Major Duties of the Board of Directors
Brenda Hanlon, in In Boards We Trust, suggests the following duties (as slightly modified by Carter McNamara, PhD, Free Management Library, http://www.managementhelp.org/, to be "nonprofit/for-profit neutral").
Potential and current board members should clearly understand what is expected of them. The outline below offers a description of those expectations, which should be maintained in each member's Board Manual.
- Provide continuity for the organization by setting up a corporation or legal existence, and to represent the organization's point of view through interpretation of its products and services, and advocacy for them
- Select and appoint a chief executive to whom responsibility for the administration of the organization is delegated, including:
- To review and evaluate his/her performance regularly on the basis of a specific job description, including executive relations with the board, leadership in the organization, in program planning and implementation, and in management of the organization and its personnel
- To offer broad administrative guidance and determine whether to retain or dismiss the executive
- Govern the organization by broad policies and objectives, formulated and agreed upon by the chief executive and employees, including to assign priorities and ensure the organization's capacity to carry out programs by continually reviewing its work.
- Oversee the acquisition of sufficient resources for the organization's operations and to finance the products and services adequately
- Account to the public for the products and services of the organization and expenditures of its funds, including:
- To provide for fiscal accountability, approve the budget, and formulate policies related to contracts from public or private resources
- To accept responsibility for all conditions and policies attached to new, innovative, or experimental programs.
- Enhance the organization's public image among supporters, peers and the public.
- To provide for fiscal accountability, approve the budget, and formulate policies related to contracts from public or private resources