ResourcesWhite paper
Board reporting you can trust
When the board asks how many members or donors you have and hears three answers, the problem is not the arithmetic. Nobody agreed what is being counted, where it comes from, or when it was taken. Why the numbers never match, and how to make them match every quarter.
In short
- Most mismatches are definitions, not errors.
- Every board metric needs one written definition, one owner and one source.
- Put the as-of date beside every number.
- A report rebuilt by hand each quarter is not a report. It is a ritual.
- Fewer metrics, better defined, beat a longer pack.
ForAnyone who builds, presents or relies on board reportsTime to readAbout 25 minutesUse itBefore you build the next board pack
- Three answers to one question
- Fixing it, in order
- Definitions, the quiet cause
- A board pack worth reading
- Timing and sources
- The metric definition card
- The spreadsheet in the middle
- Two cards, filled in
Rather talk it through?
A 30-minute conversation about your systems and what's getting in the way. You leave knowing what would help.