Governance sounds like a donor requirement. It is actually the mechanism that lets a community trust an organisation with money, and that lets an organisation outlive its founder.
The separation that matters
The board or executive committee decides and oversees. The staff or coordinators implement. Where the same person does both without any check, there is no governance, whatever the constitution says.
In a small organisation the same people may do both jobs. That is workable, but only if decisions are minuted, at least two unrelated people control money, and the wider membership meets regularly and can ask questions.
What the board is responsible for
- Setting direction and approving plans and budgets.
- Overseeing finances and approving the accounts.
- Appointing and, where needed, removing senior staff.
- Ensuring legal and regulatory compliance.
- Managing risk, including safeguarding.
- Protecting the organisation's reputation.
What the board is not responsible for is day-to-day operations. A board member who is also running activities has lost the ability to oversee them.
Composition
- Five to nine members. Fewer and there is no real deliberation; more and meetings become unwieldy.
- No two members from one household or immediate family.
- A mix of skills: finance, legal or administrative, technical knowledge of the sector, and genuine standing in the community.
- Women in real numbers and in real positions.
- Fixed terms with a limit on consecutive terms.
Recruit for the gap. A board of people who all know the founder is a group of supporters, not a board.
Meetings
Meet at least quarterly. Every meeting needs an agenda circulated in advance, quorum recorded, decisions recorded with who is responsible and by when, and minutes signed at the following meeting.
Minutes are not bureaucracy. They are the evidence that a decision was taken by the board rather than by one person, which is what protects everyone if the decision is later questioned.
Financial oversight in practice
- An account in the organisation's name only.
- Two signatories from different households, both required.
- A spending threshold above which board approval is needed, written down.
- Financial reports to every board meeting, not just annually.
- Annual accounts prepared and, where required or affordable, audited.
- Bank statements seen by someone other than the person who writes the cheques.
Conflict of interest
Conflicts are normal in small communities, where the only person with a lorry may be a board member's brother. The problem is not the conflict, it is concealing it.
The rule: declare the interest, record the declaration in the minutes, and take no part in that decision. Handled openly, hiring the board member's brother because his was the best quote is defensible. Handled quietly, the same decision destroys trust.
Succession
An organisation that cannot survive the departure of its founder is not yet an organisation. Test it by asking whether anyone else knows the bank arrangements, where the documents are, and who the key contacts are. If the answer is no, fix that before anything else.
Practical steps: rotate officers, document procedures, involve more than one person in every key relationship, and keep records where the organisation can reach them rather than in one person's house.
Reporting to the community
Once a year, publicly: what came in, what was spent, what was done, and what is planned. For a community organisation this is more important than any donor report. It is what maintains the licence to operate locally, and it is the cheapest reputational protection available.
Safeguarding
Any organisation working with children or vulnerable adults needs a written policy, a named responsible person, vetting of volunteers, and a reporting route. This belongs to the board, not to a project. Adopt it before the first activity, not after the first concern.