What we are seeing in the world of the nonprofits these days is that it is the Board Chairperson who can make or break an organization. Organizations can't survive over the long haul with just a charismatic Executive Director. They need to have the kind of managerial oversight provided by a well-run board . Without an effective Chairperson, you simply can't have a well-run board. But I know what you're thinking. You only took the job of Chairperson because someone told you it didn't require any training. You're a volunteer. You've got a full-time job and a family to think about. You're starting to feel a little nervous. What have you signed up for?

Relax. We're not going to fill your head with fifty do's and don'ts for the professional Board Chair. That's already been written. A lot of it doesn't apply to you anyway if you're underfunded nonprofit with a board composed largely of working people from your community. What we want to do in this handbook is to convince you of the importance of your leadership, and decrease the chance that you will feel isolated by providing you with the experiences of other organizations.

What we would like to do in this handbook is touch upon the most common procedural and developmental problems that we have seen so that you can prepare yourself to cope with these situations when they arise in your organization. We are not here to tell you the right way to deal with these problems. We are here to suggest possible approaches, in the hope that one of them will click. You need to factor in your own personality, your organization's history and the mission you are trying to accomplish. You have the responsibility to keep your organization moving and adapting. A lot rests on your shoulders. (p. 5)

CONTENTS
Welcome.
Introduction.
A quorum of One?: The problem of attendance.
Take a minute: Recording board meetings.
Will the real by-laws [bylaws] please stand up?: Keeping by-laws current and simple.
The buck stops here: Planning a meeting.
Point of order: Running a meeting.
Here today; gone tomorrow: The Board is permanent; staff is not.
Musical chairs: Avoiding leadership through rotating chairpeople.
Who's representing whom?: Chairing the board of a coalition.
Is anyone in the cookie jar?: Fiscal responsibility.
Losing the forest for the trees: Board work and staff work - The critical difference.
That's not my job!: Who should do the fundraising?
Too much of a good thing: Ex-executive directors on the board.
No one else is doing it: The importance of defining your mission.
We're a family: But should you go out of business?
That's what we hired her to do: New staff can't do it all.
The revolving door syndrome: Replacing a founder/director.
One foot in the water: Developing a real board.
Growing Pains: Aging and growing gracefully.
Widening the circle: Board expansion.
Retrograde motion: Funding diversity.
Now it's up to you: Summary.
Appendices:
     Annotated agenda.
     Minute format.
     Board questionnaire.

What we are seeing in the world of the nonprofits these days is that it is the Board Chairperson who can make or break an organization. Organizations can't survive over the long haul with just a charismatic Executive Director. They need to have the kind of managerial oversight provided by a well-run board.