Board Governance

Continuing Professional Development courses in Board Governance

Volunteer Ottawa offers a series of high-quality courses which will introduce board members, or people interested in serving on a board, to the myriad skills and knowledge areas required in order to do the job well. Everyone is welcome to register for a VO course. Employees and volunteers (including volunteer board members) qualify for significant discounts on our already-low tuition fees.

Governing Good

Contains excellent sample policies and governance guides for volunteer boards of not-for-profit organizations.

Muttart Foundation Board Development Workbook Series

The foundation has published or co-published a workbooks to help charitable agencies examine their operations and different ways of doing business. Topics include board recruitment, bylaws, job descriptions, financial responsibilities, and others.

Primer for Directors of Not-for-Profit Corporations

Published by Industry Canada, this outlines critical information related to legal responsibilities and risk management.

University of Delaware – Not-for-profit Leadership links page

Contains an excellent curated list of websites related to many aspects of not-for-profit leadership.

Laws related to not-for-profit leadership and governance in Ontario (includes federal laws)

While every attempt has been made to provide a complete listing, please note that Volunteer Ottawa is not qualified to give legal advice. To be confident in the legal ramifications of your decisions, please consult a lawyer.

Road to Accountability Handbook

This handbook introduces you to the concept of accountability in the context of charities. With accountable and transparent practices that are communicated to the public, your organization will increase its credibility and enhance its ability to benefit the public.

The Imperfect Board Member – book

Brown, Jim (2006) The Imperfect Board Member: Discovering the Seven Disciplines of Governance Excellence. Wiley, USA. ISBN 0-7879-8610-0

This book offers an engaging, informative look at how governance boards actually work; how they should and should not operate. A must-read for new board members, as well as anyone considering joining a board.

Governance as Leadership – book

Chait, Richard, William Ryan, & Barbara Taylor (2005) Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of not-for-profit Boards. Wiley, USA.

This book redefines not-for-profit governance, providing a powerful framework to replace micromanagement with macro-governance. The book sheds new light on the traditional fiduciary and strategic work of the board and introduces a critical third dimension of effective trusteeship: generative governance.