Resources
If Board Meetings Don’t Change You, You’re Doing It Wrong
By Melanie Lockwood Herman Last week I found myself engrossed in my first read of a new year: The Power of Giving Away Power. Author Matthew Barzun offers a compelling, fresh look at a concept I’ve come to understand as servant leadership: recognizing that being someone’s boss is a privilege that affords the opportunity to … Continued
Risk and Resilience: The Board’s Role
By Melanie Lockwood Herman Recently we’ve been fielding a variety of questions about the board’s risk role. Across the board, members of nonprofit governing teams want to support the missions they admire. Board members want to help an organization: 1. weather future disruptions (think COVID-19), 2. bolster resilience, and 3. prepare to survive and thrive … Continued
What Your Board Needs to Know About Cyber Threats
By Melanie Lockwood Herman Risk is top-of-mind for many nonprofit boards these days. Board members understandably want to grasp the top risks facing an organization and have confidence that the management team is prepared to weather the downside risks it cannot avoid. And based on our work with nonprofits across a wide spectrum of missions, … Continued
What Your Board Needs to Know About Cyber Threats
By Melanie Lockwood Herman Risk is top-of-mind for many nonprofit boards these days. Board members understandably want to grasp the top risks facing an organization and have confidence that the management team is prepared to weather the downside risks it cannot avoid. And based on our work with nonprofits across a wide spectrum of missions, … Continued
Risk Oversight & Risk Reporting to the Board
Quench your board’s thirst for assurance that your staff teams are carefully managing risks at the operational level. Learn to deliver a compelling risk report to your board that inspires confidence and productive conversation. Also learn about the board’s risk oversight role, and gain practical tips for engaging your board in your ERM program. This … Continued
Best of Risk Management Essentials
Explore this RISK eNewsletter filled with some of our most popular issues of Risk Management Essentials (RME), our magazine published three times each year. Visit the RME archive for more issues and articles! Manage Risk with an Eye for Ethics Ethics serves as a foundation for the risk management work initiated by many NRMC clients … Continued
An Eye for Ethics: Quelling Confusion about Ethical Quandaries
By Melanie Lockwood Herman Most nonprofit leaders would enthusiastically agree that ethical conduct and core values are key to the success of their community-serving missions. Yet among your co-workers and peers, how acute is awareness of ethical dilemmas in every-day decisions? Do colleagues have the skills and patience to slog through ethical questions when they … Continued
The Ethics Issue
Click here to view a turn-the-page version of The Ethics Issue.
Risk Leadership Resources for Nonprofit Risk Champions
November 30, 2017 Explore this RISK eNewsletter filled with risk leadership resources What Star Trek Taught Me about Risk Leadership There’s not exactly a Starfleet Academy for nonprofit risk professionals, like in the beloved television and film series, Star Trek. So how will you know when you reach the status of a commissioned officer, ready … Continued
Boards on Board: Managing Governance Risk
Volunteer boards are vital partners at all nonprofit organizations. An important aspect of any board’s role is to safeguard the mission and assets of the organization. Join Melanie Lockwood Herman, executive director at the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, as she shares strategies to help streamline risk management and compliance at the board level. Watch this … Continued
The Garden of Risk Oversight: Positioning the Board to Cultivate Strategic Risk-Taking
By Melanie Lockwood Herman When considering the myriad risks facing a nonprofit organization, one could identify many risks that should be safeguarded against, mitigated, or prevented if possible. Strategic risks are another animal altogether, or more appropriately, a garden of risks that—if properly tended to—will grow to fruition and advance the nonprofit’s mission and vision. … Continued
Lessons from a Risk Appetite Exercise (Risk Leadership Certificate Program)
By Erin Gloeckner The inaugural 2017 Risk Leadership Certificate Program (RLCP) is complete and the NRMC team plans to continue sharing updates and insights from this intensive risk leadership training program in the weeks ahead. One topic that our cohort explored during our final weekend together was risk appetite. As a UK-based financial institution defined … Continued
Risk Oversight
This webinar explores the topic of risk oversight and the board. Learn what the term risk oversight” means, and how risk oversight intersects with the board’s legal and fiduciary responsibilities. Join us as we take a close-up look at several risk oversight frameworks, and explore how to custom fit a risk oversight capability to your … Continued
