Board Governance Boot Camp

This series is ideal for nonprofit Executive Directors/CEOs and nonprofit board members. Board chairs and those serving in an officer position, or are thinking of doing so, will find the sessions particularly useful.

Spring 2025 Series: April 2, 9, 16, & 23

Four half-day sessions, 9am – 12pm. Via Zoom.

Nonprofit board members enrich and govern an organization with their personal expertise, connections, and passion for the cause – and yet, they don’t always come to the job with experience in things like nonprofit fundraising or governance.

CVNL knows what strong, smart boards looks like – and how critical they are for the health of an organization. Our four-part series on board governance, led by CVNL leaders Linda Jacobs, CEO, and Tom Hayashi, Chief Capacity Building Officer, helps organizations diagnose their board needs and equip their board members with the right training and resources to take their leadership to the next level.

From fundamentals to performance metrics, these sessions aim to maximize the engagement of your nonprofit’s most prominent advocates and allies.

CVNL is pleased to offer partial scholarships to Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and under-represented individuals who are nonprofit staff or volunteers serving in Marin, Napa, Sonoma, and Solano Counties.

These scholarships are made available by generous grants from the Peter A., and Vernice H. Gasser Foundation, the Community Foundation of Sonoma County, the Solano Community Foundation, Marin Community Foundation, and U.S. Bank. For more information on scholarships, please contact us at learning@cvnl.org.

Program Details

Four half-day sessions via Zoom.
Register by February 14, for Early Bird discount of 20% off tuition.
Tuition: Full series $525 for CVNL members; $600 for non-members.
Tuition discounts: 10% discount for groups of 3 or organizations with budget size under $750K.
Tuition includes: All materials, including handouts and additional web resources.
Limited to 30 people.
Registration deadline: March 27.
BIPOC scholarship available for eligible BIPOC participants who are CVNL members serving Marin, Napa, Sonoma, and Solano counties.
CVNL Certificate of Completion awarded to participants who complete course requirements.

Schedule

Session 1 - Fundamentals of Effective Governance with Linda Jacobs

This session provides a solid foundation to deepen understanding of nonprofit governance and how to better align the work of the board to heighten engagement and maximize impact. The focus of this course is on the roles and responsibilities of individual board members and the collective board. Session will cover:

Define the roles and responsibilities of board members
Differentiate between operational and governance decisions
Apply practices that build effective boards in the areas of structure, role clarity, team dynamic and board continuity

Session 2 - Structure, Committees & Assessment with Linda Jacobs

Without a strong structure, boards can fall prey to a whole host of dysfunctions, including wasted time, unfocused meetings, and lack of strategic engagement. This course will dive deeper into specific structures and assessment practices that strengthen nonprofit boards. Session will cover:

Committess, task teams and advisory council structures and functions
Running productive board meetings
Board and Chief Executive Assessment

Session 3 - Strategic Board Development with Linda Jacobs

Given the board’s tremendous responsibility and decision-making power and the length of most board member’s tenures, making sure you have the right composition of leaders on your board is essential. In this course, we will look at ways nonprofits can “get the right people around the table” and keep them engaged through ongoing development and evaluation. Session will cover:

Board composition and needs
Recruitment and cultivation
Process for electing, and orienting new board members
Approaches to ongoing training and development
Evaluating board performance – key metrics and dashboards

Session 4 - Boards and Fundraising with Tom Hayashi

While fundraising is one of the main roles that nonprofit board members play, it is often one that many people are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. We will craft a training that includes the psychology of fundraising, common myths and basic truths, fundraising best practices, and how nonprofit board and staff can work as partners to achieve fundraising goals. This training will be interactive and will include time for participants to practice using new information and approaches through role play scenarios. Session includes:

Engaging and actionable training on board fundraising
Expert guidance on questions/scenarios specific to your organization as part of the training, and a workbook of related information and resources.

Cancellation policy: If plans change and you are no longer able to attend, we will transfer your enrollment and payment to the next program cycle. Funds must be applied and used within a 6 (six) month period. We do not offer refunds.