Not out of date, even though it was published in 2003, The Best of the Board Cafe is a very useful, easy to use, practical advice book for board members and staff of non-profits.

It is a compilation of tidbits from Board Cafe (check out http://www.compasspoint.org/boardcafe/index.phpt to see Board Cafe articles online), but what might be surprising in this web-based age is how useful it is to have an actual book to flip through (with an index) when you want a little jolt of guidance.

The softcover book includes sample letters and forms (a board member contract, for example), background and explanations (why non-profits need boards), and lots of practical tips -- all in a very readable format full of encouraging words for the non-profit world.

Everything is in here: from what questions to ask prospective board members to when to close an organization. It really is a short all-purpose governance guide from soup to nuts, and makes those seemingly endless tasks -- like strategic planning, or fundraising, or how to make sure the whole board understands budgets and financing -- feel snappy and possible to enjoy.

Nice!

by Kate Steinway

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