• A board of directors, either elected or appointed, is a group of volunteers that governs a nonprofit organization, such as a charity, foundation or membership association. Members of the board of directors are usually people who have a deep commitment and interest in the organization's mission and overall work; they work with the organization's executive director and staff to accomplish the nonprofit's objectives.
  
  

Fulfillment of Mission

• A nonprofit board of directors bears the responsibility for ensuring that the organization fulfills its mission, according to the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. To accomplish this, board members regularly review the mission; establish an institutional strategic plan that charts how the nonprofit will accomplish its mission; perform periodic evaluations of the organization; hire, support and, if necessary, fire the executive director; and set and review appropriate compensation for leadership and staff. MCN staff reports that in many cases board members represent the nonprofit to the community it serves, as well as interpreting the community's needs to the organization.
  
  

Legal Accountability

• The Foundation Center lists three legal responsibilities for a nonprofit board: a duty of care, a duty of loyalty and a duty of obedience. The duty of care refers to the expectation that board members will actively participate in governance and "make sound and informed judgments." The duty of loyalty focuses on avoiding conflicts of interest. Duty of obedience means that board members ensure that the organization's operations are compliant with local, state and federal laws and regulations. Although board oversight applies to all operations, fiscal oversight--including setting fiscal policies, approving annual budgets and regularly reviewing financial reports--is a key legal responsibility of the board.
  
  

Leadership

• As the governing body of a nonprofit organization, a board of directors provides leadership to the nonprofit organization. A nonprofit board determines the strategic direction, ongoing work and future programming for the organization, according to the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. As leaders, board members are responsible for ensuring that the organization has enough resources to carry out its work and reviewing the organization's annual performance and accomplishments. Ongoing planning activities are another part of the board's leadership responsibilities, according to the MCN, so that as the nonprofit meets its goals, the board develops new ones to stay on track with its mission.