Articles

How an IT Strategy Can Boost Your Not-for-profit's Impact

Why you need to align your technology investments with your strategic plan… I asked my new client for a copy of their strategic plan. It was beautiful! Full-colour, professionally formatted: a one-pager and a more detailed plan that broke down the key objectives into major activities. A single bullet point buried in those pages of activities caught my eye: “Technology to support our business needs.” “Can I see the plan behind this tech activity?

5 Cognitive Biases That Quietly Influence Boardroom Decisions

As human beings, we naturally want to think of ourselves as valuable and special, making us more adaptable while at the same time creating cognitive biases in our brains. Cognitive biases are repeated errors in thinking, often coming from stereotypes or preconceived notions. These biases are hard to detect and can lead to bad choices and illogical decisions. The first steps to overcoming or disrupting cognitive biases are to recognise that they exist and to replace faulty thinking with better information.

Transformation Starts at the Top

The transformation of an organisation and therein transformation of its business, service or financial model, and all the elements which make an organisation function, is part of the board’s strategic leadership responsibility. For a board to effectively transform an organisation it should first consider the need to transform its own governance and leadership. A board’s strategic leadership responsibility forms part of the board’s two governance roles and four governance responsibilities. These are:

Navigating Boardroom Harmony - Unveiling Director Motivations for Effective Governance

In the intricate landscape of corporate governance, the boardroom serves as the nucleus where decisions are made, strategies formulated, and visions realised. However, as the complexities of issues facing boards continue to mount and the individual characteristics of directors come into play, conflicts can emerge, threatening the harmony essential for effective governance. To mitigate such challenges, it becomes imperative to not only understand but also harness the motivations and drivers of board members.

Director Financial Literacy

As a board director understanding financial statements is not just about fulfilling a role; it’s about proactive stewardship and ensuring your organisation’s success. If the complexity of financial duties seems overwhelming, know that you are not alone. Research from QUT indicates that even seasoned directors regularly engaging with financial statements can feel this pressure (Bettington, 2023). Director financial literacy is widely defined as ’the ability to read and understand the fundamental financial statements - balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows’.

Are You Ready For Automation?

Co-authored with Ashlea Faulkner Automation is the use of technology to perform manual and repetitive tasks. Automation can range from simple tools like mail merges or online forms to more complex systems like robotic process automation (RPA) or artificial intelligence (AI). Automation can bring many benefits to not-for-profit organisations, such as saving time, reducing errors, improving quality, freeing up staff for more strategic or creative work and achieving financial sustainability. This article will explore what not-for-profit organisations need to consider before adopting automation and how they can foster an innovation mindset to embrace new opportunities and overcome challenges.

Advisory Boards for Not-for-Profits

Jump to Section What Is an Advisory Board? Advisory Board Benefits Common Challenges & Risks Slow Decision Making Bad Communication Shadow Directors Under-Commitment Advisory Board Roles and Responsibilities Tips for Running Advisory Boards Setting Up the Board Sourcing Advisors Running Board Meetings Further Resources As a not-for-profit organisation, forming an advisory board can be a strategic way of gaining access to advice and expertise. Advisory board members bring fresh ideas, new networking opportunities, and partnerships to the table.

Transferring and Securing Wisdom and Knowledge: A Mission Critical Activity For All Leaders

An unquantifiable amount of individually accumulated knowledge and wisdom will be lost if the current long term directors, chief executive officers and executives of not-for-profits, no matter what industry or sector they operate within, fail to transfer and secure this most precious resource. Demographic research, statistics and observation tell us that the generational scales have tipped, Generation X (1965-1980) and millennials (1981-1996) are on the rise, whilst baby boomers (1946-1964) are past the tipping point and are on the decline; a transition from one generation to the next.

Purpose-Led Governance for Mission-Driven Organisations

What does it mean to govern with and for purpose? How do we really listen to and account for stakeholder interests? How is impact centred in our work and protected in our governance? How do our governance structures reflect our ambition for systems change? These are questions we have long been considering at B Lab Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand (AANZ), and questions that are highly relevant to our work as part of a global movement seeking to transform the way businesses operate and contribute to economic systems change for the benefit of people and the planet.

Achieving Transformative Governance Change

Good governance is the soil in which healthy not-for-profits grow, but if organisations fail to renew their arrangements over time, they may fail to bloom and reach their full potential. Governance frameworks should be dynamic and responsive to organisational growth, developments in best practice governance and changes in the regulatory landscape. The possible range of governance reforms is broad. It can range from changes in board or member composition to constitutional reform to a change from a federated body to a single national body or changes in the form of incorporation.