This fine book is available now at our bookstore....

Governing for Results: A Director's Guide to Good Governance

by Mel D. Gill

181 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-2746; ISBN 1-4120-4938-5; US$34.95, C$37.50, EUR27.25, £18.06

Nonprofit leaders rave: "Excellent! Best I've read! Lots of Firepower! Love the way it's organized, readable style! Well-researched! Comprehensive! Exceptional compendium of resources in easy-to-access components! Great book! User-friendly! Practical!"

Read more!

About the Book      About the Author      Excerpts      Catalogue Information

About the Book

This book provides a comprehensive guide to effective governance for board members and their senior executives. The author offers a new framework for understanding boards and proposes practices that boards can use to fulfill their stewardship responsibilities, strengthen board performance and improve organizational effectiveness. The book discusses the basics of governance - what it is and why it matters; essential duties and liabilities of the board and its members; and the essentials of an effective board/management partnership.

It provides detailed guidance on the seven primary areas of board responsibility: i) mission and planning; ii) financial stewardship; iii) human resources stewardship; iv) performance monitoring and accountability; v) community representation and advocacy; vi) risk management; and, vii) managing 'critical events' and 'transitional phases'. It discusses the legal structure of nonprofits, who owns them and how to organize for accountable governance.

Governing for Results will assist boards in dealing with recurring issues around board and committee structures; their terms of reference and effective use; and job descriptions for key officers. The discussion of board development, board management, decision-making and organizational culture will prove invaluable in helping many boards deal with these complex issues. A discussion of the essential principles of governing for results includes a logical framework for planning and evaluation.

The book provides tools that can help boards decide which governance practices will best fit their particular organization and strengthen their performance as a governing body. It outlines the factors that may interfere with a board's ability to adopt appropriate governance practices and presents twelve keys to successful governance that were identified through research. It offers a sample letter of agreement for new board members, and samples of an agenda for board meetings, an oath of confidentiality, a values statement, conflict of interest and donor confidentiality policies, a template for financial monitoring, self-assessment tools for the board and individual directors and a basic guide to 'Rules of Order' for conduct of meetings. It also provides outlines for comprehensive by laws and governance policies, and references to additional resources.

Although this book is intended to fill a gap in the resources available to volunteer members of nonprofit boards of directors, much of its guidance will also be useful for directors of public and private sector corporations. The strong research base underpinning this work also makes it of interest to researchers, academics, and consultants. It adds perspective to the debate about governance models and offers guidance to board members with respect to board structure, responsiblities, governance practices, and problems that commonly afflict boards. It is designed as a user-friendly guide for busy directors and executives who want concise, compact and well-researched answers to perennially troubling questions about governance, the role of boards and their relationship to staff.

---

About the Author

Mel Gill is President of Synergy Associates, Consultants in Governance and Organizational Development, Ottawa, Canada. He has a B.A. in Political Science, Psychology and Economics from the University of Saskatchewan and an M.S.W. from Dalhousie in Halifax.

Mel spent 17 years in the Saskatchewan public service in a variety of front-line, policy and senior management positions. His responsibilities included development and management of standards and funding criteria for community service and employment grants to voluntary sector organizations as well as implementation of Program-Based Management Information Systems as a Senior Analyst with the Treasury Board.

Mel served for 12 years as executive director of one of the largest nonprofit social service organizations in Canada. He has also served as a member of a score of local, national and provincial voluntary sector boards. He is also the author of several journal articles.

Contact Information:
Mel Gill, President
Synergy Associates
Consultants in Governance and Organizational Development
E-mail: mel.gill@synergyassociates.ca
governance.synergyassociates.ca

Check www.synergyassociates.ca for further information on the book, complementary CD ROM and the Governance Self-Assessment Checklist.

---

Excerpts

---

Catalogue Information

---

About Trafford Publishing:
Our books are manufactured one-at-a-time to fill individual orders -- part of an innovative process we invented, called "on-demand publishing." Authors and organizations from 120 countries are using Trafford for their publishing needs.
If you (or your company) wish to list a title for sale to the public, contact the nearest office or select "publishing offices" from our bookstore pages for details.

Canada • USA • UK • Republic of Ireland Contact Us URL http://www.trafford.com © 1995-2005 Trafford Publishing, a division of Trafford Holdings Ltd. Trafford's Privacy Policy: Client information will never be provided to anyone outside of Trafford and its subsidiaries except where required by law.