Marc J. Epstein - Joining a nonprofit board: what you need to know

Praise for Joining a Nonprofit Board

This book is a useful road map for the successful businessperson who now wants to give back to society by serving on a nonprofit board and unwittingly assumes that the approaches that worked so well in the for-profit world can be seamlessly extrapolated to the nonprofit board room.

Roseanna H. Means, M.D., founder and president, Women of Means

This book is a must-read for all new nonprofit board members (and existing nonprofit board members as well). It is full of practical advice that will help improve the effectiveness of nonprofit board members and the organizations they serve.

Roger Servison, president emeritus, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and vice chairman, Boston Symphony Orchestra

What a powerful new tool now available for anyone involved with governance of America's unique nonprofit enterprises. The analysis is cogent and concise, amply supported by real life examples.

George B. Beitzel, chairman emeritus, Amherst College, and chairman emeritus, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

This book gives you practical advice in complementing your business experience with the nuances of not-for-profit governance, performance management, and other areas in fully achieving the societal mission.

Jeffrey C. Thomson, president and CEO, Institute of Management Accountants

This book is a must-read for all prospective board membersof nonprofit organizations. It guides you through the very real differences between for-profit and nonprofit organizations (and boards). Even more important, it helps one navigate through all the nuances in which nonprofit organizations actually operate on a day-to-day basis.

Elaine Ullian, former president, Boston Medical Center

Both for trustees new to nonprofit board work and those who are currently serving, Joining a Nonprofit Board is a must read. I would recommend that Joining a Nonprofit Board be required reading and distributed at the opening board meeting.

Agnes C. Underwood, former head, Garrison Forest School and National Cathedral School; vice president/ managing associate, Carney, Sandoe, and Associates

A board needs a unifying and visionary objective It must be world class. This book successfully shows how to create a worldclass board.

W. Richard Bingham, former chairman, California Academy of Sciences

Copyright 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Epstein, Marc J.

Joining a nonprofit board : what you need to know / Marc J. Epstein, F. Warren McFarlan; foreword by Gail McGovern.1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-93125-7 (cloth)

1. Nonprofit organizationsManagement. 2. Boards of directors. I. McFarlan, F. Warren II. Title.

HD62.6.E67 2011

658.4022dc22

This book is dedicated to

Professor James E. Austin

and

John C. Whitehead,

Social Enterprise Pioneers

Exhibits, Figures, and Tables

Exhibits

1.1 Sample: KaBOOM! Performance Indicator

6.1 Keys to Superior Board Performance

6.2 Sample Questions for Board Performance Assessment

7.1 Questions the CEO Must Periodically Ask Herself

7.2 The Series of Questions That the Board Chair Must Periodically Ask Hersel

Figures

P.1 Book Organization

1.1 CMA Canada Balanced Scorecard

3.1 Resource Acquisition and Impact Chart

3.2 The Mission Effectiveness Approach: The Causal Linkage Map of Impact Drivers for Providing Safe Places and Services to Abused Women with Children

3.3 The Mission Effectiveness Model: The Causal Linkage Map of Impact Drivers for a Professional Association

3.4 The Mission Effectiveness Model: The Causal Linkage Map of Impact Drivers for a University

4.1 19802005 Sources of Cash Flow for Dana Hall School

6.1 Determinants of Board Performance

Tables

1.1 Structure of Organizations

1.2 Key Differences of For-Profit Versus Nonprofit Governance

1.3 Trustee Life CycleCommunity Services Board Chair

3.1 The Mission Effectiveness Approach: Examples of Performance Measures for Providing Safe Places and Other Services to Abused Women with Children

3.2 The Mission Effectiveness Approach: Examples of Performance Measures for a Professional Association

3.3 The Mission Effectiveness Model: Examples of Performance Measures for a University

3.4 Opportunity International Performance Measures

3.5 The AARP Foundation Performance Indicator

4.1 Key Differences Between Corporate Accounting and Nonprofit Accounting

4.2 Examples of Financial Performance Measures of Nonprofit Organizations

6.1 A Sample of Strategic Information Required for Nonprofit Boards

Foreword

More and more, businesses are looking to contribute to the greater welfare of society through corporate social responsibility initiatives. Similarly, I have a noticed a trend in business leaders looking to give back on an individual level through service on a nonprofit board. This is a wonderful and rewarding form of volunteerism, but as I have learned, there are significant distinctions between for-profit and nonprofit board service. Luckily, Marc Epstein and Warren McFarlan offer an in-depth synthesis of helpful information to guide individuals on their journey of nonprofit board service with Joining a Nonprofit Board: What You Need to Know .