Effective Management of Nonprofit Board Involvement and Mission Drift

This report addresses the challenges faced by an executive director in managing a nonprofit organization, specifically concerning the board of directors' involvement in operations, unfocused meetings, and mission drift. It suggests implementing written roles and responsibilities for each director to define boundaries and improve information flow. To address unfocused meetings, providing board materials in advance, such as agendas and board books, is recommended. To combat mission drift, the report advises documenting strategic, organizational, and work plans to monitor progress and motivate workers. The importance of adapting to external factors and ensuring compliance with legal requirements is also highlighted. Finally, the report suggests ways to address situations where members are unaware of the organization's mission and the process of recruiting directors.

Running head: NON PROFIT 1
Nonprofit
Name
Institution

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Nonprofit
The most challenging thing an executive manager of non-profit organization faces is to
manage up and work well with the board of directors (William, 2011). As an executive director,
it is good to set the right sense that would allow you to do your work effectively and collaborate
with your board in the best interest of your charity.
However, it comes a time when the board of directors seems not to understand their roles
in the organization and start doing things which are not essential for the organization. As an
executive director, there are some of the measures you should put in place to control these
problems. In a case where the directors get involved in the operations of the organization and
point fingers at all levels, the executive directors should provide written roles and responsibilities
of each director (Abbas, 2018). This would help to define parameters and boundaries so that all
the main players of the organization understand their relevant functions. It would also help in
attaining efficient flow of information within the organization because every employee knows to
whom they should report their daily performances and work problems. According to Elzotbek &
Unni (2017), having a clear definition of duties improves workplace morale hence efficient
work.
Another common problem found in the board of directors is holding meetings with little
focus, decisions or purpose. In this case, an executive director should provide board material in
advance of the meeting like agendas and board books (Drago-catalin, 2013). This would prevent
the board members from holding unnecessary meetings which are not for the benefit of the
company. Most board members hold meetings to avoid workload which is ahead of them and
they end up overworking the employees.

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In the case where no one seems to understand the mission and vision of the organization,
the executive director should document a strategic, organizational and work plans (William,
2011). This would help the board of directors to monitor the progress because they are able to
know where the organization is going and the benchmarks it is using to achieve its success. With
this documented strategic work plan, workers would also be able to understand the mission and
vision of the organization and feel motivated to work towards achieving them.
External factors are one of the major determinants of a business success. As an executive
director, one should introduce change in the organization to help the business adapt to these
factors. For example, where the customers’ expectations about the non-profit organizations have
changed, the executive director should look for the best nonprofit practices to ensure proper
membership and donor attraction (Abbas, 2018). Also, in case of new legal requirements, the
executive director should work with the legal counsel to ensure that the organizations operating
activities fall within non-profit limits.
Where an executive director attends a meeting and receives news that other members do
not know what his or her organization offers, the director should tell them the organizations
mission and tell them he or she is in a process of recruiting its member of directors and selecting
who would be representing organizational meetings.

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References
Abbas, A.A. (2018). Impact of Strategic Planning on Crisis Management in the Profit and Non-
Profit Sector in Jordan. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 17(5), 90-120
Drago-Catalin, A. (2013). Non-Governmental Organization Leadership and Development. A
Review of the Literature. Manager, 70-130
Elzotbek, R & Unni, V.K. (2017). The Effectiveness of Strategy in Non-Profit Organizations: An
Exploratory Study of Academic Institutions. Journal of Business Strategies, 34(1), 10-50
William, M.K. (2011). Non-Profit Organizations: A Primer for OD Researchers and
Practitioners. Organization Development Journal, 29(4), 20-50