Articles

Legal Obligations of NFP Directors

In this highly engaging presentation Sophie McNamara gives an overview of the various legal obligations NFP Directors have. Transcript of Legal Obligations of NFP Directors Sophie: I just want to say what a great event this has been. I’ve only been here for the afternoon, but I just want to congratulate Better Boards and Raf. It’s such a great idea. I gave a talk last year about managing difficult directors, and in my research for that found out that the average age of a director in Australia is 68 years old, and they are definitely a white man.

[Video] It’s not in the Tea Leaves, It’s in the Minutes

The humble Board Agenda and its progeny, the Minutes are often assigned to a spring back folder and buried on a shelf somewhere. There is little appreciation at board level of the marketing power of these documents. Brian examines the principles of a good agenda and minutes leaving attendees with new respect for the importance of these documents in painting an organisation, not just in retrospect, but in prospect.

The Journey To A Customer Driven Marketplace

Do you have a strong understanding of the fundamentals of Good Governance? Does your board and executive understand what it needs to do to win in the new customer driven marketplace? The strategic and organisational impacts and implications of the new customer-driven, competitive marketplace are profound. Never before and probably never again will the boards, chief executive officers and senior managers of Australian community businesses (NFPs) face such a cataclysmic shift in the way they need to think, behave and operate.

Welcoming and Initiating New Board Members

Board transitions are a great opportunity to renew and invigorate a board. New board members can bring enthusiasm, a fresh perspective and new ideas to the table. Yet joining a board can be a daunting experience and transitions are most successful when boards properly orientate their new directors to the cultures and practices of their organisation. The difficulties of attracting new board members has been widely written and spoken about in non-profit governance discourse but securing a desirable candidate is only the first step in the process of renewing a board’s membership.

What Are Your Leadership Anchors?

Many people are talking about the Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world we are living in right now. The pandemic, natural disasters, financial and funding insecurities over the past few years are just a few factors destabilising many people and organisations. The consequences include significant levels of poor mental health, constant change and overwhelm. Unfortunately stress and overwhelm kills creativity and innovation, which is exactly what we need to counter the effects of a VUCA environment.

What is a board?

“Board” is one of several names used to signify the group of people assigned the responsibility to govern an organisation, company or other similar entity. A board is a legal requirement of a number of different forms of for-profit and non-profit organisations. Your organisation’s board might be called the board of directors, board of trustees, committee, management committee, council, governing body, responsible entity, or one of a variety of other names, depending on your organisation’s legal form or constitutions.

The Uncomplicated Guide to Getting Board Reporting Right

Many non-profit executives and directors may dread writing board reports, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Arnold Wong, a Fellow and National Treasurer of the Australian Computer Society understands the foundations behind effective board reporting. He discussed the basic skills required through a helpful lens in a recent webinar with Better Boards. We’ve compiled some key points here in this brief article to help you approach your board reporting with confidence.

What Makes a Great Company Secretary?

What Makes a Great Company Secretary? At one of our recent webinars on the Role of the Company Secretary, Kristy Huxtable, Head of Company Secretariat at Australian Retirement Trust, shared insights from her experiences in the role. We’ve gathered together some key points from the webinar into a brief article to assist those donning the Company Secretary hat. A boardroom can be an intimidating setting. For it to be less so, each person involved in an NFP’s management and its board should understand the intricacies of their given role.

Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Next Board Review

Five fatal flaws to avoid in your next board review: 1. A lack of purpose, rather than a lack of talent 1 Ask yourself, why are we doing a board review? If the answer is, we are required to do so under our board charter, then beware, you are missing a great opportunity. Boards are encouraged to stand back and reflect on where their organisation is on its journey of development and how the board is operating in this context.

Key Stages of Building a Financial Model for NFP Organisations

Financial modelling is one of the most important tools a non-profit organisation can have under its belt. It can help in the planning of short and long-term strategies, to identify areas for improvement, and even to adjust the entire business model. The board should be part of building a financial model, but it must cooperate with other key decision-makers in the organisation to ensure everyone’s needs are being met. Based on a recent webinar hosted by Daniel Cadart, CFO of Cadart Financial Control, here is a way to approach financial modelling, the key numbers needed to create a more realistic forecast, and what to look for in financial modelling software.