The High-Performance Board: Principles of Nonprofit Organization Governance (Jossey-Bass Nonprofit and Public Management Series) [Paperback]

Dennis D. Pointer (Author), James E. Orlikoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2002 | ISBN-10: 078795697X | ISBN-13: 978-0787956974 | Edition: 1

While boards acknowledge they bear ultimate responsibility and accountability for their organizations' affairs, governance quality is often far from optimal. The High- Performance Board offers pragmatic and candid advice about what your board must do to maximize performance and contributions. The authors provide sixty-four principles designed to help your board achieve peak performance. They describe every principle in detail and present best practices and practical applications for each one. Each section of the book concludes with a board check-up-a set of questions that can be used to assess your board in light of the principles. A quick read for busy board members, this book is the ultimate board "drivers' manual."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"What a terrific addition to the bookshelf for governing boards of nonprofit organizations! It is clearly written, well organized, and highly practical."
--Thomas P. Holland, professor and director, Institute for Nonprofit Organizations University of Georgia School of Social Work

"I learned more about nonprofit governance from this book than I have serving on boards for fifteen years."
--Art Ulene, former NBC Today Show medical commentator and director, The Vitality Challenge

"Pointer and Orlikoff show how great boards can truly transform our institutions. This is an innovative guide for benchmarking and improving governance."
--Marilyn Chapin Massey, president, Pitzer College, Claremont, California

From the Inside Flap

Dennis D. Pointer and James E. Orlikoff--two of the country's most experienced and successful governance consultants--show you the way. Drawing on their combined forty years of professional practice, the authors provide sixty-four practical principles a nonprofit board can use to dramatically improve its performance and contributions.

The High-Performance Board is a concise, quick read for board members and executives of nonprofit organizations who want great governance and are serious about achieving it.

Pointer and Orlikoff identify the factors that most affect governance quality--obligations, functions (responsibilities and roles), structure, composition, and infrastructure--and build their principles on these critical areas. They provide recommendations to help your board begin to adopt the book's principles and formulate an action plan for a continuous improvement. At the end of each section they present a board check-up to help assess how well your board is doing in light of best-practices principles. In the final chapter, these check-ups are combined to produce a governance performance profile.

The authors' principle-based governance demands that board members step up and meet the challenge of improved performance. This book gives them the information and guidance they need to do so.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (May 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078795697X
• ISBN-13: 978-0787956974
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Must Have for All NonProfit Boards!!, July 13, 2008

By 

K. Aguon "angelmum49" (Hawaii) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The High-Performance Board: Principles of Nonprofit Organization Governance (Jossey-Bass Nonprofit and Public Management Series) (Paperback)

Our organization conducts a Board Development Training every year for the nonprofit orgs in our community and this book was a blessing to have. Although we didn't use material directly from the book, we highly encouraged all attendees to purchase it, even if they had to find a used copy.
Excellent, practical content and easy to read.

Must get at least one for each nonprofit board!!