Great Boards for Small Groups: A 1-Hour Guide to Governing a Growing Nonprofit [Paperback]

Andy Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2006

Which of the following best describes your board: Phenomenal, fantastic, astonishing, boffo? Okay, pretty good is more like it. That's the perspective Andy Robinson takes in his book, Great Boards for Small Groups. Andy knows that most boards are made up of well-meaning people who want to help. Transforming them into a powerhouse is unrealistic. But getting them to over-achieve isn't. If your board needs clearly defined objectives, meetings with more focus, broader participation in fundraising, and more follow-through between meetings, Andy will help you chop through the thicket. Granted, even after your board absorbs Great Boards for Small Groups, the adjectives above might still be a stretch. But Andy is betting that at the very least, Exceptional is a label that will apply.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A great gift for board members, and bread on the waters for the wise executive who gives it to them." -- Ruth McCambridge, Editor in Chief, Nonprofit Quarterly

"If you're asked to serve on a board, this book guides you toward a productive and successful experience." -- Lewis Lavine, President, Center for Nonprofit Management

"If you’ve ever sat through unproductive board meetings and wondered, ‘Why can’t we do a better job?’ read this book." --Paul Larmer, Executive Director, High Country News

From the Author

If you’re joining your first nonprofit board, welcome to a new world.

Across the country and around the globe, some of our most important and enduring work – breakthroughs in science and medicine and education, movements for human rights and social justice, artistic achievements great and small – has been conceived, birthed, and nurtured by nonprofits.

Compassionate organizations, often understaffed and struggling to survive, hold our communities together.

Working through their groups, board members dream ambitious dreams, foster great accom-plishments, cope with deep disappointments, and practice a lot of "muddle-through management."

If you’re already a seasoned trustees, you know that boards can be great repositories of wisdom, expertise, and fellowship. They can help you develop new leadership skills while providing the satisfaction of working together toward a shared goal. They can also be dysfunctional in multiple ways. Indeed, many boards are terrific in some respects and miserable in others.

My goal with Great Boards for Small Groups is to help you to address the challenges you face as an individual leader, and also as a group of volunteers working together toward a common purpose.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 110 pages
• Publisher: Emerson & Church Publishers (March 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889102040
• ISBN-13: 978-1889102047
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight on what a Board Should Really Do, June 15, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Boards for Small Groups: A 1-Hour Guide to Governing a Growing Nonprofit (Paperback)

I'm on the board of a local non-profit (a community theatre). After reading this book, I realize that I shouldn't be on the board at all. I should be somewhere down the chain of command at an operating level. I don't do the things that boards should do. I'm passing this book up to the chairman of the board with the recommendation that he kick most of the present board members off the board and replace us with people that can provide the kind of direction that a non-profit needs.

This little book only takes about an hour to read, but it is filled with more information than I've gotten in several years of actually being on the board. What he says makes such good sense. I can see that what he says is exactly what we need the board to do. I'm going to press for a change in our organization so that I'll run the theater, but leave the board to people with a different set of skills. I wish I had seen this book a few years ago.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and concise!, November 10, 2010

By 

River (Lafayette, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Boards for Small Groups: A 1-Hour Guide to Governing a Growing Nonprofit (Paperback)

While researching for a new role in my favorite nfp arts board, I found inspiration and guidance on key issues in this brief issue, jam-packed with wisdom and steps to get good conversations going about fundraising, board governance, and the pipeline of leadership. A GREAT FIND!

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to understand and to implement, December 10, 2011

By 

Seymar (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Great Boards for Small Groups: A 1-Hour Guide to Governing a Growing Nonprofit (Paperback)

This book helped us refine our board and is required reading for any new board member. You'll find it most helpful for small non-profits.