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5 Technology Advances for Governance Excellence
This document, authored by Vonna Laue and Michael Martin, offers five strategies some churches and ministries utilize to reap the benefits of technological advances.
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Accelerating Board Members to Full Engagement
Proven ideas to accelerate your board members, both new and long-standing, into full service
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Accountability and the Great Commission
Steve Douglass powerfully communicates how accountability supports fulfilling the Great Commission. As Steve suggests, “When people perceive a ministry and its leaders are accountable, they believe in them more.”
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Address Absentee Board Member Syndrome
There are three unhealthy ways that many ministry boards respond to empty chairs at board meetings.
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Advisory Groups
Outlines the purposes, benefits, and risks of a nonprofit utilizing an advisory board separate from a governing board
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After Thank You and Good-bye
For a season, board members throw their minds, hearts, and financial resources into the organization, and then they leave. Unless you are intentional about trying to stem the natural progression of things, all those years of service to your charity very quickly fade to a pleasant memory.
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Be Intentional About Your First 30 Minutes
Does your board meeting need a refresh—so you experience holy moments more frequently?
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Big Blessings Abound When Governance Faithfulness Flourishes
Two stories: “The Board and the Bachelor Farmer” and “$1.5 Billion Worth of Burger Blessings!”
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Big Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand
Ministry boards have a natural gravitational pull toward issues that should be reserved for the staff.
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Board Self-Evaluation – Is It Time to Give Your Board a Check-up?
Outlines the purpose, importance, and means of board self-evaluation
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Caution! Understand the Governance Pendulum Principle
You have limited time to act when the pendulum oscillates in a positive direction.
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CEO Job Description
Nonprofit organizations exist in all sizes with an emphasis on an array of causes. Regardless of size, or whether the organization’s staff is made up of volunteers or employees, every nonprofit should have one person who is the effective leader that guides the organization.
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Conducting Effective Board Meetings
Outlines the important role of the board chair in planning and leading effective board meetings
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Conflicts of Interest Sample Policy
Discusses conflicts of interest and related-party transactions, and includes a sample conflicts of interest policy and related documents
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Covenant of Confidentiality
Nonprofit boards may use this sample covenant of confidentiality to protect the confidentiality of a ministry
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Creating the Vision for the Next Board
Creating a vision for and drawing the blueprint for the future board is one of the most important legacies of a board.
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Cut the Cord! Invite Board Members to Exit When They Don’t Live Your Values
If you want a healthy board, recruit healthy people.
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Dashboards Are Not a Secret Sauce for Sound Governance
Too often the use of dashboards does not clearly communicate the past and give signals for the future.
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Disclosure of Governing Documents and Conflict of Interest Policy
Nonprofit organizations subject to the Form 990 filing requirements should determine how to respond to the Form 990 question about disclosure of certain governing documents.
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Effective Board Governance in Turbulent Times
The furthest thing from your mind is a collapse of Wall Street that significantly impacts Main Street—a collapse that impacts many of your donors and funders, and in turn, impacts the budget of the ministry you serve.
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Engage Board Members in Generative Thinking
They rely on generative thinking in their day jobs but are rarely asked to think collaboratively in the boardroom.
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Enhance Harmony by Clarifying Your Participant-Hat Expectations
Understand the three board hats: Governance, Volunteer, and Participant.
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Executive Compensation Policy
A board’s determination of the nonprofit’s senior staff members’ compensation is one of its key tasks.
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Five Board Governance Trends
Peter Drucker said, "The best way to predict the future is to create it." In this article, John Pearson shares five trends and best practices to help create your preferred board governance future.
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Five Troublesome Misconceptions of Board Members
Understanding board member myths can lead to improved governing effectiveness.
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Focus on Mission Impact and Sustainability
The “dual bottom line” equips boards to address dead horses and sacred cows (or goats).
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From the Pen of Olan Hendrix
ECFA is pleased to offer excerpts from Olan Hendrix's writings as a part of our Knowledge Center. Please find below many great topical articles that we hope will be a blessing to you in your ministry.
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Governance and the Christian College
In order to have the kind of “shared governance” that is called for in most Christian college and university settings, there is one overarching fundamental that needs to be firmly placed in the hearts and minds of board members and staff alike.
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Governance for Christ-centered Ministries
What are the transformational distinctives of Christ-centered board governance? What is different in Christian-centered board governance compared to the secular governance models?
