Communication and Nonprofit Board Governance

For the past few months, I've interned at the Pierce County community organization, Safe Streets. I conducted research for them about how information technology and communication tools can advance the work of Nonprofit Boards of Directors.

Nonprofit boards craft the organization’s mission, vision, and values and form the strategic plan to pursue that mission. Derived from the decision of the Sibley Hospital Case, Directors have a legal responsibility to meet a certain standard of care. The Board guarantees the organization’s compliance with all state and federal regulations and provides oversight of the financial resources of the organization by protecting its assets and ensuring that it has adequate financial resources to operate its programs. Boards must host regularly scheduled meetings and document meeting minutes. Individual board members must attend the meetings, actively participate in discussions and voting, and practice preparedness by reviewing the financial information and reports to meet their standard of care.

According to BoardSource, Directors are responsible for outreach and fundraising and act as representatives of the organization to stakeholders. Now, more than ever, Boards can leverage information technology to support members in the execution of their numerous responsibilities. As the world adapts to the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies alike are forced to increase their dependency on information technologies to manage day-to-day operations.

Looking past the immediate circumstances, non-profit organizations should capitalize on the benefits of information technology to address the basic elements of board governance: accountability, transparency, predictability, and participation.

#managment #boardgovernance #communication