A Working Guide for Directors of Not-For-Profit Organizations

The author delivers on his goal of providing a quick, easily read, plain-language overview of basic board mission and action.’ The book is chock full of practical nuggets on the board’s relation to the chief executive, including three key exhibits: Twenty Tips for Effective Interviews, Twenty-One Good Interview Questions, and Checklist for the Termination Decision Process. There are also informative sections on long-range planning, marketing, commercial ventures, applying for grants, taxes and legal matters, and the use of outside consultants. . . . Waldo stands out among writers on governing boards in stating clearly that unpaid, part-time trustee-directors can’t be counted on to provide the matrix of behavioral cues we call organizational leadership. Foundation News

Geared toward volunteer directors of not-for-profit organizations, this work offers an easy-to-read, non-technical overview of basic board mission and action. The lay director will discover the primary roles, repsonsibilities, and relationships between himself/herself and the not-for-profit organization he or she serves. The book is divided into the three primary areas of responsibility of a director: fiduciary and legal; monitoring and controlling; and planning and directing. Several chapters are devoted to legal matters and responsibilities, tax considerations, and board structure and committees. Written in a reader friendly style, non-business trained or inexperienced directors will find especially helpful the chapters covering the numbers game. Another chapter discusses the essentials of an effective information package that will help directors monitor and better plan for their organization. The bibliography at the end of the work suggests other books and articles that explore in-depth many of the topics discussed.

CHARLES N. WALDO has served on, studied and observed, and acted as a consultant to many not-for-profit boards for twenty-five years. He is the founder and president of The Delta Consulting Group in Columbus, Indiana, a consulting firm providing organization development and human resource services to both for-profit an NFP organizations. He is the author of Boards of Directors: Their Changing Roles, Structure, and Information Needs (Quorum Books, 1985).