Board member departure is the ED's opportunity to grow

• Date: 01 March 2018
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30635

March 2018 • Volume 34, Number 7 3

DOI 10.1002/ban© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

BOARD & ADMINISTRATOR

FOR ADMINISTRATORS ONLY, (1525-7878;

e-ISSN: 1949-3215), is published monthly

by Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., a

Wiley Company, 111 River St., Hoboken, NJ

07030-5774.

Postmaster: Send all address changes to

BOARD & ADMINISTRATOR FOR ADMIN-

ISTRATORS ONLY, John Wiley & Sons

Inc., c/o The Sheridan Press, PO Box 465,

Hanover, PA 17331.

Copyright and Photocopying: Board & Ad-

ministrator for Administrators Only © 2018

Wiley Periodicals, Inc. All rights reserved. No

part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored or transmitted in any form or by any

means without the prior permission in writ-

ing from the copyright holder. Authorization

to photocopy items for internal and personal

use is granted by the copyright holder for

libraries and other users registered with

their local Reproduction Rights Organisa-

tion (RRO), e.g. Copyright Clearance Center

(CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA

01923, USA (www.copyright.com), provided

the appropriate fee is paid directly to the

RRO. This consent does not extend to other

kinds of copying such as copying for general

distribution, for advertising and promotional

purposes, for creating new collective works

or for resale. Special requests should be ad-

dressed to: permissions@wiley.com

Delivery Terms and Legal Title: Where the

subscription price includes print issues and

delivery is to the recipient’s address, delivery

terms are Delivered at Place (DAP); the recipi-

ent is responsible for paying any import duty

or taxes. Title to all issues transfers FOB

our shipping point, freight prepaid. We will

endeavour to fulfil claims for missing or dam-

aged copies within six months of publication,

within our reasonable discretion and subject

to availability.

Information for subscribers: Board & Admin-

istrator for Administrators Only is published in

12 issues per year. Institutional subscription

prices for 2018 are: Personal Online Only:

$192 (all areas). Personal Print + Online:

$264 (US, Canada & Mexico), $315 (rest of

the world). Personal Print Only: $239 (US,

Canada & Mexico), $291 (rest of the world).

Institutional Online Only: $3568 (US, Canada,

Mexico, and the rest of the world), £2186 (UK),

€2561 (Europe). Institutional Print + Online:

$4460 (US), $4533 (Canada & Mexico), £2794

(UK), €3274 (Europe), $4559 (rest of the

world). Institutional Print Only: $3568 (US),

$3626 (Canada & Mexico), £2235 (UK), €2619

(Europe), $3647 (rest of the world). Prices are

exclusive of tax. Asia-Pacific GST, Canadian

GST/HST and European VAT will be applied at

the appropriate rates. For more information on

current tax rates, please go to www.wileyon

linelibrary.com/tax-vat. The price includes on-

line access to the current and all online back

files to January 1st 2012, where available. For

other pricing options, including access infor-

mation and terms and conditions, please visit

www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/access.

Back issues: Single issues from current and

recent volumes are available at the current

single issue price from cs-journals@wiley.

com. Earlier issues may be obtained from

Periodicals Service Company, 351 Fairview

Avenue – Ste 300, Hudson, NY 12534, USA.

Tel: +1 518 822-9300, Fax: +1 518 822-9305,

Email: psc@periodicals.com

Journal Customer Services: For order-

ing information, claims and any enquiry

concerning your journal subscription please

go to www.wileycustomerhelp.com/ask or

contact your nearest office. Americas: Email:

cs-journals@wiley.com; Tel: +1 781 388 8598

or +1 800 835 6770 (toll free in the USA &

Canada). Europe, Middle East and Africa:

Email: cs-journals@wiley.com; Tel: +44 (0)

1865 778315. Asia Pacific: Email: cs-jour-

nals@wiley.com; Tel: +65 6511 8000.Japan:

For Japanese speaking support, Email: cs-

japan@wiley.com; Tel: +65 6511 8010 or Tel

(toll-free): 005 316 50 480. Visit our Online

Customer Help available in 7 languages at

www.wileycustomerhelp.com/ask

Editor: Jeff Stratton. For editorial inquiries,

call 515/963-7972. Email: jeff_stratton@

msn.com

Production Editor: Mary Jean Jones (email:

mjjones@wiley.com)

View this journal online at

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/BAN

Printed in the USA by The Allied Group

For submission instructions, subscription and

all other information visit: wileyonlinelibrary.

com/journal/BAN

Key on board communications

when money gets tighter

Veteran nonprofit execs say that

when you face a financial crunch,

your handling of financial informa-

tion to the board needs to build

board confidence and trust. Consider

these reporting strategies:

• Provide financial education.

Use a retreat to expand on the board’s

financial knowledge. The review

will orient new members and give a

refresher to vets. The organization’s

CFO can explain how to read balance

sheets and income statements.

• Get an early start on budget

development. Begin gathering data

for the coming year’s budget right

after the board approves the budget.

This will help you revise information

as more data becomes available.

• Include the finance com-

mittee’s meeting minutes in the

board’s meeting packet. Provide a

detailed answer to why there are cer-

tain variances to answer any board

questions in advance of meetings.

• Provide accurate financial

figures. When numbers are consis-

tently incorrect or projected incor-

rectly, trust is eroded at the board

level. The overall pattern of projec-

tions must be solid. That means a

lot of work must be done upfront

to check and recheck assumptions

and conditions.

• Give clear variance explana-

tions. You need to show the reason

the numbers have changed—higher

product costs, additional personnel,

state or federal funding level varia-

tions. Board confidence builds when

the explanation for changes is logi-

cal and presented in plain language.

• Develop trust via individual

meetings with board members.

There must be trust among board

members, the administrator and her

management team. Consistency and

clarity in communicating financial

information is the key.

It can be helpful to invite board

members individually to discuss

your finances periodically. This will

help you to understand any areas of

question or concern on their minds.

• Use a multiyear comparison

sheet to illustrate the organiza-

tion’s financial history. Share a

Five-Year Comparison update with

the board on a monthly basis. The

chart should compare month-to-date

(MTD) revenue, year-to-date (YTD)

revenue, MTD expended and YTD ex-

pended, the unencumbered balance

and the percentage encumbered, and

year-end cash balances for the cur -

rent year and preceding four years. ■

Board member departure is the ED’s opportunity to grow

In Carol Weisman’s “Exit Interviews for

Retiring Board Members: Don’t Just Whack’em

and Plaque’em,” she advises CEOs that board

member departure is “an opportunity to learn

and grow professionally as well as ensure

future positive involvement with the departing

board member by asking for a nal meeting.”

“You will want to have the meeting in a home

or office that is private as opposed to a busy

restaurant or coffee house where your conver-

sation could be overheard,” Weisman writes.

Ask your departing board member these

questions:

• “Did we use your talents effectively?”

• “If I can call you in the future, what

issue should I consult you about?”

• “What did you enjoy about your time

on the board?”

• “What would have made it better?”

• “How can I improve as a leader?”

For more information, go to http://goo.

gl/kfbr6e. ■