Board Member, SMS Board of Directors

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BOARD MEMBER JOB DESCRIPTION

The Board of Directors of Share My Smile (SMS), in active collaboration and partnership with the Executive Director, shall frame the issues and think creatively of opportunities and challenges to be met for SMS to be an exemplary nonprofit support organization.

The legal duties and responsibilities of the Board Members are generally outlined in the SMS Bylaws and Iowa Governor’s Nonprofit Task Force’s Guidebook for Iowa Charitable Nonprofit Organizations , (2011). Each Board Member should be conversant, and compliant, with the Handbook and their contents.

Most fundamentally, each Director has a duty of loyalty and a "duty of care". The provisions listed below are not limited to these following key responsibilities and actions required to meet those legal and ethical duties, and effectively govern the organization.

SMS Board Members will serve a three-year term to be eligible for re-appointment. Board meetings will be monthly via virtual meetings and quarterly in person as set and scheduled by the Board.

1. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD

1. GOVERNANCE

1. Adopt, and regularly review, SMS’s Mission and Vision statements, and review management’s performance in achieving them.
2. Adopt, and regularly review, SMS’s Statement of Ethics and Values, and monitor the organization’s performance in accordance with those principles.
3. Adopt, and regularly review, board written policies reflecting the Mission and Values of the organization, within which the Executive Director is authorized to manage the organization and to develop and implement operational plans to carry out the Mission of the organization.
4. Regularly assess the environment for the nonprofit sector, and develop, in partnership with the Executive Director, strategies to be responsive.
5. Serve as a model for local nonprofits in regard to best practices in governance.
6. Hire, monitor, appraise, advise, stimulate, support, reward, and, if deemed necessary or desirable, replace the Executive Director.
7. Ensure that management succession is properly planned.
8. Attend regular, monthly board meetings. Focus on "what matters most," and apply the knowledge and experience of individual Board members to the major challenges facing the organization.
9. Establish Committee structure; adopt, and regularly review, Committee Charters.
10. Annually review performance of the Executive Director, and establish compensation.
11. Ensure that the organizational strength and employee base can sustain the Mission and achieve long-range goals.
12. Approve appropriate compensation and benefit policies and practices.
13. Recommend prospective board members to fill vacancies as needed. Ensure adequate orientation of new members. Ensure adoption and adequacy of Board leadership succession plan.
14. Periodically conduct self-review of Board performance (including its composition, organization, and responsibilities) and take steps to improve its performance.
15. Ensure that SMS has established appropriate policies to define and identify conflicts of interest throughout the organization and is diligent in its administration and enforcement of those policies.
16. Review compliance with relevant material laws affecting SMS and its programs and operations.

1. FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

1. Ensure that SMS’s financial structure and funding plans will adequately support its current needs and long-range strategy.
2. Ensure that the Board is carrying out its fiduciary responsibilities, such as reviews of periodic and annual financial statements, funding plans, budgets and financial goals.
3. Review results achieved by management compared with SMS’s Mission, Strategic Plan, and annual and long-range goals. Compare performance to that of other local nonprofit associations.
4. Approve major actions such as capital expenditures on all projects over authorized limits and major changes in programs and services.
5. Ensure that the Board, its committees, members, donors, and the public are adequately informed of the financial condition of the organization and its operations through internal and published reports, or other appropriate methods.
6. Ensure that published reports properly reflect the operating results and financial condition of the organization.
7. Appoint independent auditors, review audit reports, and review management letters with the Executive Director.
8. Regularly review established risk management policies are adequate and are implemented as intended.

1. