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How to Keep the Board Under Your Thumb
Board Cafe• By Jan Masaoka • April 13, 2013• EmailPrintWhen nonprofit executive directors say they want their boards to be more "engaged," they often really mean they want the board to have a lively...
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Getting to 100% Board Giving
Board Cafe• By Jan Masaoka • June 5, 2013• EmailPrintHaving 100% of board members make personal donations is a cliché we don't like. It's not a meaningful measure of board member commitment, and...
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How to Have a Board Meeting By Telephone
Board Cafe• By Jan Masaoka • July 17, 2013• EmailPrintYour board meeting is Thursday evening. On Wednesday you start getting the calls. One board member is home recuperating from surgery. Another is...
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Extreme Board Makeover
Board Cafe• By Jan Masaoka • August 10, 2013• EmailPrintDespite the complaints of executive directors that their boards "need training," often the most effective way to change a board is to change the...
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How to Staff and Support a Committee
Board Cafe• Feature Articles• By Jan Masaoka • December 10, 2013• EmailPrintIs staffing a committee more like herding cats or like herding turtles? Actually it's more like Dancing with the Stars. An...
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DIY: Make a Bylaws Cheat Sheet
Board Cafe• By Jan Masaoka • January 7, 2014• EmailPrint"What does it say in the bylaws?""Does anyone have a copy of the bylaws?""I know I got one when I started on the board but . . . "Here's a new...
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Ten Things Boards Do Right (Without Even Realizing It)
Board Cafe• By Jan Masaoka • February 8, 2014• EmailPrintNo matter what goes wrong in a nonprofit, somehow the board gets blamed. If the executive director embezzled money, people say, "Where was the...
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Following a Founder or Long-Timer Requires a Hard Head
Board Cafe• First Person Nonprofit• By Jan Masaoka • June 8, 2014• EmailPrintWhen Blue Avocado asked for potential interviewees who had followed a founder or a long-time executive, we didn't expect 58...
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Who's the Boss? The Board or the Executive?
Board Cafe• By Jan Masaoka • June 9, 2014• EmailPrintThere is an abundance of advice for nonprofit boards and EDs that speaks to the advantages of "partnership" and "open communications." But sometimes...
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A Board Member's Guide to Nonprofit Overhead
Board Cafe• Finance & Strategy• By Jan Masaoka & Steve Zimmerman • September 1, 2014• EmailPrintCalculating overhead rates and managing overhead expense are important staff roles. Board members...
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The Very Good but Seriously Flawed Executive Director
Board Cafe• By Jan Masaoka • June 9, 2014• EmailPrintNo executive director has all gifts, and many are brilliant. But what about the nonprofit CEO who is terrific in some ways but whose strengths are...
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The Definitive Nonprofit Board Book: Index (humor)
Board Cafe• By Jan Masaoka • December 6, 2014• EmailPrintWhile the complete manuscript of this book on nonprofit boards were lost in a swamp, the title and index were salvaged for posterity:Book title:...
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