As the organization continues to develop, the composition of the board will probably have to change. What should the staff and board understand about the functions of the board of directors?
What is the PURPOSE of the organization?
Where will be the location of the organization (REGISTERED OFFICE)?
- Will the organization have MEMBERS?
- What are the qualifications for membership?
- What is the length of membership?
- Powers: What can the members decide, if anything?
- Meetings: What is the least number of meetings that will be held during a year; who can call the meeting; what advance notice is required; how many mem-
- What will be the structure of the BOARD OF DIRECTORS?
- What will be the size of the board?
- How long do board members serve, and can they serve more than one term? The bylaws may also spell out the nominating process, or this could be left to the
- Can board members be removed from the board of directors before their terms are over? If so, how? Under what conditions? In most states, the board may not
- Will board members be compensated for time, services, transportation, or other expenses? Generally, bylaws of nonprofits indicate that board members will not be
- How are the MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS struc- tured?
- What is the minimum number of times the board must meet during a one-year period? For effective governance, a board generally needs to meet at least quar-
- What are the notification requirements regarding meetings?
- What is the quorum for a board meeting?
- What shall be the duties of the OFFICERS?
- How can officers be removed from their positions?
- How can officers be replaced if they resign or are removed before the end of their terms?
- What are the specific powers and duties of each officer?
- Determine which officers are members of the board
- What will be the structure of the COMMITTEES?
- Will the corporation indemnify its board members (protect them from the financial consequences of liability lawsuits and judgments)? Your state may (as does
- What are the provisions for AMENDMENT OF THE BYLAWS?
Is a simple majority (the votes of half of the councilors present plus one) sufficient to pass a motion at a meeting of the council. State law may require certain officers, but not all must be members of the board.
Create a Planning Group
The plan should include an honest analysis of the needs your programs will meet, how you will serve them, specific goals, required resources, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The strategic plan should drive the annual plan: the specific activities that support your organization's mission and will move you toward achieving your vision.
Create a Mission Statement
Establish Your Vision Statement
State Your Guiding Values
Define the Problem or the Need
As a result of the needs assessment process, you should create a problem statement and defined customer population. Client Population: Downtown residents over the age of 65 who live independently but need assistance to continue living in their homes or apartments.
Lay Out Your Goals
The better you are able to define your target audience, the more likely your program will be effective in meeting the needs of its customers. Problem statement: Many senior citizens in the community are forced to give up independent living because they lack transportation, are unable to perform heavy household and maintenance tasks, and no longer have regular personal or family contact.
Assess Present Organizational Conditions
Develop the Strategies
This includes determining which strategies will best eliminate or weaken the factors that limit your efforts, strengthen the facilitating factors, and promote the achievement of your goals. The first step is to brainstorm with your staff, volunteers, and board all possible strategies that relate to your goals. Are there any similar programs in your community or other areas that you want to model your program after?
If other projects that address this problem have not been successful, how will your program be different. What strategies will overcome the limiting factors and strengthen the facilitating factors you identified earlier. Are there other organizations already involved in the need you have defined that you should collaborate with in some way.
Establish Your Objectives
The most important elements of the annual or tactical plan include goals, actions (along with who is responsible for taking those actions and a timeline), and a budget. on results rather than on methods. Such a goal would likely be just one of several steps taken to help low-income single mothers become more self-sufficient.). The standard of measurement specified in an objective may be results of pretests and posttests or questionnaires, observable behavior (pregnancy, court decision, legislation passed), or simply the number of people who successfully complete a program.
Whenever the action stated in a goal is abstract or covert (eg, implementing training, changing an attitude, or recommitting to something), you should add to the goal (measurable or observable) an overt behavior that can indicate whether covert performance has been achieved. For example: Eighty percent of single mothers who participate in the program will develop specific actions to take in the next six months. For example, you may have a goal to secure a certain level of funding and a goal to operate within an approved budget.
Develop the Actions (Activities) and Timetable to Achieve the Objectives
Like goals, objectives must be achievable, measurable and stated so that they are clearly understood by everyone. The plan should contain precise measurement references regarding the expected levels of achievement of each objective. For each objective, or anticipated outcome, ask yourself who will be affected, what will happen, when, how, and what will be the indicator of the desired outcome.
