More and more, BC not-for-profit organizations are looking to make a greater impact through their boards. Some groups want to go beyond the typical governance practices - such as monthly meetings, Robert’s Rules of Order, and the implied expectation that directors are fiscal managers. Recently, a group reached out to Vantage Point to ask how they could support and reflect Indigenous cultural practices at the board level. There is also a rising awareness to support and reflect the diversity of our communities in our boards.

At Vantage Point, we believe good board governance goes beyond basic fiduciary responsibilities. But to take things to the next level, we also emphasize the importance of board leadership (best described in the Governance as Leadership framework). This approach pushes boards towards strategic discussions and a more visionary perspective – beyond fiduciary oversight.

We held a discussion session within our community to explore this topic. What would governance look like that empowers communities? How can organizations that exist to support specific populations include diverse communities in a meaningful way? What are the cultural means of governing not-for-profit societies? In the discussion, we quickly realized we had more questions than answers.

Here are some key questions that we’re going to explore:

• How can we understand governance as responsibility to community¸ rather than (or in addition to!) fiduciary responsibility?
• How do we equip different population groups to participate on boards?
• How can we bring different perspectives to the board, rather than different representatives? (an important distinction!)
• How do we ensure cultural safety, humility, and an ability to make mistakes at the board level?
• What does love and emotion look like in the board room?

We also took inspiration from Hildy Gottlieb’s article Governing for What Matters (Community-Driven Governance) to focus in on what really matters when it comes to board governance. This inspired a conversation about what governance is fundamentally all about. These two items were added to our list:

• Boards exist to share power
• Boards exist to make decisions

We’ve got a lot to explore going forward, but we agreed that it is more important to be willing to take some first steps before all the answers are in place.

What is your board’s governance meant to achieve? What could governance look like in your organization, if it focused on what really matters?

Imagine a community service organization with no explicit policy manual on customer communications. Yet somehow, whenever the phone rings or someone walks in the front door, whichever staff member is in the office stops what they’re doing to provide immediate assistance, regardless of that person’s role in the organization. How does this happen? How does a particular pattern of behaviour become consistent across a diverse team?

Organizational culture has a tremendous influence on the work of your organization, and the impact your team has on the community. Culture can be understood as the practices and behaviours that permeate all of your work as a team. How do you behave with each other? How do you talk about and organize activities together as a group? What have clients, funders, and partners come to expect of your organization when working together? What do you want them to expect when they work with your team?

For some organizations, a culture of open sharing and communication is critical. For others, it may be more appropriate for team members to minimize interruptions from one another. Ideally, the culture of your organization should align with the work that you do. Think of the impact you are looking to have on the community. Is your focus on accessible services for a particular age group? Do you provide a safe space for creative artists to incubate new ideas? Is education or advocacy your focus?

Different cultural practices will impact each of these activities in different ways. It is important to think about how your practices and behaviours will support your intended impact on the community your organization serves. Culture does not change easily, but explicitly acknowledging your team’s cultural practices can reveal new opportunities to work together differently.

In your next team meeting, ask your colleagues some of the questions above. The answers may surprise you, and will serve as an important reminder of how much impact each and every one of us can have on the work of our organizations.

Taking the time to update or develop your organization’s strategic plan can often feel daunting. There are, however, numerous benefits to having a current and clear strategic plan for your organization. Whether you do a quick refresh session or undertake a comprehensive review – here are some of the benefits we hear from organization’s that take the time to develop or renew their plan:

1. Attract more resources to your organization (yes that means more $). Time and time again we hear from not-for-profit groups that by clarifying key priorities for a defined time frame (2, 3 or 4 years), and getting commitment from staff, board members, and volunteers, new targets for revenue, volunteer engagement, and partnerships are achieved. By getting everyone on the same page you’ll move toward your resource targets more quickly.

2. Connect and engage with all the people involved in your organization. Your funders, donors, volunteers, and staff, all love your organization. By engaging them in a strategic planning process you can deepen their commitment to your organization, and re-connect with all those who contribute or have been impacted by your work. (Check out this podcast on effective stakeholder engagement)

3. Decide what you can stop doing. Not-for-profits are notorious for stretching programs beyond their core purpose, and carrying out activities simply because “that’s what they’ve always done”. Having an explicit discussion about what activities to drop will free up new and different resources you never knew you had, and improve your impact in the areas aligned with your core purpose. If you do this well, you can even free up some time for some much needed self-care!

4. Get excited about why you exist. The work we do is hard. It’s not easy to keep the passion for your programs when you’re faced with to-do lists that never seem to end. Talking about, and confirming, your core purpose (why your organization exists) can get your whole team excited and reinvigorated for your work. They can also discover new ways to work together with each other, and with your board, volunteers, and supporters!

5. Figure out how to communicate your impact. Many funders, donors, and even volunteers are asking about how to measure and understand the impact of not-for-profit organizations. If you take the time to share the key stories, your theory of change, or the areas where you can document the changes that have happened in the world as a result of your work, you’ll uncover new approaches as well as supporters for your organization’s activities.

Vantage Point can support your organization with your strategic planning process. Learn more about our strategic planning consulting and download our One Page Strategic Plan resource.

Almost a year ago, staff and board at Vantage Point began to critically consider our organization’s Indigenous cultural competency. Our journey began with a (not so simple) question: why, when, and how would we acknowledge that our offices and training space are located on traditional Aboriginal territory?

As we endeavoured to make space for this important conversation, we reached out to knowledge-keepers and more informed perspectives to provide guidance and support in the journey. Many talented people in our community responded from both within our own team and outside Vantage Point.

Team members from Reconciliation Canada, who generously shared their cultural wisdom, guided us in our realization that the exploration – and learning – would flow more naturally and be more transformative if we began initially by focussing on the individual level: what does reconciliation mean to each of us, personally?

With this question in mind, we began to take our first concrete steps together in reconciliation by asking our staff and board to mark this year’s National Aboriginal Day on June 21, 2016, by committing to one personal act of reconciliation. That act of reconciliation may take many forms: participating in one of the many events surrounding the day, learning more about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action, or simply talking with a friend about our shared history. For me, it will involve taking my children for a driftwood log explore on Cates Bay Beach on Bowen Island (Xwlíl’xhwm), at the edge of the Salish Sea, to talk about its place (both physically and spiritually) in the Squamish Nation Traditional Territory.

Over the coming months, we look forward to our continued individual and organizational journeys to learn more about Indigenous culture and history. We will further explore what it means for us, individually and collectively, today and as we move forward towards a better future together. We intend to share our learning along the way.

However small our actions and in whatever form they take, we have the opportunity to positively and meaningfully contribute to reconciliation here in Canada. What act of reconciliation might you take on National Aboriginal Day?