Hacks for Governing SSP Boards and Board Governance
“An effective group spirit on a board is one that attracts its members, makes them want to work with one another and gives them a sense of pride and satisfaction in the program and the board itself.”
This section addresses agency governance bodies: primarily nonprofit Boards of Directors (BoDs) but also participant, community, and cooperative committees that frequently hold power in SSPs. A board of directors is a group of people elected to run an organization. In nonprofits their primary tasks are to:
- Uphold the mission
- Hire and provide oversight and support for the Executive Director/CEO (if applicable)
- Attend board meetings and keep minutes
- Complete committee work
- Oversee agency finances
- Provide financial support through direct giving or soliciting donations
- Advocate for the organization and its mission in the community
Board of Directors – Styles
There are many styles of Boards of Directors, ranging from very involved to very uninvolved. Some styles include: Rubber stamp, governance board…
By-Law Requirements of Boards of Directors
Legally, an organization’s bylaws govern the internal mechanics of democratic decision making in organizations. Board members are legally and financially liable for the organization.
Board Development
There is often a large difference between where leaders would like their Boards to be and where they actually are. In order to make boards more functional, organizations need to put time into board development.
Advisory and Cooperative Boards
In addition to traditional Boards of Directors, many harm reduction agencies have other bodies for democratic control of various aspects of an organization. These include both advisory boards and cooperative boards. Advisory boards are usually one of two types – community or participant. Community Advisory Boards (CABs) may be made up of both participants and […]
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