Board Orientation

All nonprofit organizations need a board. Although the specific responsibilities may vary due to mission focus and different phases of an organization’s existence, the basic role and purpose of all nonprofit boards remain the same. There are legal, ethical, and practical reasons to build a board when a nonprofit is created. These reasons create the foundation for good governance and are explained in-depth in this article from BoardSource.

Board Member Roles and Responsibilities

One of the fundamental challenges that far too many boards struggle with is understanding board member roles and responsibilities and how to fulfill them.

Filling all roles and distributing responsibilities across board members can ensure proper oversight, and enables the organization to advance toward its mission and purpose. By understanding how each member fits into the picture and enhances the organization, board members can empower each other and better support the organization as a united group.

What Are the Different Board Member Roles and Responsibilities?

According to Leading with Intent, in general, boards are doing well with the more fundamental board responsibilities — understanding the organization’s purpose and mission and providing financial oversight. Conversely, they struggle most with the external responsibilities, including fundraising, advocacy, and community-building and outreach. This lack of understanding of what is, and is not, a part of the board’s essential responsibilities can lead to a whole host of dysfunctions, such as micromanagement, rogue decision-making, and lack of engagement.

To add order and process, every board should support the following positions, regardless of board size or type:

Chairperson – responsible for leading the board and facilitating meetings

Vice Chair – acts as the board chair’s understudy and second in command

Secretary – responsible for official communications with board members and recording meetings

Treasurer – oversees all matters related to the organization’s finances, property, and budget

Since it’s impossible to do a job well if you don’t know what the job is, all boards must take the time to ensure that every board member fully understands what’s expected and needed of them, and then hold all members accountable. You can find more details on each role at the end of this article.

Basic Board Member Duties

This starts with an understanding of the fundamental legal duties of each individual board member, which include:

• Duty of Care — Each board member has a legal responsibility to participate actively in making decisions on behalf of the organization and to exercise their best judgment while doing so.
• Duty of Loyalty — Each board member must put the interests of the organization before their personal and professional interests when acting on behalf of the organization in a decision-making capacity. The organization’s needs come first.
• Duty of Obedience — Board members bear the legal responsibility of ensuring that the organization complies with the applicable federal, state, and local laws and adheres to its mission.

But these are just the starting point, as boards have responsibilities that go far beyond these three legal duties.

The Most Important Board Member Roles and Responsibilities

Our Board Responsibilities

1. Determine the organization’s mission and purpose. It is the board’s responsibility to create and review a statement of mission and purpose that articulates the organization’s goals, means and primary constituents served.

2. Select the chief executive. Boards must reach consensus on the chief executive’s responsibilities and undertake a careful search to find the most qualified individual for the position.

3. Provide proper financial oversight. The board must assist in developing the annual budget and ensuring that proper financial controls are in place.

4. Ensure adequate resources. One of the board’s foremost responsibilities is to provide adequate resources for the organization to fulfill its mission.

5. Ensure legal and ethical integrity and maintain accountability. The board is ultimately responsible for ensuring adherence to legal standards and ethical norms.

6. Ensure effective organizational planning. Boards must actively participate in an overall planning process and assist in implementing and monitoring the plan’s goals.

7. Recruit and orient new board members and assess board performance. All boards have a responsibility to articulate prerequisites for candidates, orient new members, and periodically and comprehensively evaluate its own performance.

8. Enhance the organization’s public standing. The board should clearly articulate the organization’s mission, accomplishments, and goals to the public and garner support from the community.

9. Determine, monitor, and strengthen the organization’s programs and services. The board’s responsibility is to determine which programs are consistent with the organization’s mission and to monitor their effectiveness.

10. Support the chief executive and assess his or her performance. The board should ensure that the chief executive has the moral and professional support he or she needs to further the goals of the organization.