Powerhouse Boards Nonprofit Board Membership

Powerhouse Boards

Powerhouse Boards: What you need to know to turn your board's potential energy into action

May 11 and 25  |  9:00am-12:00pm

Powerhouse boards bring an energy to their work. They make good decisions on behalf of their mission. They are nimble, influential, effective, and connected. You may have seen such a board in your community—maybe you serve on one. If so, you know the joy that comes when a group of people comes together and really makes a difference.

Over two sessions, Powerhouse Boards covers three chapters of board leadership:

Build an effective board

Let’s start at the beginning to understand the core purpose of your organization and how you can assemble the right people to achieve your goals. We will speak specifically about board diversity and ways to approach board recruitment, so your board reflects your community. We will put our understanding of purpose to work to help us spot collaborations and understand the “big picture” within which you are moving your mission forward. You will learn how to influence your organizational culture so it demonstrates your values and commitments. By the end of this chapter, you will have a better understanding of what it means to be a purposeful leader in 2022.

Know the job

The right people will be ready to serve if they know the job and skills needed to do it. In this chapter, we will explore how a board’s work fits within the context of staff and community and how you can balance your oversight role with the generative thinking you need to solve big problems. We’ll pause to talk about financial statements and what you need to know to follow the law when it comes to state and federal compliance. By the end of this chapter, you will know the roles and responsibilities of a board member. You will be able to “speed read” your way through a balance sheet and income statement, and you will have basic knowledge on what you need to do to follow the law.

Work well together

Boards have a lot on their plate, so let’s talk about tips and tools to help your board work well together. Since so much work happens at meetings, we’ll talk about ways to make meetings effective. You’ll learn how to use committees to make good decisions. And our favorite topic of all: how to get every board member involved in raising money for your organization. You’ll leave with “ready to go” ideas on how to bring in more money to better achieve your mission.

These sessions are interactive, designed to give you a space to reflect and apply what you learn to your organization. It is a perfect opportunity for a team of board members to come together to plan ways to put these ideas to action.

Meet the Facilitators Nancy Bacon and Rebecca Andrew Zanatta

Nancy Bacon has trained thousands of board members over the past five years. She is a teacher and instructional designer who has served in the nonprofit roles of executive director, founding program director, board member, and volunteer since 1996. She led the teams creating Washington Nonprofits’ Finance Unlocked, Boards in Gear, Let's Go Legal, and Strategic Planning in Nonprofits and regularly teaches on nonprofits topics in communities across Washington. She currently leads Nancy Bacon Consulting, a practice focused on learning and leadership in the nonprofit sector.

Rebecca Andrew Zanatta, President of RJZ Connections, Inc, brings more than 25 years of experience building and stewarding strategic donor partnerships and has worked with over 130+ clients in her 10-year consulting career. She has served in high-level development roles for organizations like the Pacific Science Center and the Washington State University Foundation. Rebecca has a deep understanding of everything from the planning, building, and managing a diverse and successful major gift and capital campaign to implementing a realistic and focused strategic plan.

Rebecca graduated from Washington State University with a BA in organizational communication and holds a M.Ed. in higher education administration from the University of Idaho. She completed her Certificate in Fund Raising Management (CFRM) from the Indiana University/Lilly School of Philanthropy.

Participating in community is an important value of Rebecca’s work. She is a past President of Northwest Development Officers Association (NDOA), now AFP – Advancement Northwest, the largest professional association of fundraisers in Washington State. Rebecca is Adjunct Faculty at Seattle University in the Master in Nonprofit Leadership program and a graduate of the Leadership Tomorrow program in Seattle. She serves as Chair on the WSU Foundation Board of Advocates and Vice-Chair of the Alpha Phi Foundation. She lives in Walla Walla where she is getting to know the local and vibrant nonprofit community and drinking some good wine too!

Powerhouse Boards is the fourth workshop in the 2022 Connect, Innovate, & Thrive Nonprofit and Community Learning Series sponsored by Sherwood Trust. Learn more and sign up at www.sherwoodtrust.org for this and future workshops. All workshops are free and open to the public. Accommodations such as childcare, transportation and interpretation can be provided upon request. Please contact Sherwood Trust to make arrangements at least one week prior to the event date.

Sherwood Trust is a private, placed-based foundation that supports capacity-building to ensure that everyone in the Walla Walla Valley has a sense of belonging and contributes to a thriving region. Founded in 1991 to continue the legacy of Donald and Virginia Sherwood’s efforts to make the Walla Walla Valley a better place, it has invested more than $35 million to strengthen nonprofits and improve communities here. For more information, please visit sherwoodtrust.org