Governing a not-for-profit ELCC
Responsibilities of the Board
A non-profit early learning and child care program will establish a board of directors made up of volunteers which has responsibilities in three key areas:
- Governance: establishing the mission, vision and overall direction; planning; operational policy development;
- Management: ensuring there are appropriate financial and human resources to meet the program’s mandate
- Operations: ensuring successful planning and implementation of services and programs.
The role of the board of directors needs to be clearly laid out in policies and procedures outlining both board and management responsibilities. Because there may be frequent turnover in ELCC boards, it is critical that board members understand their roles, and those of the staff, thoroughly.
Some board responsibilities are mandatory; others are voluntary. Mandatory roles are based on the minimum legal requirements. The voluntary roles are chosen based on the board model that the board chooses.
There are a variety of governance models available to the voluntary board of directors. Because boards of directors are volunteers, often with very busy lives, the most successful model is the one where the board of directors sets the policy and strategy for the organization and delegates the day-to-day management of the program to a competent supervisor or in a large organization to the Executive Director. Many ELCC programs flounder because they attempt to micro-manage the work of the supervisor or Executive Director.
See Sample: Responsibilities of the Board