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Governance Overkill Syndrome
Nonprofit organizations are on a quest to seek out and attain good governance. The failure of a relatively small number of boards to do their jobs should not cause every nonprofit board in America to engage in remedial action that is unduly burdensome and unproductive, and that distracts board members from their true obligation--that of overseeing the effective carrying out of the mission of the organization itself.
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Governing Board Culture
We are confident we need to address our current governing board culture but we are not sure when and how to proceed. What do you suggest?
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How to Avoid Three Common Board Mistakes
You may have been on a board where one or more of these three mistakes were made. Avoiding these mistakes will improve the effectiveness of your board.
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Individual Board Members - Sample Position Description
Describes responsibilities and characteristics for individual board members
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Integrity Slipping?
What is one of our greatest dangers for injury? An issue that tops the charts is the potential for a spiritual 911-type injury is when our integrity slips.
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Invest “10 Minutes for Governance” in Every Board Meeting
We are all guilty of bringing our delightful dysfunctions into every new board experience.
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Leverage the 80/20 Rule in the Boardroom
Invest 80 percent of your board work on future ministry opportunities—not rehashing the past.
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Looking for Consensus but Finding Division
Finding consensus on challenging issues requires deft handling and a flexible approach by the board chair.
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Mission Creep – Blueprint for Mission Creep
Why organizations drift from their mission: finances, personnel, organizational structure, demographics, or philosophy
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Mission Creep – Temptations and Solutions
Why organizations drift from their mission and how to avoid drift — "all great causes are not your cause."
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Optimizing the Board-President Relationship: Best Practices that Make a Difference
The executive search process is launched with the best of intentions. The board search committee is put together to set parameters and to ensure due diligence. The multiple documents and resumes provided by presidential candidates are reviewed, finalists determined, followed by multiple interviews, test-taking, and analyses. The choice is subsequently announced to great fanfare, followed by the usual pomp and circumstance of a presidential inauguration, everyone hoping for the best.
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Planning in Times of Uncertainty: An overview of the scenario planning process
This article explains the five main steps of the scenario planning process. Scenario planning involves exploring several ways the future may unfold and devising a strategy that will keep you moving forward no matter what happens. It is useful during times of disruptive change when long-range planning seems impossible.
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Public Access to Ministry Board Meetings or Board Meeting Minutes
Discusses any legal requirements and the propriety of granting public access to ministry board meetings or board meeting minutes
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Recording Governing Board Minutes
Outlines the importance of and procedures for recording board meeting minutes, including a sample set of minutes
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Serving on a Ministry Board with Excellence
Boards seem to give little thought to qualities that separate good boards from the very best
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Spiritual Discernment
Dr. Stephen Macchia is one of the leaders of a growing spiritual discernment movement. As Steve says: “No matter who joins you at the discernment table, they bring with them their hearts . . . the condition of their hearts directly impacts the discernment process.” May you bring a burning heart to the discernment table.
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Staff and Volunteer Ethics Sample Policy
A nonprofit's staff and volunteers' commitment to biblical, ethical, businesslike, and lawful conduct
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Strategic Plans that Learn: An innovative alternative to traditional strategic planning
Traditional strategic plans often fail to produce the intended results. In business schools, strategic planning has been replaced with the broader concept of strategic management. Rather than doing long-range strategic planning every three years or so, it is far better to conduct periodic strategic reviews. The article describes six questions to use to guide strategic review meetings.
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The Board's Fiscal Responsibilities
Board members act as trustees of the ministries assets and must exercise due diligence to make sure that the ministries are well-managed and financially sound. This article outlines the board's fiscal responsibilities.
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The Great Board Debate: How should ministry boards govern?
This article describes the pros and cons of policy based governance and the requirements that must be in place before making a transition. It examines the tendency of boards to swing from micro-managing to rubber-stamping and what to do about it.
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The Impact of Founder's Syndrome
Visionary leaders do not just experience personal stress but can also cause great organizational distress. Founder’s Syndrome occurs when an organization is driven more by the personality of the founder than by its own mission. It is an organizational problem more than a personal one. All institutions face this danger, but it is especially complicated in Christian settings, where founders often function as spiritual leaders as well.
