When was the last time your NPO held a board retreat? Chances are, you went through a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) or some derivation of it. While the practicality of the SWOT planning method is not the subject of this blog post, it does seem to provide a good starting point for evaluating issues related to governance (or any other issue for that matter) at the board and executive director level for any charitable organization.

It seems to me that we are too general with our planning discussions. And, that we rarely (if ever) take advantage of evaluating an outcome to learn from our mistakes and lost opportunities.

Example: "Okay," says the facilitator, "let's talk about our Weaknesses."

So the group starts talking about 'weaknesses' -- arguably, too much in the abstract: we don't have enough money; our membership is decreasing; fewer people are using our programs; etc.

We need to talk more about the specifics -- how long has it been since we conducted a capital or operational funding campaign?; oops, has it really been a year since our last monthly mailer went out to our members?; wow, time flies - our website is two years out-of-date?; and we really have not changed or updated our basic programming in over five years?

While specific questions about broad subjects can be uncomfortable, from a non-profit board governance perspective, such issues must be put on the table. The NPO needs to look internally, first and foremost, at its grants writing structure, its regulatory performance, and conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the internal systems (including programs and services). Informed with answers to these questions, the NPO can then look externally (to members and donors) for assistance.

Obviously, some issues of non-profit regulatory compliance can be much more serious than others. What if the NPO missed the deadline on filing its IRS Form 990? This blog suggests that there is importance in looking at why that happened, who is responsible, and what steps will be taken to assure it does not happen again.

So, the over-arching suggestion is that issues of NPO governance should be discussed in greater operational detail than in the abstract. After all, the sucess of the non-profit organization and the fulfillment of its charitable mission to the community depend on it.