These changes reflect good practice for membership organizations, providing Board oversight and engagement on the core business of the association while still permitting the organization the necessary flexibility to respond...

Let me address your responsibilities as the nominating committee. The bylaws state that you are to identify, evaluate, and recommend qualified candidates to serve on our Board.

Can't our co-op cut expenses instead of upping the housing charges every year?

The Agency says our co-op's capital replacement reserve is underfunded. What does that mean?

The board is convened for the purpose of governance. However, meetings often deteriorate into administrative discussions and committee work.

It is no secret that some board meetings can run longer than they need to.

The nonprofit boards best equipped to lead their organizations are self-aware, reflective of the larger community the organization serves, and function in constructive partnership with their chief executives.

Housing Co-ops depend on the rent collected from their tenants for their main source of income. Therefore, the Co-operative's policy is to maintain the level of arrears at an absolute...

These rules are for co-ops managed by general meetings. This means that the whole membership forms the governing body of the co-op.

The replacement reserve is a fund kept by each housing sponsor under the terms of its operating agreement with CMHC.

You and I work in an industry that experiences significant fluctuations in occupancy, and those same fluctuations also apply to our cash flow.

Cooperatives are organized to provide goods or services to their patron member owners, not financial returns to investors.

In fact, the farmers drafted the document inside Carpenters Hall, a building built by a trades guild. Guilds, groups of self-employed craftsmen, are precursors to associations.

Guide

Sample

Briefing document outlining the duties and responsibilities of a co-operative board

The rules of engagement have been developed to communicate cultural expectations and preferred behavior for governance

What follows is a general overview of the responsibilities of your board of directors,  with special emphasis placed on improving your regular board meetings.

The board chair said, “To save time, we will use a consent agenda. We will be distributing routine reports in advance. I’m asking you to prepare for meetings by doing...

Are board meetings depleting association resources and staff time? The culprit may be meeting frequency.

You can take this evaluation form back to your Board and let everyone have the opportunity to raise their "level of awareness".

The nonprofit community in the United States is well established with commonly accepted practices and government-required standards.

The nonprofit community in the United States is well established with commonly accepted practices and government-required standards.

Establishing a concise agenda and objectives before the meeting begins is crucial.