The Nonprofit FAQ

What is a Governance Committee?

A discussion in CharityLaw (a subscriber service of Charity Channel [http://www.charitychannel.com]) asked about Governance Committees. A consultant to nonprofits in Candad provided this sketch of how they do their work: [Governance Committees make] recommendations to the board to help it function better. Mostly, they work to bring forward detailed recommendations. For example, the board might approve the idea of board assessment in principle then, the committee chooses and customizes a board assessment system and brings it back for approval and implementation. Most are composed of a couple of board members plus the executive director, who should have expertise in nonprofit governance, but a non-board volunteer with nonprofit governance expertise may participate in some cases. If governance has been neglected, it can take a couple of years of hard committee work to bring it back to a good level, and then less work for maintenance. However, the committee is always active since it arranges for board training, orientation and education, works to determine what attributes, skills and knowledge are needed in the next election, and builds the candidate pool. — Jane Garthson, President, Garthson Leadership Centre, http://www.garthsonleadership.ca Posted 6/15/10 -- PB