Governance—A call to action
By Caroline Boitano
Every nonprofit organization needs three essential elements to succeed in any venture. The first is the program that is designed to fulfill the mission of the organization, the second is a strong financial base to support the program and the third is the governance structure to ensure that the organization endures over time. These are the legs that hold up the “stool” of any successful endeavor. The mistake that most volunteers make when working in a nonprofit organization is that they pay a lot of attention to program and finances yet assume that, if all the paperwork is completed and filed, the governance will take care of itself. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Good governance is the foundation that insures the success of most ventures. Every strong organization begins with a strong board who understands what is required to govern, and what is required to lead. A call to governance is one with profound implications. Let’s spend some time here talking about the basics of good governance for any board of directors for education foundations specifically. It is a conversation that we will continue in the future.
Mission:
Every board must clearly understand the mission that the foundation was founded to fulfill. That mission is usually stated as a prologue to the by-laws of the foundation. And that mission is usually infused with a vision of how the future will look if the mission is accomplished. Mission and Vision can be confused with each other. The Vision is what you want when you are done. The Mission is what are you founded to do!
Below is how CCEF has crafted its Vision and Mission—it has been combined into one short statement:
The vision of CCEF is to ensure that there are adequate resources to deliver a high-quality education to every child in California. CCEF’s mission is to enable all local education foundations to have the knowledge, capacity, and resources to effectively support education in their communities.
This is the groundwork of good Governance and every program that the foundation offers should refer back to these statements. Does this support our mission? This is the question every board member should be asking when new ideas and programs are proposed.
As an example, your foundation has as its mission to provide a well rounded music program for the school district. A local company has asked you to run a golf tournament to raise money for scholarships for high school seniors who choose to attend a local college. The company promises to raise awareness for the foundation in the community. They are asking you to build the volunteer team to organize this effort. These scholarships are not just for students who want to go on in music, but are for students with the highest overall GPA. As a board the foundation should ask—Does this support our mission?? If the answer is not a resounding “yes,” then decline. Your mission should be what determines whether or not you go forward with a program—even one designed to raise money!
In the future, we will talk specifically about the roles and responsibilities of a board member and highlight some best practices.
