It is often said that baking is a science because there is little room for improvisation.  Just a little more flour and too much mixing could turn a fluffy cake into a loaf of bread.  However, in cooking, there is more room for error.  Creating a board of directors is both art and science. A great board will require a specific mix of “ingredients” that must be carefully calculated to ensure the desired result. However, no one recipe will fit all organizations.Three of the essential ingredients[…]

What did we ever do before spell check?  Remember the days when we all had dictionaries at our desks so that we could be sure that our letters included the most appropriate words, spelled and used correctly?  In today’s world, we tend to let our computers autocorrect our mistakes and move on from there.  While auto correct catches a lot of mistakes like spelling and verb tense, our word processing program will surely not correct inaccuracies in our writing.  For these issues, we must continue to[…]

The marketing director of your nonprofit outsources all of your printing jobs to her brother-in-law’s printing company.  In return, he gives her field-level season tickets to the Yankees’ game.  A board member convinces your nonprofit to purchase a building in an “up and coming” neighborhood.  He fails to mention that his company is the principle developer of that neighborhood. Sweetheart deals... influence-peddling... using your employers’ property for personal gain.  How does one avoid it[…]