This blog post is part of five articles on organizational sustainability. Related articles are noted at the end of the post. Stage 5: Track, Report and Monitor Progress We’ve already alluded to the fact that any sustainability strategy and goals must be tracked, results reported and monitored. Just as this holds true for any objectives the Board sets, sustainability is important to keep an eye on. Likely you already have a tracking, reporting and monitoring process, so rea

This blog post is part of five articles on organizational sustainability. Related articles are noted at the end of the post. Stage 4: Aspirations, Results, and Strategic Goals & Objectives When considering sustainability, where you are going and the results you want to deliver are a key component of creating a sustainable organization. If you don’t know what you are working towards or the results you want to achieve, it is difficult to set a direction and move towards it.

This blog post is part of five articles on organizational sustainability. Related articles are noted at the end of the post. Stage Two: Risk Assessment The Risk Assessment component of improving sustainability builds on what was learned during the Organizational Audits and requires that the Board determine what is “acceptable” risk in several areas. As noted above, how you break out the areas that you assess or the concerns you examine depends on your current Board, what ha

When it comes to creating a sustainable organization, it is vital that your organization be confident in what it does well, know what opportunities exist to explore, and constantly scan the marketplace for trends that can impact the sustainability of the agency.

This blog post is part of five articles on organizational sustainability. Related articles are noted at the end of the post. Stage One: Organizational Audits An organizational audit evaluates areas of your organization that are considered vital to its functioning. It compares an element's performance to the desired performance to meet your business needs or goals. The focus of your audit may vary depending on your specific key issues or concerns. The three most common organi

Before recruiting new Board of Director members, doing an internal Board Evaluation to assess your Board's strengths and areas of improvement is helpful. Knowing how effective your board is, what strengths it brings, and the areas of improvement to focus on in the coming months, provides potential recruits and existing members with confidence that the board is self-aware and committed to ongoing learning and improvement.

Whether you are new to a Board of Directors or have been on a Board for a long time, you’ve likely heard about the two “types” of boards in the non-profit sector: working or governance boards. In this blog post, I’d like to examine the differences between the two and showcase the situations in which each type of board shines.

In a non-profit organization, no relationship is more important than the one between the Chair of the Board and the Executive Director (ED) or CEO. Curious about why this relationship is so meaningful.? Read on.