OK, let’s roll up our sleeves. Conversation about governance is not for the fainthearted.
The term “governance” is our field’s reference to a theoretical blueprint for constructing and guiding board life. It’s rooted in legalities like fiduciary responsibility but it’s also much, much more. Say the word “governance,” and we all know what we’re talking about, right? Or do we?
For me, governance begins when three or more people come together to form a working group. First and foremost, participants must agree on their reason for becoming a group – their mission, purpose, or goal. This starts an on-going process by which individuals set aside personal interests contrary or irrelevant to the group’s larger purpose. While that can be challenging, members draw inspiration and courage from their identification with the group’s purposes and sense of being included.
As the group sorts out an approach to working effectively, something else happens that’s intrinsically rewarding and renders the group more effective: members form a sense of connection as they increasingly identify with the group and develop relationships with one another particular to group life. The combination of spending time together as a group and on-going, productive work builds cohesion, rapport, and trust and, in turn, the group’s relatedness facilitates the work. The most effective working groups are driven by a dynamic mix of transactional and relational life.
Family foundation boards are a particular type of working group with a specific purpose: philanthropy. With the notion of “working group” in the background, Giving Related defines “governance” as the practices philanthropic families use to work together legally, ethically, and effectively as a board. In simple terms, governance amounts to the ways trustees engage as a group and “do business” over time.
Governance comes to life in the form of anything done or communicated that touches the entire board across the calendar year, especially recurring practices that are essentially habits. As a board’s way of working takes root and grows, recurring practices give rise to a foundation’s culture which “governs” how trustees tend to engage.
Every family board operates under the influence of written and unwritten rules – born of governance habits – making it less likely individuals will push beyond the bounds of usual practice. From this vantage point, governance – writ large – forms the crucible for every philanthropic decision a family board makes. As such, there’s nothing more important for a family board’s effectiveness and experience with philanthropy than the components of their shared life as a working group and the spirit in which those practices are implemented.
Since family foundation governance is complicated and since there’s no single, right way to go about it, it will be helpful if we can share our board practices and learn from one another. That’s the goal of Giving Related. What practices have you used to help your family board become an effective working group? Are there governance habits you swear by because they work so well? Is your board hampered by old habits that have seen better days? What dilemmas do board chairs and executives face when leading and cultivating their boards? What dilemmas do trustees face as board chairs and executives lead? Please consider sharing your experience so we can learn from one another and ultimately be better stewards.
If your family board is committed to allocating 80% or more of your budget for social investment – grants or PRI’s – and has interest in participating in the study, contact me at [email protected]. You can also share your experience through the project website, www.givingrelated.org. In all cases, I will honor confidentiality and protect the anonymity of project participants; I will not use identifying information when sharing experience and lessons learned unless I have been given permission.
