“Fix your board” is my shock and awe approach. Scandals in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors make governments nervous. And nervous people do not-so-good stuff. Look at what the U.S. Congress was thinking about a few years ago, led by Senator Grassley. And now, there’s Representative Charles Boustany. He thinks of himself as a prominent watchdog of nonprofit organizations. He wants the IRS to be more aggressive and go after nonprofits.
I don’t agree with the ill-informed governmental approaches at state and federal levels. But I sure understand their frustration at poorly governed nonprofits.
Wake up! Fix yourselves. Quit being an embarrassment to the rest of us. Your poor governance makes watchdogs like Boustany make ill-advised decisions.
If your board is more amenable to self-examination, learning, and possible change – then take the “make governance stronger” approach. Talk about the health check-up. No need for shock and awe when well-meaning people believe in continuous quality improvement.
Whichever way works for your organization — shock and awe or health check-up — do it. Do it now. You’ll find lots of resources in the Free Download Library on this website. Click on Resources. See the pull down menu. Then visit the board development/governance section.