideas for consideration! Your knowledge base is phenomenal and your teaching expertise is evident. I am very hopeful you have helped to move DAP forward.”
-Mary V.Z. Wachterhauser, Esq., Board Member, Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County.
Handout/information sheets for all the above are available to download:
Contact Lori Moffa for additional information on Board Education & Training at moffa@lasalle.edu.
