Creating measurable positive improvement is important if one wants to increase community support. Are you looking for a simple way to express the positive improvement your nonprofit promises? [...]
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It is commonly accepted that boards have four responsibilities. In no particular order, they are goal setting, self-management, monitoring activity, and creating policy. Goal setting is one of the more difficult for boards. They struggle with what kind of goals to set, how far into the future to look, and how realistic to make the goals. [...] There is an old adage, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go strong, travel in a group.” How do you apply that to your favorite organization? [...] It is easy to say the board meeting must be mission focused. It is hard to make it mission focused when there are so many tactical and operational issues trying to creep onto the table. If there are so many other issues demanding attention, why is it wrong to let the mission slip just this week? [...] Periodically Christian schools struggle with financial problems. There are many reasons. A common symptom is the lack of money. However, the real reason might be donor engagement or declining enrollment. Those problems arose a few years ago but this is the first year for a budget deficit. It may appear to some on the board that the deficit is due to overspending rather than a lack of income. [...] How do you know if the board meetings are effective? The ultimate measure is the success of the parochial school. When the students are growing and changing, enrollment is increasing, donors are more generous, and the year-end report shows a modest surplus, it is easy to conclude that the board is effective. Is there a way to evaluate effectiveness between annual reports? [...] We believe that the majority of the parochial schools across the country are struggling. By our definition, a school is struggling if enrollment has declined for the past three or more years. Fundraising is stagnate or declining. It has had an operating loss for two or more years. In short, the longevity of the school is in doubt. [...] Independent of the economy and all of the other external factors, there are things you and the board can do to change the future. The right change will make the school more competitive. [...] |
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