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The Sober-Judgment Board
What is a biblical way to think about board self-assessment? Dr. Philip Ryken, president of Wheaton College, suggests board members should “think with sober judgment” (Romans 12). His outstanding article, "The Sober-Judgment Board," emphasizes the importance of a carefully structured, mission driven, and mutually accountable board.
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The Two Sides of Strategic Planning: How the Holy Spirit inspires our vision and our planning
Strategic planning has two sides and a middle—the visionary thinking side and the detailed planning side—linked together by current reality. Both sides are important and necessary. Like planning a family vacation, you have to decide on a great destination everyone will enjoy, but you also have to make lists and pack the car.
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Then and Now
“If ECFA had not been formed, another organization would have been needed to fill its role,” said Lauren Libby, former ECFA board member.
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There Are Two Things You Should Never Joke About—#2: Fundraising
Flippancy about fundraising is never a good substitute for sincerity.
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TOOL #1: The Pathway to the Board
Give this internal document to your Governance Committee to guide them along the six steps…from suggestion to election.
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TOOL #10: The 5/15 Monthly Report to the Board
Use this tool to keep the board informed and inspired between meetings. Once formatted, it takes just 15 minutes to write and 5 minutes to read.
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TOOL #11: Monthly Dashboard Report
Use this tool to update the board and senior team on the CEO’s or senior pastor’s Top-5 Annual S.M.A.R.T. Goals. (Send updates at least monthly.)
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TOOL #12: Quarterly Board Meeting Agenda and Recommendations
Use this agenda template to signal the board, seven to 10 days in advance, that this board meeting is important—and their insights are needed.
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TOOL #13: Board Retreat Read-and-Reflect Worksheets
Prior to your next board retreat, create a “Read-and-Reflect Worksheet” and inspire the board to read one governance book in preparation for your retreat.
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TOOL #14: The Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan Placemat
Roll-up your sleeves and gather the strategically-gifted board and senior staff around the table—and begin with this: “What is our strategy?”
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TOOL #15: Board Retreat Trend-Spotting Exercise
Use this trend-spotting template to generate insights and interaction on a key hot topic at your next retreat—each person presenting one article.
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TOOL #17: Board Policies Manual
Use this tool to create a Board Policies Manual (BPM)—and finally, you’ll have all your policies in one document and always updated.
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TOOL #18: Job Descriptions for the Top Leader and Board Chair
Review these sample job descriptions for the Board Chair and the CEO (or Executive Pastor) and then use these insights to refresh your documents.
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TOOL #2: Board Nominee Suggestion Form
Give this suggestion form to board members to help them discern who to recommend for board service.
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TOOL #20: Tent Cards and Tools for Leveraging Board Member Strengths
Inspire your board to complete the online CliftonStrengths® assessment and then create tent cards and tools to leverage strengths at every board and committee meeting!
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TOOL #21: Board Member Annual Affirmation Statement
Share this document with board prospects to communicate your high commitment and generosity standards. Plus, require re-commitments annually from all board members.
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TOOL #22: Straw Vote Cards
Use red and green straw vote cards to discern if you have consensus or division on big and small issues—and save valuable time!
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TOOL #3: Board Nominee Orientation: Table of Contents
Inspire qualified board prospects to consider board service by giving them a comprehensive overview of your governance documents.
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TOOL #5: The Board’s Annual Self-Assessment Survey
Select the board self-assessment survey option that best fits your board’s culture and your board’s aspirations for continual improvement.
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TOOL #6: The Board’s Annual Financial Management Audit
Use this TRUE OR FALSE audit annually as a first step in assessing your ministry’s financial health and integrity.
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TOOL #7: The Board’s Annual Legal Audit
Use this TRUE OR FALSE annual audit as a first step in assessing your ministry’s compliance with applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
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TOOL #8: The Board’s Annual Fundraising Audit
Use this TRUE OR FALSE annual audit as a first step in assessing if the ministry is communicating giving opportunities with integrity and accuracy—and whether or not the board understands and affirms the ministry’s current fundraising practices.
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TOOL #9: The Board’s Annual Evaluation of the Top Leader
Review these templates—and then customize your annual process so it fits your unique situation and your unique top leader! (One size doesn’t fit all.)
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Travel Expense of Board Members and their Spouses
Outlines the issues surrounding board member and spousal travel reimbursements
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Where Two or Three Are Gathered on Social Media
Conflicts of interest always sound more questionable on the internet and social media.
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