Page 58 - Washington Nonprofit Handbook 2018 Edition

(j) What might I later regret that I didn’t do early on?

(k) What weaknesses in my own personality or style do

I need to compensate for?

Oliver Tessier & Ruth McCambridge, The Nonprofit ED’s First 100 Days,
Nonprofit Q., Spring 2008, at 38-43.

c. The Executive Director/Board Partnership

An effective partnership between the board and the executive director can,
among other things, enhance the prospects of success for the executive director
and increase levels of satisfaction and retention among board members.
Suggestions for enhancing this partnership include:

y Take time to establish relationships (and renegotiate “ground rules”)
with each change in board president or executive director;

y Clarify and respect roles;

y Minimize surprises;

y Communicate regularly between board meetings;

y Work together to develop board meeting agendas;

y Collaborate on board orientation, training, evaluation, and leadership
development; and

y Show appreciation for one another’s contributions to the organization.

d. Serving on the Board

When the executive director serves on the board, it is typically in a nonvoting
role. If the executive director has a voting position on the board, he or she will

need to abstain on all matters related to the board’s personnel functions (e.g.,
setting the compensation for the executive director) as well as other matters where
a potential conflict of interest may exist.

Regardless of whether the executive director serves on the board, he or she
should help set agendas for board meetings, and attend and actively participate in
these meetings.

WASHINGTON NONPROFIT HANDBOOK -47- 2018