Many nonprofit arts organizations struggle with board management, organizational governance, board/staff conflicts, organizational inertia/apathy, financial policies, succession planning, ethics/lobbying/advocacy, and many other issues. While no single source is able to address every concern, there are many reliable and comprehensive resources for nonprofits to secure qualified assistance in these areas.
The Tennessee Arts Commission is committed to providing services to the entire nonprofit arts community, including capacity building services such as resource directories, consultants, grants, information exchanges, professional development, workshops, conferences, etc. The following directory is a list of resources specifically targeted for nonprofit board management.
Online/Web Resources
- Americans for the Arts’ Arts & Business Council (Forum on Board Development) http://www.americansforthearts.org/information_services/arts_and_business_partnerships/abc/
programs/metlife_national_arts_forums/synopses/2003_2004/2004/002.asp
- Americans for the Arts’ Arts & Business Council (Forum on Board Development) http://www.americansforthearts.org/information_services/arts_and_business_partnerships/abc/
programs/metlife_national_arts_forums/synopses/2005_2006/2006/001.asp
- Arts Wisconsin's Resource Center
http://www.artswisconsin.org/research/nonprofitinfo/nonprofitinfo.cfm
- "Ask the Experts" is a Governance Matters resource that allows you to ask for advice on matters pertaining to your nonprofit. http://www.governancematters.org/index.cfm?organization_id=56§ion_id=1117
- Blue Avocado, a nonprofit online magazine for community nonprofits. Published online every third Tuesday through an HTML newsletter delivered free to more than 50,000 subscribers.
http://www.blueavocado.org/ (see especially the “board café” section)
- Board Source is a national organization dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations by strengthening their boards of directors. Contains many helpful publications and materials on nonprofit governance.
http://www.boardsource.org
- Foundation Center - information on philanthropy and grant making.
http://www.foundationcenter.org
- Free Management Library provides a comprehensive free Toolkit for nonprofit boards.
http://managementhelp.org/boards/boards.htm
- Governance Matters created the Board Leadership Taskforce in June 2002 to identify practices that inspire and support organizational leadership by nonprofit boards of directors and by individuals serving on those boards.
http://www.governancematters.org/index.cfm?organization_id=56§ion_id=1581
- Governance Matters, founded in 1999, provides nonprofit leaders with the governance resources they need to develop boards that serve New York's communities better.
http://www.governancematters.org/index.cfm?organization_id=56§ion_id=749&page_id=3001
- Internal Revenue Service (Charities & Nonprofits Division)
http://www.irs.gov/charities/
- Nonprofit Genie provides helpful responses to frequently asked questions of nonprofit
organizations:
http://www.compasspoint.org/askgenie/index.php
- Society for Nonprofit Organizations
http://www.snpo.org/resources/links2.php?lid=1
- Tennessee Secretary of State provides filing forms for charitable organizations and other helpful information.
http://state.tn.us/sos/
- Texas Commission on the Arts’ Tools for Results Tool-Kit
http://www.arts.state.tx.us/toolkit/nonprofit/
- The Art of Board Development (Utah Arts Council) http://arts.utah.gov/news_publications/publications/documents/publication_board_dev_
manual_05.pdf
- The Good Governance Guide is a project of the Grantmakers Committee of Governance Matters. http://www.governancematters.org/index.cfm?organization_id=56§ion_id=1086
- The Nonprofit Literature Blog periodically spotlights key books, pamphlets, articles and other resources that have been acquired at Foundation Center libraries.
http://literature.foundationcenter.org/
- Tools for Nonprofits’ site contains a compilation of information, tools and resources for nonprofits: http://www.idealist.org/tools/tools.html
- Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy
http://www.urban.org/center/cnp/index.cfm
- U.S. Small Business Administration (Nonprofit Organizations)
http://www.sba.gov/nonprofit/
- USA.gov provides official federal and state resources for nonprofits
http://www.usa.gov/Business/Nonprofit.shtml
Books/Periodicals to Purchase
Boards That Make A Difference. Carver, John. 2006. (Third Edition) Jossey-Bass.
Fundamentals of Arts Management - Revised 2007 Edition, Korza, Brown, Dreeszen, ed; Arts Extension Service, UMassAmherst bookstore
Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards, Richard P. Chait, William P. Ryan, Barbara E. Taylor, BoardSource, Wiley; 1 edition (October 22, 2004), Amazon.com
Managing a Nonprofit Organization in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Wolf, Free Press; 3 Rev Upd edition (June 15, 1999)Nonprofit Board Answer Book: Practical Guidelines for Board Members and Chief Executives. Andringa, Robert C., and Ted W. Engstrom. 2002. BoardSource.
Planning for Succession: A Toolkit for Board Members and Staff of Nonprofit Arts Organizations. Liteman, Merianne.2003.Published by the Illinois Arts Foundation and Arts & Business Council of Chicago.
Periodicals are reviewed by the bibliographic services staff of the Foundation Center for articles in the field of philanthropy: http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/cnl/periodicals.html
Reinventing Your Board. Carver, John, and Miriam Carver. 2006. (Revised Edition) Jossey-Bass.
The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook by Walter W. Powell & Richard Steinberg. Yale University (2006)
