Doing Good Better: How to Be an Effective Board Member of a NonProfit Organization

From Library Journal
The spirit of volunteerism has swollen the number of volunteer organizations to over 1.14 million in the United States. Many people are asked to participate as a director on a nonprofit board but are clueless about their responsibilities. Stoesz, who has served on religious and other nonprofit boards, and Raber, a management consultant, have written a simple book about nonprofit governance. It does not offer any particular insights about nonprofit management, but it is a good primer for those who want to form a nonprofit board. The chapter on legal dimensions is particularly useful. Recommended for public libraries.Rebecca A. Smith, Harvard Business Sch. Lib.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Buy from Amazon     Compare Prices

Well-meaning individuals become board members, but few are given adequate instructions about how to do their job well.

In this personably written manual, two veterans of many boards lucidly address the ideal relationship between a nonprofit organization and its board. They candidly cover the realities that often threaten that relationship, then suggest strategies for overcoming these common difficulties. They include many stories, guidelines, and suggestions.

Edgar Stoesz has spent most of his adult life in nonprofit organizations, both as director and employee. A native Minnesotan, he held six different administrative posts with the Mennonite Central Committee, including seven years as Associate Executive Secretary. For 14 years he served as President-- CEO of Mennonite Indemnity, a for profit reinsurance company serving mutual insurance companies.

He has served on the board of Habitat for Humanity, International since 1989, serving as chairman from 1991 to 1995. Additionally he has served on the board of Heifer Project, International; the American Leprosy Mission; Mennonite Economic Development Associates; Hospital Albert Schweitzer; and numerous other local and national boards.

In his administrative responsibilities, he has visited more than 50 countries. He has contributed articles to church papers and addressed audiences on a variety of subjects related to his service. Following a year of sabbatical leave at Cornell University in 1970 he wrote the book, Beyond Good Intentions./

Chester Raber, Ph.D.,/ is a longtime organization and management consultant working with both for profit and not-for-profit organizations. He has focused on organization assessment and development, with particular attention to team-building and management development, with particular attention to executive development.

He recently retired from Greenfield Associates, a private consulting firm which he founded and led from 1981-1992. Greenfield Associates was a subsidiary of High Industries, Inc., Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

He has worked with many nonprofit boards, helping to establish, guide, and plan with them. His client list of boards includes hospitals, mental health organizations, retirement communities, colleges, communications enterprises, police, and others. He has paid special attention to the relationship between the chief executive officer and chairperson.

In other circumstances he has been chairman, officer, and member of numerous nonprofit boards.



Buy from Barnes & Noble     Compare Prices