Healthy Boards Needed to Direct and Protect Canadian Non-Profits

With the recent scandal over MADD Canada’s expenditure of only 19 cents of every dollar on charitable activities, the need for an effective board of directors is highlighted once again. Apparently the MADD Canada board was aware of questionable accounting practices and received complaints from volunteers but chose not to make changes in response to concerns. According to Canadian author and board governance consultant Jim Brown, the main function of a non-profit or corporate board of directors is to direct and protect the organization.

The 2003 National Survey of Non-profits and Voluntary Organizations found that there are over 161,000 such organizations in Canada. Most have a board of directors. Brown finds that boards are usually made up of competent people who do not always function well together. “Effective boards trust each other and enter into the kind of constructive conflict that enables them to come up with the best solutions to problems,” says Brown. Healthy boards also hold each other accountable to group performance standards and policies.There is a balance between trusting the senior management of a non-profit and having enough accountability in place to make sure the organization is managed properly—especially in the area of finances.

Brown’s book, The Imperfect Board Member is a leadership fable in the vein of Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Ken Blanchard’s The One Minute Manager—authors who have both endorsed Brown’s book. Lencioni says, “Finally! A book about boards that isn’t boring!” Readers have been pleasantly surprised that a topic that has been discussed so dryly comes alive in this refreshing book. In it, fictional CEO David Slater learns to interact with the board of directors of his publicly-traded company “Communitrek.” At the same time he joins a non-profit board of directors. Through challenges and plenty of mistakes, he discovers how to be an effective board member with guidance from fellow director, Trevor McAllister. The back section of the book summarizes and provides resources regarding the board governance principles illustrated through the fable.

Al Hatton, President and CEO, United Way of Canada says, “Hurray for The Imperfect Board Member—a rare and refreshingly enjoyable book that cleverly mixes an entertaining story with memorable principles that are practical, insightful, and incredibly comprehensive.  It’s a marvelous blueprint for governance excellence that is sure to be helpful to every board member on their journey to becoming, if not perfect, then extraordinary board members.”

The Imperfect Board Member, published by Jossey-Bass, has just become a best seller in Canada. The book hit bookstore shelves in October 2006 and has been at or near the top of the Amazon.ca charts for business books for the last six weeks. There are over 500,000 business books listed on Amazon.ca.