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Board Training & Development

How to Give a Great Curtain Speech

By Cyrus White 9 Comments

A great curtain speech is an invitation to connect with your organization.

Directors hate them. Fundraisers swear by them. And board members often get called on to make them. Done badly, they kill the natural excitement that fills a theatre immediately before live performance. Done well, they help the audience connect beyond the immediate performance. The curtain speech is very much like the “elevator speech” exercise in business: you have 90 seconds to engage your listener and entice them to become involved in your project. What will you say?

How a Peer Mentor Helps Train New Nonprofit Trustees

By Cyrus White Leave a Comment

A peer mentor sits beside a new trustee during her first board meeting

Boards are complex systems. Even for experienced board members, joining a new board involves a period of transition, orientation, and assimilation. There are two things that will help get those new directors quickly up to speed: a small handbook and a mentor. Here’s how to fast-track your new directors with peer mentors . . .

10 Crucial Items in the Board Handbook for New Directors

By Cyrus White 1 Comment

The people you bring onto your board are fully capable of finding their own way. They are self-starters, motivated to take on new challenges. So direct that motivation into advancing the work of your board, rather than figuring out how your board works!

7 Resources New Board Members Need on Day One

By Cyrus White Leave a Comment

iStockphoto.com/Yuri_Arcurs

Many nonprofit boards find that 6 to 9 directors can be more effective than a board of fifteen or more. As boards become smaller, the impact of each director grows. It’s not always easy to find new directors, and it takes time to onboard new people. All of this makes it crucial to get new nonprofit board members up to speed as quickly as possible. Here are seven resources every new board member should have on Day One.

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