For example: Help low-income single mothers identify five to eight community resources or agencies available to help them secure child care, health services, family planning, income maintenance, vocational training and counseling. Assign primary responsibility for each activity and task within an activity to a specific person, and also note who else will contribute to it. An activity calendar can then be formulated which will summarize the work plan for the organisation.
Prepare a Budget
Final approval of the budget is the responsibility of the board as a whole. Sometimes lease payments can be applied to the possible subsequent purchase price of the equipment. The future of your programs may depend on the quality of the financial information you can provide.
When appropriate, documentation should include a copy of the receipt covered by the check. An audit of your books must be performed annually, and the auditor must, regardless of staff, report the results of the audit to the board of directors. Both the board of directors and the executive director of the organization should be active in fundraising.
Small grant requests require only brief proposals, although most of the areas outlined should be briefly addressed. Cover letter: Proposals must be typed and accompanied by a personal cover letter addressed to the director of the funding source.
Define Your Community (Worksheet A)
If you do not develop community relations through a well-thought-out plan, your efforts in this area will have limited, transitory, and possibly harmful effects. Developing an effective community relations plan will help the organization achieve its program goals. It works best if one person is designated to be responsible for overseeing your organization's community relations.
One option is to have a public relations chair on board who works closely with a staff member—perhaps the executive director, assistant director, or information coordinator—to develop and administer community relations plans. The following community relations planning guide is supplemented by the worksheet at the end of this chapter. Your community relations plan must take into account these differences between your market segments in order to be most effective in reaching all segments.
Determine the Objectives of Your Community Relations Plan (Worksheet B)
A youth group may want to reach out to youth, their parents, school officials, and other youth agencies in the area. The answers to these questions should give you an outline of the main groups in the community with whom you have or will develop relationships. This segmentation will allow you to examine the differences between each of these groups based on their interests, needs, perceptions, size, etc.
What do you want your audience to think or do as a result of your communications with them? This should be something very specific, such as becoming a participant in your program, referring others to your program, providing funding, entering into a service contract with you, supporting your presence in the community, or attending a concert. You may also want a response that is more difficult to observe: for example, a change in attitude toward your program or an increase in the level of knowledge about a particular topic.
Decide the Messages to be Conveyed (Worksheet C)
Increase the number of clients referred by community high schools by 10 percent in the next school year. What are the features of the service that will appeal to the community you want to serve. In other words, what should you emphasize about your program when you talk about it to the community.
If you are unsure about your image in the community, develop a feedback mechanism to provide you with this information. The results of this exercise are important to consider when crafting your message to the community. In some cases, you may need to make some program changes to develop a more positive image in the community.
Select the Media (Worksheet D)
Finalize Community Relations Plan (Worksheet E)
Use the resources of your board members to help you decide on the most appropriate media for your purposes. If none of your board members have expertise in this area, chances are that someone on the board can refer you to others with that expertise. Once you've made these decisions, describe the specific activities that fit each of the community relations goals you've already identified.
Describe your community relations plan in terms of the resources needed: people, time, materials, and money. Community relations is not a useless add-on; you should plan to spend time and money on it because it can be crucial to the success of your organization. Journalism and/or advertising schools at local colleges and universities may be interested in helping you.
Evaluate Your Efforts (Worksheet F)
The Center's printed guides and other Center publications are available at the Center or by visiting one of the more than eighty libraries or other agencies around the country that are "affiliates" of the Foundation Center. The National Center for Nonprofit Boards is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations by strengthening their boards. Your local library and some university libraries may have collections of books on various nonprofit topics, including some of the books listed in the bibliography.
This bibliography lists some of the books and publications that should be especially helpful to those engaged in starting a nonprofit organization. Provides an overview of the new accounting rules for nonprofit organizations, including alternative approaches and implementation issues. Bi-weekly newspaper that bills itself as the "Not-for-Profit Newspaper of the World". Reports on news affecting nonprofits, management issues, fundraising techniques, IRS regulations, corporate/foundation grants, and conferences.
