Prompt 6 Blog

Cheryl, Tasha, and Dr. Gilbride-Brown provided great insight into the “behind the scenes” of non-profit operations. There are many different legal aspects of a 501(c) (3) that I was unaware of before this class and reading NBAB and FFG. The first legal standpoint mentioned in NBAB is duty of care. Both Cheryl and Dr. Gilbride-Brown spoke about duty of care, but in our most recent class Tasha described some of different attitudes and commitment levels of I Know I Can’s board. Tasha said there are very committed board members who are willing to contribute their time and money and then there are board members who are only partially involved and do not act on behalf of the organization. Something Tasha said that stuck out to me was the importance of passion for the organization’s cause. Being passionate about the mission of the organization is of utmost importance in maintaining duty of care. This requirement does not surprise me, however I was surprised that there are members of the board that do not uphold the duty of care. It seems to be a simple request of an individual that has chosen to be apart of a board to willingly participate and exercise their best judgment.

The second legal standard is duty of loyalty. The board members must have the organizations best interest in mind and not act on their own personal agendas. Again this responsibility seems quite simple, but there are some circumstances in which this is not upheld. Cheryl, Tasha and Dr. Gilbride-Brown all talk of the select board members who are difficult to work with and occasionally cause conflict at the board meetings. In order to avoid problems with the duty of loyalty NBAB suggests having a written policy that addresses board members expectations and code of conduct (27). The final legal standard is duty of obedience. This states that board members are responsible for make sure the organizations sticks to it mission and values while abiding by the laws. Duty of obedience, like the other duties, should be easily attainable for board members. I don’t think that asking the members to comply with federal or state laws is a surprising expectation. Overall I have enjoyed hearing about the nitty gritty details of non-profits board and the personal experiences of the women who have come to talk to our class. I do not think that any of the legal duties are out of the ordinary, but hearing that not all board member fulfill these duties was surprising to me.