Risk Aware Boards
This webinar explores the topic of governance risk. What risks arise from the work of the board? How does the responsibility of a nonprofit board differ from that of a for-profit board? What steps are recommended to engage the board without frightening members and encouraging risk-averse positions or policies? By the end of this webinar, … Continued
Calibrating Your Nonprofit’s Risk Appetite: Candid Conversations at the Board Table
Many nonprofit leaders report a sense of being either risk takers” or “risk averse.” Yet it is unusual for the entire leadership team to share the same level of comfort with highly uncertain outcomes. This webinar will explore the concept of “risk appetite” in a nonprofit organization. Topics to be discussed include: how to engage … Continued
Risk Oversight: Who, What and How
Who’s “minding the store” in your risk management program? Although many nonprofit leaders intuitively understand the need for risk oversight, designing a custom-fit framework takes time and attention. This webinar will explore the concept of risk oversight, including who exercises ultimate authority and responsibility for risk in a nonprofit, what methods of oversight work well … Continued
Conflicts of Interest: Uncover, Understand and Act
There are just two types of nonprofits: the type that chooses to manage conflicts of interest and the type that chooses to ignore them. Attend this webinar to gain a nuanced and practical view about conflicts of interest in a nonprofit organization. Join us to learn how to develop a fit-to-suit approach to revealing and … Continued
Reviewing Financial Transactions: Board and Staff Roles in Internal Controls and Audit Functions
New accounting standards underscore the board’s overarching fiduciary duty to be familiar with and ensure the protection of, financial resources. This Webinar reviews basic internal control procedures that divide responsibilities clearly between the board and the staff to create a series of checks and balances that reduces the possibility of fraud, theft and other mismanagement … Continued
Outdated or Poorly Written Governing Documents: What Are the Risks and What Can You Do?
Bylaws, board minutes, codes of conduct, and other governance policies need to be clearly written and reflect how your nonprofit operates or they are of little value in protecting the organization. Their purpose is to provide commonality of behavior, which gives direction to the leadership and protection by intent in the event of a dispute, … Continued
The Board’s Role in Risk Management
Risk is inherent in nonprofit organizations as in every other sector of the economy. One of the roles of the board is to ensure the systematic identification of the risks that threaten the mission and survival of a nonprofit organization. What is the board’s responsibility for risk management and how can board members discharge this … Continued
Term Limits are a Convenient Crutch
By Melanie Lockwood Herman During the last three weeks I’ve attended three board meetings and joined several board committee conference calls. These meetings have reminded me of the wonderful benefits—as well as the significant time commitment—associated with serving on boards. The friendships I’ve formed and governance lessons I’ve learned have been priceless. But from time … Continued
Risk Oversight: Who Dunnit?
By Erin Gloeckner When I first heard the term risk oversight, I imagined a risk manager following clues in a deerstalker hat like Sherlock Holmes. I thought risk oversight meant chasing down the villain who allowed the risk to materialize. But risk oversight is not about blaming people when downside risks materialize. Those responsible for … Continued
Avoid Transition Trauma with a CEO Succession Plan
by Melanie Lockwood Herman and Erin Gloeckner CEO succession planning can be a touchy subject. Members of a nonprofit board may fear the risk of insulting a CEO by suggesting the topic as an agenda item. Some CEOs may feel disinclined to raise the subject because it could send mixed signals about their intent to … Continued
Developing and Managing Conflict of Interest Policies
The best way to manage conflicts of interest is before they land your nonprofit on the front page of the local newspaper. A well constructed, clearly written conflict of interest policy, familiar to board and staff, can protect the organization and the volunteers who provide leadership. Watch this Webinar if your organization is in the … Continued
Engaging the Board in Forecasting and Managing Risk
Ideally, you want managing risk to be second nature to your board and senior managers. Sign on for this 1-hour online program and then point the board towards an enlightened understanding of risk and risk taking. Learn how to keep the board fully apprised of your agency’s risks without causing undue concern or worry. Watch … Continued