Enhancing Nonprofit Governance
Social Enterprise Newsletter, Spring 2002
Communities today increasingly turn to nonprofits to address society's most critical needs, from the revitalization and rebuilding of our cities to the transformation of social services and the strengthening of civic and cultural organizations. There are now more than 750,000 nonprofit organizations in the United States alone, generating annual revenues of over $800 billion. These nonprofits depend on effective board leadership to realize their missions. To help ensure the success of these organizations, the Initiative on Social Enterprise (ISE) works with practitioners, HBS alumni, and MBA students to enhance their effectiveness as current and future nonprofit board leaders.
ISE's longest-standing efforts lie in the professional development of sitting nonprofit board leaders. In 1996, ISE introduced Governing for Nonprofit Excellence (GNE), a three-day program focusing on issues of critical concern to board members, including strategic planning, mission transitions and organizational transformations, and financial sustainability. Since GNE's inception, more than 350 board leaders from around the world have attended the program, representing a wide range of nonprofits, including human and social service, arts and culture, and international development organizations.
A majority of HBS alumni are actively involved in nonprofit governance at some point in their careers. A recent survey of over 10,000 HBS graduates shows that 81 percent are active in the social sector as volunteers and 57 percent serve on nonprofit boards. To meet the professional needs of this group, ISE faculty developed Strengthening Your Role as a Nonprofit Board Leader. Based on the successful GNE curriculum, this one-and-a-half-day program is designed exclusively for HBS alumni returning to campus for their reunions.
Participants, most of whom are private-sector leaders, praise the program for introducing key concepts to help them move more smoothly between sectors, and make their work with nonprofits more effective. Amy Brakeman (MBA '90), who serves on the board of the Boston Renaissance Charter School, says, "Many of us dive into board roles with energy, commitment, and a successful track record in the for-profit sector, but without the appropriate training. The cases and discussions effectively underscore several key governance and performance measurement and management issues critical to responsible nonprofit governance."
Encouraged by alumni involvement in the social sector, the current generation of MBAs is finding innovative ways to explore nonprofit board membership. Social Enterprise Club members Sasha Kovriga (HBS '02), Jesse Souweine, and Rob Burch (both HBS '03) have coordinated a semi-annual panel discussion featuring HBS graduates who serve on nonprofit boards. "We are aiming to provide the broader HBS student body with a chance to learn about the opportunities and challenges of working in the social sector at the board level," Kovriga explains. "We hope to give students new ways to think about becoming meaningfully involved with the nonprofit community." For MBA students who may go on to serve as board leaders, ISE has under development an elective course on nonprofit board leadership.
"What transpires behind the closed doors of boardrooms of nonprofits around the world is a driving force behind their success or failure," notes Professor James E. Austin, faculty chair of the Initiative on Social Enterprise and the GNE program. "Helping the trustees and the professionals of nonprofits to work effectively in realizing a collective mission is the motivation behind our offerings for current and future board leaders."