Tips From The Trenches

• Published date: 01 November 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30569
• Date: 01 November 2017

November 2017 • Volume 34, Number 3 7

DOI 10.1002/ban© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

Tips From The Trenches

How should you respond to anonymous

complaints that reach the board?

End runs by staff to the board can be quite

harmful to the nonprofit executive. If it happens to

you, what’s your response?

First, the board and CEO need to come to agree-

ment about the value of anonymous complaints.

The board needs to know that they are worthless,

even cowardly, unless they involve charges of

financial malfeasance involving or sexual harass-

ment against the CEO.

A policy document review may also be in order.

When was the last time you and the board re-

viewed your job description?

It should contain language that clearly states

your authority to manage all personnel issues,

including the hiring, firing, pay and assignments

of all staff.

Next, take a look at your policy on the board’s

role. Does it contain a reminder to the board to

ask employees who contact them to follow the

chain of command? ■

Improve committee performance

with these tips

In “26 Tips for Improving Committee Productiv-

ity,” Core Strategies for Nonprofits Inc. suggests:

• “Be clear about the committee’s purpose.

What does it exist to accomplish?”

• “Stay away from standing committees wher-

ever possible. The urgency and importance of the

committee’s tasks tend to get diluted when the

group meets month after month. Instead, rely on

ad hoc committees to deal with specific issues.”

• “As a group, state the problems or issues to be

tackled. This way everyone starts on the same page.”

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

gl/8rTo9E. ■

Manage subordinate board structures

In “Designing Subordinate Board Structures,”

David Renz of the Midwest Center for Nonprofit

Leadership at the University of Missouri-Kansas

City poses several “Questions to Inform Creation

of Committees and Task Forces.” They include:

Should this be board work? That is, is it high-

level strategic or policy work? (i.e., is it “ends” or

“means”?)

a. If no: Is there some other compelling reason

the work should stay with the board?

If not, the issue should be delegated to

staff to be implemented by staff and/or vol-

unteers. You may still wish to create a task

force or committee, but if it is one that re-

ports to someone on staff, it should not be a

board structure.

b. If yes: Is there a need to create a subordinate

entity to do “prework”? That is:

i. Is there so much work that it cannot be

done by the full board in its meetings?

ii. Is the work so complex or sophisticated

that the board does not have the knowl-

Avoid strategic planning mistakes

from the outset

In “Biggest Mistakes Made by Strategic Planning

Facilitators,” Carter McNamara outlines the facili-

tation mistakes he’s noticed in his work:

1. “Not getting sufficiently trained on how to

do facilitating, e.g., planning the meeting, goals,

ground rules, which techniques to cultivate com-

plete participation, doing interventions, managing

conflict.”

2. “Not learning a variety of strategic planning

models, e.g., conventional, issues-based and real-

time planning—and instead ‘pushing’ one model

all the time, everywhere.”

3. “Not planning the planning process before-

hand, e.g., what’s the purpose of the planning,

what was learned from previous planning, what

cultural considerations are needed, what model

should we use, etc.”

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

SqvvCo. ■

edge, skill or other capacity to do the work

itself?

1. If yes to either, then a committee or task

force should be created.

2. If no, then the work becomes part of the

board’s work plan.

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

wBasA1. ■