Commercial and Nonprofit Boards Or Directors
The majority of nonprofits and businesses have boards or directors which are the governing bodies who create plans for their organizations, assign recognition to perform those packages and supervise the executive staff. Many nonprofits also have advisory boards that provide advice or guidance to the director and executive.
Nonprofit and commercial boards have certain similarities in the path to success. Healthy boards require the careful recruitment, training and orientation of new members. They also require a close partnership between the board and staff.
A key role of both kinds of boards is setting strategic goals and making sure that management’s actions are in line with these goals. Both types of boards need to ensure that there are operating plans that ensure that financial resources and allocations are done in a way that achieves near- and long term goals for the organization, and that policies promote the compliance with ethical and legal standards.
Non-profit boards are usually bigger than those of for-profit organizations, since they must represent all the stakeholders that have a a stake in the institution’s operation. This can lead to boards of colleges that are independent, for instance with 70 or more members, including teachers, parents staff, alumni and faculty are on the board along with wealthy individuals.
Typically both nonprofit and for-profit boards meet at least once a year to discuss their work and make decisions. Both types of boards have governing documents, which comprise articles of incorporation, bylaws, along with descriptions of the responsibilities and roles of committees, directors, and the board. The two types of boards formulate policies in writing including those on director autonomy, conflicts of interests, codes of conduct and indemnification.
