Curiosity drives much of the content on this podcast, and when Erik Hanberg’s book, The Little Book of Boards, showed up in my email, I felt compelled to buy it for several reasons. Of the six or seven boards I’ve served on, some have been boring experiences, others have been exceptional. I was curious if this book would have been valuable to me during my first board experience, which wasn’t great–it definitely would have been.
Interview Highlights
- Erik Hanberg’s deep background with nonprofits
- The way Erik honored his parents in the book
- Why is recruiting board members difficult?
- Erik’s book applies to for-profits
- Due diligence a prospective board member should conduct on a nonprofit
- Consent agendas
- Understanding bylaws
- Attending the first meeting
- Getting involved with the nonprofit outside the board meetings
- Erik’s stance on give it or get it
- The role of strategic planning
- Finance and compensation committees
- The most highlighted line in Erik’s book
- Mission statements
For a small (or very small) nonprofit, there may be nothing as important to its mission or overall success as the quality of its board.
Erik Hanberg, The Little Book of Boards
Important Links
- After reading Erik’s book, I took his free mini-course on how to join a nonprofit board of directors and finished it in about one hour. I recommend both the book and the course. Unlike many courses. the lessons are short, on point, and very well produced. There are numerous other resources at For Small Nonprofits.
- Due to lack of time, we did not discuss Erik’s fiction writing. You can check out his other titles on his personal website.
- LinkedIn profile
- Amazon author page
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