Parent Encouragement Program

What does being a finalist for this award mean for you and your organization?

Being a finalist means being recognized for:

  • practicing sound management and financial practices; and
  • the significant revision work to turn our organization around during difficult times.

We expect and hope that the recognition will assure our donors that we are using their money wisely to advance PEP’s goals, and that the board is thinking ahead about developing new ways to reach many more parents, including more diverse groups.  We also hope that our experience may inspire other boards facing difficult circumstances to take bold action to ensure their own sustainability.

Finally, this recognition will encourage our board to continue to implement best practices as well as continue making progress on our JEDI goals (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion).

 

What have you learned through the application process for the Board Leadership Award?

The application process gave us the opportunity to take stock of our strengths and weaknesses and to improve or finalize some of our policies and procedures.

As a result of this process of self-reflection, we identified what has worked well, how we have best worked together, and really celebrated the good work we have done lately.

 

What advice would you offer for other organizations/board members striving for excellence in board leadership?
  1. Encourage all board members to take the Center for Nonprofit Advancement’s Board Basics training.  This training has given our board members solid background information about processes and tools to put in place so that we can even more efficiently do the work of the board and know what pitfalls to watch out for.
  2. Hire an Executive Director who has experience working with boards and knows best practices for their non-profit Executive Director position and responsibilities
  3. Implement a thorough and thoughtful board member selection process to ensure that there is an appropriate fit with the board before recruiting a new board member.