It's time once again to talk about "who's institution is it anyway?"  Because the community, on behalf of the U.S., owns the nonprofit, the board of trustees acts as the community's representatives and is "the boss."  I didn't use the words "executive director" or "CEO" in that last sentence, did I?  Sorry executive staff readers, it's not YOUR organization!  You work for the community through your board and not the other way around.

I mention this due to yet another incident where a trustee of an organization has complained that the E.D. has been chastising the board constantly about doing more fundraising.  That would be fine except that there has been no accompanying offer of significant technical assistance, and, more importantly, a broader justification, for the trustees to begin to act differently than they have for the entire lifespan of the organization (I don’t think the founders have ever left the board…hm…). 

The organization does not have a strong documented strategic direction (we used to call them "plans" but nobody has time for planning anymore) and, of course, there is no E.D. performance plan linked to the organization's plan OR a formal annual performance plan for the E.D. I guess the exec really IS in charge of this and far too many other organizations because the board isn't taking proper charge.

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Joe Reis  - Are you serious?   |98.202.85.xxx |2008-06-28 04:56:32 Hello Steve, Are you kidding me? The E.D.'s performance plan is not linked to the organization's plan?! If this were the private sector, the E.D. would be canned in a week...or less. Excuse the crass pun, but these orgs need to take "E.D." pills...Thanks for bringing this up. Joe Reply | Quote 0   1

Pete Nixon  - President, Apogee Consultants   |24.10.213.xxx |2009-02-05 21:07:59 I propose another point of view - that the community owns the organization and that both the Board and the ED work for and on behalf of the organization. The ED is accountable to the Board, but doesn't really 'work for' the Board any more than the CEO of General Motors 'works for' their Board. The ED and the Board each have their respective roles to play. Together, they come up with a game plan (strategy and operating budget) for the year and the ED executes it through the staff. But, the Board is ultimately responsible for the fiscal health of the organization - and has primary responsibility for ensuring sufficient funds are raised to finance the agreed-upon budget. Reply | Quote 0   0

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