Are you thinking about becoming a board member for a voluntary group? Are you already a board member but need some direction? Are you concerned about governance matters?
Good governance enables a board to be effective and efficient. Good governance requires board members to be aware of an ever-changing environment so they are in the position to take appropriate action. In a nutshell, governance is about organisational development.
There are many things to consider when it comes to board matters, so it is fortunate that there is a myriad of information available online. Here’s our collection of these resources, with community groups in mind. Remember, the small sections of underlined text in the article below are all links to the websites being discussed.
Governance – A Kiwi Overview
The Community Resource Kit on the CommunityNet website www.communitynet.org.nz also has a fantastic section on Governance. It explains what governance is, the roles and functions of a governing body, information on governing officers as well as a section on meetings. It also includes a list of online resources.
This is a great resource as you can download it, print it off and keep it on file. To download the Governance section of the Community Resource Kit click here.
The CommunityNet website also has a How To Guide on Governance and Management. Although there is a bit of duplication between the How To Guide and the Community Resource Kit section on Governance, it still has loads of great information, including a board orientation checklist, links to sample policies, and alternative structures and models. To see the How To Guide click here.
Sport and Recreation New Zealand’s website also has a section on board policies and structures of constitutions, including some templates. To view the Governance Templates click here.
Governing Maori Organisations
Te Puna Kokiri also has a website for effective governance education. The site is designed to help trustees and directors of Maori organisations, but there is information here that will be helpful to everyone with simple, easy to understand information with a cool light-bulb system to explain all of the jargon. This website is user-friendly and even includes case studies. The website is http://governance.tpk.govt.nz/.
Overseas toolkits...these are worth a look!
Our Community is an Australian website providing advice and tools to the Australian voluntary sector. The website has an amazing amount of information, including an impressive Community Resources section. Here you will the find the Boards, Committees and Governance Centre, which has heaps of information including Fact Sheets on topics from structuring your board to recruitment and troubleshooting. A must read – check it out here.
Kingston Smith is a British accounting firm with a governance toolkit available on their website under the sector for charities. The toolkit includes six key benchmarks for good governance as well as handy templates on a range of board matters. To download your own copy click here.
VolResource is another British website with a section on governance that includes a checklist for Trustees/Management Committee members and identifies ‘types’ of governing bodies. To view the section on governance click here.
Board Cafe is a regular column in the online magazine, Blue Avocado. It covers a huge range of issues to do with boards and governance, and although it comes out of America lots of the ideas can be translated to a New Zealand environment. Even better, the Board Cafe archives are filed by topics, so it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. Just click here.
If you like what you see in Board Cafe and want to get the latest article directly into your inbox, sign up to the Blue Avocado online magazine. Blue Avocado is an American magazine for people who work and volunteer in the non profit sector. The magazine promises “practical, provocative and fun food-for-thought for nonprofits.” While some of its items are quite American in style, the magazine has some great ideas so it’s worth a look. Go to http://www.blueavocado.org/ and enter your details in the ‘Subscribe’ box on the right hand side.
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