No one was born knowing how to be a board member; usually we agree to join the board because we care about the mission.  But there are a lot of things to learn when you sign on as part of a non-profit board (here’s a hint: it’s more than coming to a meeting a few hours each month).  When a volunteer signs on to be a decision-maker for an organization, they take on legal and financial risks as well.

On Thursday, November 14^th from 12 – 1 PM, Cindy Coleson with the Center for Nonprofit Excellence will present “Nonprofit Board Fundamentals”.  This webinar focuses on board members’ key responsibilities and moves boards out of operations and into the “big picture”.  One way for you to seize this opportunity to bolster board engagement is by inviting your Board of Directors to bring their lunch of choice and convene in a selected location and watch the webinar together.

Top 5 reasons you should convene your board to “Brown Bag” it for this webinar:

Regular attendance at VMS trainings is a requirement for boards and staff of accredited communities, and strongly encouraged for affiliates.  This is a great way to fill that requirement without the usual time constraints, costly travel expenses, or consultant fees.

If your November Board Meeting agenda is light, take this opportunity to make the webinar and a short amount of additional time afterwards to cover business in lieu of your regularly scheduled meeting. (Consult your bylaws regarding notification requirements for board meeting changes).

Ideally board meetings have an educational component (big or small) as an agenda item whenever possible, and the webinar could be used to kick off your board education plans for the year.  There are many topics related to board governance to choose from that only take 5 to 20 minutes to cover at each meeting.  Unraveling confusing or difficult topics can help engender pride and enhance the sense of ownership in board members and create the environment necessary to be a high-performing organization.

Governance training should be done once per year for both new board members as part of their orientation and a refresher for returning members; this is a very accessible way to do it.

The Food!  Brown Bag lunches are THE BEST. Everyone brings exactly what they want to eat (not easy to plan for in this day of gluten/vegan/keto/fasting dietary needs) and, BIG bonus, it does not add additional overhead to the organization.  If you are compelled, you can certainly offer additional food or beverage, but many will be happy to furnish their own.

If you are unable to coordinate the webinar live, it will also be recorded for future viewing opportunities.  We look forward to ‘seeing’ you on the Webinar!