Tips and Answers to Your Questions
Deciding to Restructure

Introducing Strategic Restructuring to Your Board

Every nonprofit board has its own culture and its own style of learning; hence, no one approach to introducing new ideas can possibly work well for all boards. So, what can you do when you have learned about strategic restructuring and want to share your newly acquired knowledge and skills with your fellow board members?

Below are some suggestions on how to proceed.

1. Include ideas about strategic restructuring in your board discussions and retreats. More than new knowledge and skills, strategic restructuring is a way of thinking and acting. Beyond promoting more effective ways to serve your clients, encourage your board colleagues to constantly think about with whom their agency can partner to be more effective.
2. Let your board colleagues know about strategic restructuring and ask if they would like to have a discussion on the topic at a future meeting. Once a time for discussion is set, request brochures and other materials from the Strategic Solutions project and distribute them to your board members prior to the meeting. Also, encourage them to visit this site prior to the discussion, so that they can get a better understanding of the general concepts and a more productive discussion can take place.
3. Strategic Restructuring is a good topic on which to have an expert speak to your board. La Piana Associates may be able to refer you to someone in your area.
4. Share your ideas on Strategic Restructuring with individual board members with whom you interact regularly. These one-on-one conversations can be very productive, and can really help in developing a better understanding of Strategic Restructuring at the board level.

By sharing information on Strategic Restructuring with your board colleagues, you will initiate a discussion that may prove timely for your organization.