Resources for Governance
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BC Housing The Housing Provider Kit is an important resource. See the Governance guide, Chapters 2 Legal Requirements—Constating Documents, 3 The Board’s Role, and the Appendix. View the guide on-line or download the PDF files. |
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BC Non-Profit Housing Association BCNPHA offers members two courses related to governance:
You can see a full description of BCNPHA courses here. The Annual BCNPHA Conference features a wide variety of workshops. You can find governance-related workshops at this event, held every November. Members can use BCNPHA’s Policy Templates to prepare their own governance policies. E-mail Kate Nielsen or call 604-291-2600 (1-800-494-8859), ext. 224. |
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Board Development Board Development is an on-line manual on Board basics developed by the United Way of Canada. |
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BoardSource Formerly the National Center for Nonprofit Boards, the mission of BoardSource is to increase the effectiveness of nonprofit Boards. The Web site has extensive information resources, although access to much of it requires paid membership. The Bookstore (search by category) has an extensive range of books and other resources that can be purchased. |
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Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto The Co-op Housing Bookstore on the CHFT Web site offers a number of inexpensive, practical guides written using plain language. Board of Directors (2002), while geared to co-operatives, has much excellent information on Board responsibilities that is applicable also to housing societies. |
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Continuing Legal Education Society of BC CLE researches, publishes, and workshops legal education materials to keep practicing lawyers up to date. These publications can be purchased on-line from the CLE Web site. They are also available for reference at BC Courthouse libraries (check their Web site for locations) and sometimes public libraries:
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Free Management Library This is an extensive on-line library for non-profit and for-profit organizations. The Free Complete Toolkit for Boards is only one of 675 topics but itself has lots of information. You might want to access the toolkit from the main index, because it has a complete linked table of contents. |
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Gavin Perryman & Associates Creating Boards That Matter is a very helpful workbook for Boards and Board directors that can be used for self-assessment (there’s a test), orientation, and in-depth discussions or retreats. Available from the BCNPHA library or download this PDF file. Visit Gavin Perryman & Associates’s website for more publications. |
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Institute on Governance The Institute on Governance is a Canadian non-profit think tank formed in 1990 to promote effective governance. An excellent resource for those interested in learning about governance!
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John Carver Carver introduced a radical and controversial new governance model for non-profit organizations in his 1990 book, Boards That Make a Difference. This model requires that the organization have a developed staff infrastructure and definitely a highly competent executive director, since the emphasis is on delegation to the latter. Carver’s 1997 book, Reinventing Your Board, is a guide to implementing the policy governance model. While Carver recommends against this, some boards have successfully adapted aspects of the policy governance model to suit their needs. |
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Maureen K. Robinson Nonprofit Boards That Work: The End of One-Size-Fits-All Governance (2001) is a compact, practical guide addressed to directors (and, by default, executive directors) on the roles of Boards and directors. Has a helpful annotated list of resources. Robinson is a consultant and former director of education at the National Center for Nonprofit Boards. Available in the Volunteer Vancouver library. |
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Mentoring Canada Mentoring Canada, a service offered by Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada, offers a free on-line interactive training course called The Fundamentals of Effective Board Involvement. |
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Mount Allison University The Rural & Small Town Programme publishes the inexpensive Volunteer Housing Boards Skill Development Resource Kit. You can order it by going to the programme Web site and using the Publications Form. The BCNPHA library also has two copies—e-mail Kate Nielsen or call 604-291-2600 (1-800-494-8859), ext. 224. |
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Nonprofit Genie This US Web site is a good resource on governance
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Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association ONPHA produces a number of useful handbooks:
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Panel on Accountability and Governance in the Voluntary Sector The final report of the "Broadbent Commission" is on-line and also available in public libraries. See "A Good Practice Guide for Effective Stewardship" (in Chapter 3). |
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Peter F. Drucker Check out the following resources from this eminent, practical, and prolific management thinker:
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Society Act Use the on-line version or purchase on-line from Crown Publications Inc. Part 3—Directors sets out minimum governance requirements for societies. |
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The People’s Law School The People’s Law School publishes Volunteers & the Law. This is a helpful guide to help you understand how the law applies to volunteer activities and how to prevent or minimize your risks. There is a chapter on boards and directors. You can order the book free from the Web site or download it. |
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Volunteer Canada Directors’ Liability: A Discussion Paper on Legal Liability, Risk Management and the Role Of Directors in Non-Profit Organizations can be downloaded as a PDF file from the Resources section of Volunteer Canada’s Web site. A thorough and current (2002) resource on legal duties of directors, liability of directors, and avoiding liability through risk management. |
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Volunteer Vancouver Volunteer Vancouver’s resource library has a number of titles on governance. Check the on-line catalogue. Some of these titles are also available in public libraries. Volunteer Vancouver has published a Resource Kit for Board Action (also available from Vancouver Public Library), produces workshops, and offers board consultation. |
