What does this case reveal about the board and its role in the organization?
1. Read the attached case study and enter your response to the questions in the submission box. Your response must be well structured & well written, and it must demonstrate an understanding and reference to the required readings:
1) What does this case reveal about the board and its role in the organization?
2) How might the role of the board (or individual board members) and your role as Executive Director or President shape your different perspectives?
3) What steps could you have taken to create a better outcome?
Requirements: few paragraphs
Nonprofit Management
Case Exercise
CASE #1: Homeless program
You are the first Executive Director of a program providing meals, medical care, and other services to the homeless. The board is a “founding board,” including people who work as volunteers in your programs. You were hired because the program had grown to a size that the board members as volunteers were no longer able to manage the business aspects of it and because the board was concerned about complying with all the new requirements for financial reporting, etc. But the board members remain deeply interested in the details of the organization and its programs.
You currently receive no government funds, so your income is completely from fund-raising events and a few gifts from local companies. The homeless population is growing and you realize there will be a need to expand services. In addition, all the fund-raising events are a drain on your time and you also notice that attendance at some events has been lower than in previous years. You worry that some may be losing their appeal and it concerns you that some might just disappear if the volunteers who run them were to lose interest.
You learn from a friend who now works for the city government that under a new city program to address homelessness, you may be able to apply for a “capacity-building” grant that would pay the salary of a new staff member. The friend encourages you to apply and says she will “fast-track” your application. You think this might be an opportunity to obtain funds that you could use to hire a director of development, who would start a direct-mail fund-raising program and other effort to increase giving from individuals and more companies, thus reducing your reliance on events.
At the very next board meeting you suggest applying for the grant and hiring a development director.
One board member says the organization should never accept government funds. “That just leads to control and is inconsistent with the voluntary tradition of our organization.” He adds, “I know that a lot of my friends are not going to be interested in giving their time if we become just some city bureaucracy.”
A second board member says that she has no problem with accepting government funds, but she doesn’t agree with hiring a development officer to raise money from individuals. She says, “I don’t want that person asking me to give– we give enough by giving our time. And, I don’t want that person asking me to go out and ‘hit up’ my friends for money.”
A third board member agrees and says he would favor getting the grant if it were to be used to hire some other type of staff member, but not a fund raiser. He says, “Our clients have a lot of unmet needs. How can we justify adding to our administrative expense when people are without homes, jobs, or enough food and clothing? We should hire another case manager instead.”
A fourth member says she agrees with your recommendation for a development officer and adds, “I don’t think this is something the board should be discussing anyway. You are the Executive Director and it is up to you how you go about accomplishing the goals we give you to accomplish. If you need a fund raiser, then you should be able to go ahead and hire one.”
A fifth member of the board jumps from her seat and says, “Well, just who does this organization belong to anyway? I have been on the board for many years and we always made decisions about how we would raise and spend the money.”
As you face the board around the table, you wonder where you went wrong and what to say next.
Questions for Exercise
1) What does this case reveal about the board and its role in the organization?
2) How might the role of the board (or individual board members) and your role as Executive Director or President shape your different perspectives?
3) What steps could you have taken to create a better outcome?
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