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Current Board of Directors
Chase B. Saunders, Chair
McNair Law Firm, P.A.
Anthony G. Scheer,
Vice-Chair
Rawls, Scheer, Foster & Mingo, PLLC
Mark T.
Sumwalt, Secretary
Sumwalt Law Firm
Thomas D. Myrick,
Treasurer
Moore & Van Allen PLLC
Anita
Blowers, Ph.D.
UNC Charlotte
Wesley
Clark
CNP Technologies
Mary H. Howerton, Ph.D.
Mary Howerton Consulting, Inc.
Lori R.
Keeton
Parker Poe
Jonathan C. Krisko
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson,P.A.
Kiran H. Mehta
K&L Gates LLP
Keith
Merritt
Hamilton Stephens Steele & Martin, PLLC
Brenda
Stewart
Stewart Marketing and Consulting
Dennis Stone, President
Charlotte School of Law
Billy
A. Wilson
Philanthropist
Committee
Assignments
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Board of
Directors -
General Overview
The Board of
Directors is Responsible for:
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Creating
and reviewing a statement of mission
and purpose that articulates the
organization's goals, means, and
primary constituents served.
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Fulfilling
the fiduciary, oversight, strategic
and governance tasks of the
organization.
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Creating
policies and procedures for their
own governance and evaluation.
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Determining which programs are
consistent with the organization's
mission and monitoring their
effectiveness.
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Ensuring
effective organizational and
strategic planning.
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Selecting,
supporting and assessing the chief
executive (at some point in the
future). |
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Recruiting
and orienting new board members and
assessing board performance.
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Fiduciary
Responsibility:
Provide proper financial oversight. The board
must assist in developing the annual budget and
ensuring that proper financial controls are in
place.
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Set budget
based on program needs and projected
revenues |
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Review
income and expense statements
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Develop
and review investment, disbursement
and endowment policies
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Review
annual audit
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Develop
financial policies to protect
organization resources
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Legal Responsibility:
The Board ensures legal and ethical
integrity and maintains accountability. The
board is ultimately responsible for ensuring
adherence to legal standards and ethical norms.
Under well-established principles of nonprofit
corporation law, a board member must meet
certain standards of conduct and attention in
carrying out his or her responsibilities to the
organization. Several states have statutes
adopting some variation of these duties which
would be used in court to determine whether a
board member acted improperly. (Board members
are insured by the organization).
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Duty of
Care: describes the level of
competence that is expected of a
board member, and is commonly
expressed as the duty of "care that
an ordinarily prudent person would
exercise in a like position and
under similar circumstances." This
means that a board member owes the
duty to exercise reasonable care
when he or she makes a decision as a
steward of the organization. |
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Duty of
Loyalty: a standard of
faithfulness; a board member must
give undivided allegiance when
making decisions affecting the
organization. This means that a
board member can never use
information obtained as a member for
personal gain, but must act in the
best interests of the organization. |
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Duty of
Obedience: requires board
members to be faithful to the
organization's mission. They are not
permitted to act in a way that is
inconsistent with the central goals
of the organization. A basis for
this rule lies in the public's trust
that the organization will manage
donated funds to fulfill the
organization's mission.
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Resource Development:
One of the Board's responsibilities
is to provide adequate resources for the
organization to fulfill its mission.
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Actively
participate in the fundraising
role of Justice Initiatives (JI)
to secure financial support from
others (including annual funds,
endowed funds, special events,
planned giving and any potential
capital campaigns). |
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Contribute
annual financial support to JI
at a level commensurate with
capacity and interest. |
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Represent
the organization in the
community at large and act as an
ambassador to for the Court with
elected bodies. Enhance the
organization's public standing.
The board should clearly
articulate the organization's
mission, accomplishments, and
goals to the public and garner
support from the community.
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Policies:
Policies are the operational
guidelines for an organization. The purpose of
having policies is to protect and steer board
and staff as they fulfill the organization's
mission. Policies provide a reference tool for
appropriate action, ethical decision making, and
for managing potential or actual conflicts.
Policies can paraphrase a law, explain a
procedure, clarify a principle, or express a
desired goal. They are the protocol to follow
which, when properly used, helps diminish
embarrassing or potentially harmful situations,
improper behavior, and ineffective decision
making. An organization usually has
board-related, personnel, and financial
policies. Process for developing new policies
includes being proactive, teamwork and research.
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Board
Related Policies: Eligibility,
Powers and Duties, Election of
Officers, Conflict of Interest,
Confidentiality, Compensation,
Reimbursement (travel and expenses),
Personal Contribution, Meeting
Attendance, Indemnification,
Diversity, Term Limits, Removal from
Office, Nepotism/Fraternization,
Media/Public Relations. |
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Personnel Policies (at some point in
the future): Equal Employment,
Anti-harassment, Substance Abuse,
Performance Review, Personnel Files,
Working Schedules, Compensation and
Benefits, Disciplinary Issues,
Nepotism, Personal (i.e.,
appearance, phone/email or Web
usage). |
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Financial Policies: Investment,
Gift Acceptance, Audit, Signing of
Checks, Endowment Management, Use of
Credit Cards, Check and Cash
Requests. |
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References:
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BoardSource Knowledge Center (2008).
From www.boardsource.org
What are the basic
responsibilities of nonprofit
boards?
What are the legal responsibilities
of nonprofit boards?
What are the responsibilities of
individual board members?
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Association of Fundraising
Professionals Resource Center
(2007). (www.afpnet.org)
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The Center
on Philanthropy at Indiana
University (2002).
Developing Leadership for Major
Gifts Course workbook |
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