Having a strong productive board is a significant achievement but also a continuous journey. In this session we will discuss key strategies to cultivating a board that understands its fiduciary roles and responsibilities and is actively engaged in the overall success of your organization. We will provide practical guidance for onboarding new board members, setting expectations, managing ongoing board work, and other best practices.
Publication Date: November 2021
Designed For
CEO’s, Executive Directors, CFO’s, Board Members, and Other Not-for-Profit Professionals.
Topics Covered
- Board responsibilities
- Life cycle of a nonprofit
- Board orientation
- Conducting successful board meetings
- Board committees
- Key governance policies
- Board engagement
Learning Objectives
- Describe the life cycle of a board
- Identify best practices in nonprofit board governance
- Identify key governance policies
- Recognize and apply strategies to improve board engagement and effectiveness
- Identify which responsibility of the board is to develop and oversee high-level organizational strategy
- Describe which state of a board the committee generally becomes essential
- Identify the approximate amount of time for a Board to develop a new workable dynamic
- Identify a tip for successful Board meetings
Level
Intermediate
Instructional Method
Self-Study
NASBA Field of Study
Taxes (2 hours)
Program Prerequisites
Basic experience with board governance.
Advance Preparation
None
Instructors
Mitch Hansen
Mitch Hansen is shareholder in the Not-For-Profit practice at Clark Nuber, and has been with the firm 20 years. He started his accounting career in the accounting department in Yellowstone National Park working his way up to a controller position. He then took a job as an auditor for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General performing compliance, forensic, and operational audits on Commerce agencies and grantees and contractors that received money from them. He then jumped over into public accounting specializing in serving not-for-profit and governmental organizations.
He has volunteered with Make-A-Wish Alaska & Washington since 2004, including serving on the audit committee, finance committee, and Board where he held every officer role. Other Board service includes The Hearstone, LeadingAge Washington, Washington Society of Association Executives, WSCPA Foundation, Puget Sound MINI Motoring Club, Kent Valley Hockey Association, Centre Ice Sports, and homeowners associations. He also served as a hockey coach for sixteen years while his two boys were growing up.
He lives in Covington, Washington. When not working or volunteering, he enjoys reading, kayaking, craft beer tasting with his two sons, and working on his fleet of classic Mini cars and truck.
Candi Avery
Candi Avery, CPA, CGMA, is an audit shareholder at Clark Nuber P.S. located in Bellevue, Washington. She has over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on providing audit and consulting services to the not-for-profit sector. She routinely speaks on complex accounting issues, federal grant compliance, enterprise risk management, board governance, internal controls and fraud prevention.
Candi currently serves on the planning committee for the AICPA National Governmental and Not-for-Profit Training Program Conference. She currently serves as the Board Treasurer for CFOS Foundation and First Federal Community Foundation and has previously served on the Fred Hutchinson planned giving advisory committee and on the Washington Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professional’s board as its Treasurer.
Candi received her Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Western Washington University and is member of Seattle’s Leadership Tomorrow Class of 2016. She lives in Maple Valley, Washington with her husband and two active boys who enjoy baseball, boating and traveling to warm places.
Clark Nuber
Located in the Seattle metro area, Clark Nuber PS is home to one of the largest single-office Not-for-Profit practices in the United States. This nationally recognized group is composed of over 80 professionals who specialize in serving more than 750 not-for-profits. These professionals take a broad, holistic view of the entire financial and regulatory ecosystem in which not-for-profits function.
Our involvement and investment in the industry extends beyond providing professional services to charitable organizations. Our shareholders and principals also present regularly at conferences and seminars tailored to the not-for-profit community. And, several leaders serve on national-level boards and committees that establish guidance and best-practices for the sector, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee, the TE/GE EO Council’s TIC-TAQ Forum, and the AICPA Exempt Organization Technical Resource Panel.
Additionally, Clark Nuber is the author of the Form 990 Compliance Guide and the Private Foundation Handbook and Compliance Guide.