The support that BoardSource provides to individual nonprofit leaders and organizations through our leadership initiatives is informed and strengthened by our broader work to identify and map trends within the nonprofit sector and to inspire action on critical issues facing nonprofit organizations and the social sector.
What Are Leadership Initiatives, and Why Do Nonprofits Need Them?
BoardSource developed key leadership initiatives, research, and campaigns to assist nonprofits in enhancing their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and embracing transparency. These initiatives also help to learn the research on boards across the sector, and provide assessments and resources to help boards evaluate, develop and improve. We also partnered with others in our ecosystem to encourage boards to advocate, measure fundraising effectiveness, and imagine greater impact with strategic partners. We believe that by engaging with these initiatives our sector will develop stronger leaders and boards.
The Importance of Leadership for Nonprofit Boards
BoardSource is committed to supporting boards as they work to strengthen their leadership. By utilizing BoardSource’s leadership initiatives, boards can start conversations about important matters and explore the possibilities. Boards play an integral role in guiding their organizations by defining their purpose, their values, and advancing the public good. BoardSource offers year-round support through nonprofit programs, offering tools and leadership development opportunities for nonprofit leaders. We invite you to learn more and take part in our leadership initiatives.
Our Leadership Initiatives
BoardSource Initiatives:
- Purpose-Driven Board Leadership
- Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
- Board Transparency
- Leading with Intent Research Study
BoardSource Initiatives with Partners in our Ecosystem
- Stand For Your Mission – Board Advocacy and Ambassadorship
- Measuring Fundraising Effectiveness
- The Power of Possibility: Exploring Greater Impact through Strategic Partnerships
Explore our Initiatives in greater detail below to find resources your board can use to grow.
Purpose-Driven Board Leadership
BoardSource introduced a new way of framing the nonprofit board’s role and issued a call for what we’ve termed “Purpose-Driven Board Leadership.” This form of leadership prioritizes purpose first-and-foremost and offers four principles that can drive nonprofit board leadership and thinking.
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
BoardSource envisions a world where every social sector organization has the leadership it needs to fulfill its mission and advance the public good. While many factors contribute to strong and effective board and staff leadership, we believe that a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity is essential to making this vision a reality. We are committed to supporting and encouraging boards as they work to strengthen their leadership on diversity, inclusion and equity, both within their institutions and in the work their organizations do.
As leaders and the ultimate decision-making bodies for nonprofit organizations, boards of directors guide the way that each organization articulates and upholds its purpose, its values, and its responsibility to advance the public good. Through these focused efforts, BoardSource aspires to help unleash the full potential of the social sector to be a force for a more just society and world. Learn more about the importance of board diversity, inclusion, and equity.
Board Transparency
In an environment where donors, the public, and charity regulators are asking more and more questions about the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations, it is increasingly important for nonprofits to lead the charge in creating transparency around their organizational practices, including the work of the board. Early in 2014, BoardSource worked with GuideStar to launch a new section of the GuideStar Nonprofit Profiles that enables organizations to share information about essential board leadership practices, including board orientation and education, executive oversight, ethics and transparency, board composition and diversity, and board performance and assessment. BoardSource and GuideStar continue to work together to encourage greater transparency around board leadership practices as a key strategy for building greater awareness and trust around how nonprofit organizations are being led.
Leading with Intent and Other Research
BoardSource maps sector-wide trends in board leadership and governance through our biennial study, Leading with Intent: A National Index of Nonprofit Board Practices. Building on data that have been collected regularly since 1994, Leading with Intent provides us with powerful insights into critical shifts and changes in nonprofit board leadership and governance, as well as identifies areas where more change is needed. This research is augmented by aggregate data collected through the Board Self-Assessment, which — coupled with our direct work with boards and executives — enables BoardSource to bridge research and practice and generate research- and evidence-based recommendations for effective board practice.
Stand For Your Mission – Board Advocacy and Ambassadorship
The most successful nonprofits understand that advocacy is a powerful lever for real impact. And yet — according to BoardSource’s Leading with Intent survey — only 33 percent of nonprofits report that their board members are actively involved in advocating for their missions, and many organizations aren’t advocating at all. To inspire and challenge board leaders to actively serve as ambassadors and advocates for their organization’s work, BoardSource created the Stand for Your Mission campaign. Together with Alliance for Justice, Campion Foundation, Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and National Council of Nonprofits, we seek to firmly establish advocacy as an expectation for engaged and effective board leadership.
Measuring Fundraising Effectiveness
BoardSource, along with our colleagues at the Association of Fundraising Professionals, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, and GuideStar, has developed a new framework — a more balanced approach — for evaluating fundraising effectiveness. It emphasizes how important it is to invest in strong and sustainable fundraising programs and ensure that your organization is being smart and strategic about the return on investment that it is getting from those investments.
Learn more about one of our newest leadership initiatives, Measuring Fundraising Effectiveness, and download three additional tools: a toolkit to help your nonprofit’s leaders apply the framework to your organization, a PowerPoint deck to start the conversation about your organization’s fundraising measures, and an Excel tool to help you calculate your organization’s scores.
The Power of Possibility: Exploring Greater Impact through Strategic Partnerships
Initiated by BoardSource and leaders in the field of nonprofit restructuring, The Power of Possibility: Exploring Greater Impact through Strategic Partnerships campaign invites nonprofit boards and executives to consider whether a strategic alliance or restructuring effort could help them unlock new opportunities for impact. The campaign encourages nonprofit leaders to think about going beyond organizational boundaries to do together what you may not be able to do alone. And to consider how your efforts could be accelerated and amplified by working together.
The Power of Possibility campaign is a joint effort of BoardSource, The Bridgespan Group, La Piana Consulting, The Lodestar Foundation, Lyda Hill, MAP for Nonprofits, and The Patterson Foundation, with additional support from the C.S. Mott Foundation and The Trustees’ Philanthropy Fund of Fidelity Charitable. Download free resources to guide nonprofit board conversations about strategic alliances and restructuring from the Power of Possibility today.
Get the Support Your Leadership Team Needs with BoardSource
Each person’s leadership journey is unique, but there are key tools and resources that can help board members evaluate their performance and grow in their role. With the help of collaborative partnerships, BoardSource’s leadership initiatives were designed specifically for nonprofits to aid your board in developing stronger leaders and more effective boards.