Post 6 (Sorry for the delay)

Each time that speakers like Cheryl and Dr. Gilbride-Brown come and share at our class, I truly learn a great deal about the non-profit world. Their honesty and personal experiences are invaluable supplements to the texts that we read. That being said, I learned a great deal from the two of them about the responsibilities of board members, specifically relating to the duties of care, obedience, and loyalty.

To me, duty of compliance/obedience  (staying focused on the mission and maintaining strong financial oversight all specifically for the purpose of upholding the integrity of the organization) seems so basic that it could actually be taken for granted. Cheryl and Dr. G-B mentioned the case of the Grove City food pantry’s embezzlement scandal, which was particularly interesting to me because I suppose I naively assumed that because community-serving nonprofits begin with benevolent intentions, that board members are free from the greed, corruption, and temptation of the private sector.

Duty of care refers to the basic involvement and participation of board members. It was interesting to hear from both of them about what duty of care and participation meant in the contexts of their own boards. For example, the idea that financial contribution and attendance to fund-raising events was expected was something that I had not thought about. They also discussed in detail how they manage the lack of participation and engagement and how to manage the dynamic of people “burning out” or never really being energized because they are required by their bosses to serve on the board. Additionally related to duty of care is the element of fiscal responsibility.

Finally, duty of loyalty refers to the “evangelism” that we studied in Forces for Good, meaning that board members promote the mission, objectives, and interests of the organization when around their close friends, at public events, etc. This is very important because so much funding is generated through tapping these networks, and each public event can serve as an opportunity to make new donor relationships--which means that the org. can do more.

Again, while the idea behind these “cares” seems pretty standard, I learned the most from their personal anecdotes and experiences.