Annual Board Tune‐up Checklist

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.31168
• Date: 01 October 2020
• Published date: 01 October 2020

6 Board & Administrator

DOI 10.1002/ban © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC • All rights reserved

Resource

Annual Board Tune-up Checklist

With fall approaching and the end of the year in sight, experts suggest nonprots take this time to “tune up” their

boards so they are ready to hit the ground running in the new year to come. According to the National Council

of Nonprots, organizations would do well to add the following items to the agenda of their end-of-year board of

directors’ meetings:

• Discuss the organization’s values, focusing on how those values should inform and shape decisions the

board makes.

• Review and approve any and all compensation paid to the executive director/CEO (and trustees), and review

policy and practices governing reimbursement of expenses for volunteers (this policy applies to volunteer board

members, and all-volunteer organizations, too).

• Review the nonprot’s conict-of-interest policy, discuss and disclose conicts, ask board members to sign a

disclosure questionnaire (and remind them to update it throughout the year, as needed), review the nonprot’s gift

policy and practices, and review and remind board members of the whistleblower procedure/anti-retaliation policy

and process for reviewing complaints.

• Review the IRS Form 990 prior to ling (for 990-N lers, report to board members when it is led); conrm

that state corporate lings are current, including ling state registrations for fundraising, tax-exempt status and

employment tax withholdings.

• Review whether the nonprot has taken the Section 501(h) election, and discuss the importance, value and

ease of engaging in everyday advocacy to advance the nonprot’s mission.

• Review proposed budget/approve budget for following year (and adjust throughout the year as needed).

• Review and accept the independent nancial audit, in addition to regular nancial reports throughout the

year. (For nonprots that do not conduct an independent nancial audit, they should review an asset/liability report

that clearly illustrates the current cash position of the nonprot and projected cash position relative to anticipated

liabilities at year-end.)

• Ensure insurance policies are renewed (and from time to time, review the policies to make sure the coverage

is adequate). Also, review the document retention policy and see what can be discarded this year.

• Convene an annual corporate meeting, in accordance with bylaws and state law.

• Nominate and elect the board of directors and officers in accordance with bylaws and state law. Bring atten-

tion to when board members’ terms expire and share with all board members the process for identifying, cultivating

and nominating new board members.

• Remind the board about expectations for them to participate in fundraising; set goals and recognize success.

• Review banking relationships and policies/review signatures required by bank; update if needed.

Reprinted with permission from the National Council of Nonprots (www.councilofnonprots.org). ■