Maximize meetings with these tips

• Date: 01 February 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.31051
• Published date: 01 February 2020

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

View this newsletter online at wileyonlinelibrary.com • DOI: 10.1002/ban

Editor: Jeff Stratton

Supplement

Are you obligated to support the board’s

ofcial stand?

Question: “Am I obligated to support my organi-

zation’s official stand on an issue when I person-

ally disagree with it?”

Answer: Board members must be leaders and

promoters of the organization they serve. Every

board member should have the opportunity to

speak out in the boardroom—either pro or con—on

an issue before it’s voted on by the board.

But once the board votes to proceed in a specific

direction, understand that the board has spoken.

The board as a full body has made the decision.

Now it’s up to board members to support it. ■

Charitable mileage rates remain the same

The following table summarizes the optional

standard mileage rates for employees, self-em-

ployed individuals or other taxpayers to use in

computing the deductible costs of operating an

automobile for business, charitable, medical or

moving expense purposes.

Period

Rates in Cents per Mile

SourceBusiness Charity Medical Moving

2019 58 14 20 IR-2018-251

What the nonprofit can reimburse to volunteers

and board members remains 14 cents per mile,

under the IRS’s charitable mileage rate.

The standard mileage rate is the amount up

to which you can make tax-free reimburse-

ments to employees who use their personal

cars for nonprofit business without detailed

recordkeeping.

You just need the number of miles driven and

the business purpose for your recordkeeping. ■

February 2020 Vol. 36, No. 6

Maximize meetings with these tips

Does your board get all it can out of board meet-

ings? Here are two ways to get more out of them:

1. Sit next to your board chair. This lets you

suggest proper procedure if necessary (e.g., recom-

mend a motion), offer compromises if the board

bogs down (appoint a committee) and issue remind-

ers (for example, “The board passed a policy on that

two years ago”).

2. Listen. Listening closely at board meetings

can pay dividends to the board. If there is board-

member confusion on an issue, you can clarify.

You can offer compromises when conflicts arise.

Speak up at meetings to keep the board on

track; otherwise, listen. ■