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Leading your community isn’t an easy task, especially when you’re keeping up with meetings, buzzwords, and best practices. While board members often put forward their best effort to succeed in their roles, sometimes they still make big mistakes that can result in serious repercussions for themselves, the board, and the community.

The past twenty years have seen the steady growth of training programs, consulting practices, academic research, and guidebooks aimed at improving the performance of nonprofit boards. This development reflects both hopes and doubts about the nonprofit board. On the one hand, boards are touted as a decisive force for ensuring the accountability of nonprofit organizations. On the other hand, the board is widely regarded as a problematic institution. And it’s not just the occasional nonprofit financial implosion or scandal that’s troubling. All institutions, after all, have their failures. Perhaps more worrisome is the widespread sense

The steering committee is the first formal group to work toward the formation of a co-op. At the time of incorporation, an interim board of directors is chosen to take over the decision-making that determines the direction of the co-op. At the first general membership meeting, an official board of directors is elected. Tasks for all of these groups unfold at a rapid rate. There is always too much to do, and not enough easy information. Each of these groups builds on the work of the group before it, and benefits from the same group process skills. Some key elements of board process can make the job of an active board easier.