If I was forced to describe a governing board's role as briefly as possible, here are the four key elements:

💡 Duty of Care. A Board is responsible for duty of care. Board members should be present, attend meetings, show up at events and support the work of the organization. The Board must understand mission, vision, and programs of organization. Each Board member is responsible to fulfill his/her duty of care and the organization is responsible for providing the information, training and orientation necessary for members to fulfill this duty well.

💡 Duty of Loyalty. Each Board member commits to be loyal to the organization. Selfishness or 'what's-in-it-for-me' has no place at the Board table. Board members commit to putting the best interest of the organization above their own self interest and the interest of other organizations. Boards are responsible to always protect and look out for the concerns of the nonprofit they serve.

💡 Duty of Compliance. Each Board member commits to complying with all applicable laws, protocol, mandates and directives that impact the organization. It is each Board member's responsibility to know what the organization's mandates are and ensure they are followed. The organization needs to provide information and access to expertise that informs the Board of all issues related to compliance. Having professional partners -- an attorney, banker, accountant and insurance agent -- can help ensure the Board keeps on top of the duty of compliance.

💡 Duty of Managing Accounts. Each Board member individually and the Board collectively need to ensure there is strong management of finances. Having protocols in place like a financial committee, procurement procedures, budgeting processes, review of financial reports, and checks and balances (two or three eyes on all transactions) can provide an infrastructure that ensures this duty is fulfilled.

Individual Board members need to be informed of the role and responsibility of being an excellent governance leader. Nonprofits need to recruit, orient and develop Boards well to fulfill these duties with excellence. Need more information? Check out the Board Basics module.