21–30 of 67 posts
Now if I want to help people, I give to a hobo in the street, or take time for someone I know.
I don't trust NGO to handle money with care, or honesty, nor do I think most programs bring more benefits than problems.
I find this interesting because it was suggested (not urgently) that I could be on the board of a local food bank. This article did not even mention D&O insurance, but they said they would have it. What scares the sh&t out of me is being financially responsible for anything any volunteer ever does (and possibly that not being covered by the insurance). None of the comments so far mention that either. Is that fear ove…
I don't think it's overblown, and should be something to research and understand. I'm on the board of my condominium corporation (same idea as an HOA), and there are specific laws outlined in the Condominium Act here in Ontario around directors, as well as the corporation declaration and bylaws.
To try and briefly summarize, there are two things that largely protect directors in my case. First, the corporations insurance policy, includes directors liability insurance. So the corporation is purchasing insurance that covers all directors. It's actually in the law that the condo corporation shall purchase this insurance if reasonably available.
The second, is so that people actually volunteer for these boards, the laws for the most part will hold harmless a Director that is acting in good faith. And there is context, that the board is expected to be made up of individuals with various background and no specific expertise or qualifications.
There are carve outs for certain specific breaches. But it's mostly in the realm of your not covered if you breach your duty to act in honesty and good faith.
In other contexts I don't know the laws, as I operate on a board specifically governed by the condo act in Ontario. But if you are considering boards in other jurisdictions, I do believe it's prudent to do some due diligence and understand potential liabilities. But in most jurisdictions I'd expect fairly strong protections for board members.
I'm on a few non-profit boards and one of the things I don't see the author mention at all or specifically is the primary directive of the board is the financials. The CEO/Director is in charge of the day to day operations. The board has very little interest in that. A non-profit will have some or most of it's money from donors and those donors want to make sure that donation is being spent effectively. And that is w…
much like a startup, the key thing to understand about non-profit boards is that the board members' primary job is to fundraise (directly or indirectly) and secondarily to make productive introductions (donors, partners, 'customers', funding organizations, etc.). a distant (but not insignificant) third is strategic direction, which is often what we imagine board members do, but that's a relatively minor part of the r…
The executive director was in charge strategy-wise, the rest of us were along for the ride. Because of my particular role, I had considerable say over which artists were involved, but almost no input on overall direction.
Because of the fundraising focus, it could be stressful at times (there's never, ever enough money), but working the government systems was very educational and I'm very happy about the time I spent doing it.
I'm on a few non-profit boards and one of the things I don't see the author mention at all or specifically is the primary directive of the board is the financials. The CEO/Director is in charge of the day to day operations. The board has very little interest in that. A non-profit will have some or most of it's money from donors and those donors want to make sure that donation is being spent effectively. And that is w…
much like a startup, the key thing to understand about non-profit boards is that the board members' primary job is to fundraise (directly or indirectly) and secondarily to make productive introductions (donors, partners, 'customers', funding organizations, etc.). a distant (but not insignificant) third is strategic direction, which is often what we imagine board members do, but that's a relatively minor part of the r…
Although this is a common structure and plan, there are plenty of nonprofits structured differently than this--especially if the nonprofit is small and has only one or two employees, or maybe none at all.
In which case the board does work on the ground.
I find this interesting because it was suggested (not urgently) that I could be on the board of a local food bank. This article did not even mention D&O insurance, but they said they would have it. What scares the sh&t out of me is being financially responsible for anything any volunteer ever does (and possibly that not being covered by the insurance). None of the comments so far mention that either. Is that fear ove…
> What scares the sh&t out of me is being financially responsible for anything any volunteer ever does (and possibly that not being covered by the insurance). None of the comments so far mention that either. Is that fear overblown? I don't think it's overblown, and should be something to research and understand. I'm on the board of my condominium corporation (same idea as an HOA), and there are specific laws outlined…
Of the two nonprofit boards I've been on (one very well functioning, one not so much), both have had highly engaged board members.
He also seems to be assuming mid-sized or larger nonprofits. For nonprofits with very few employees, or low budgets, board members often are brought in for their expertise, and their willingness to get in and do the work that would be done by employees in a larger nonprofit. If you can't pay them as employees, and they are volunteering their time and expertise and are highly engaged, it makes sense to put them on the board. Why wouldn't you?
I find this interesting because it was suggested (not urgently) that I could be on the board of a local food bank. This article did not even mention D&O insurance, but they said they would have it. What scares the sh&t out of me is being financially responsible for anything any volunteer ever does (and possibly that not being covered by the insurance). None of the comments so far mention that either. Is that fear ove…
If a for profit compaby goes belly up, do the board members suffer any real consequences, apart from perhaps not being invited into other boards?
I find this interesting because it was suggested (not urgently) that I could be on the board of a local food bank. This article did not even mention D&O insurance, but they said they would have it. What scares the sh&t out of me is being financially responsible for anything any volunteer ever does (and possibly that not being covered by the insurance). None of the comments so far mention that either. Is that fear ove…
IANAL, but I was once advised on this by a friend who was. In short, the justice system is very biased in favor of non-profits such as food banks. Nobody needs to tell a jury "if you award $$$$$ to the guy who ate the bulging can of bad tuna, that'll mean a whole lot of needy people going hungry". A lawyer deciding to sue the Food Bank (or a Director of the Food Bank, or ...) knows that "Defend the Food Bank, for Fre…
I hang out with one of the "gleaners" (the people who pick up the unused food from the supermarket), a former engineer, and he seems to be the business sense of this operation. They've been inspected by the big, successful food banks, so it's not some fly-by-night operation.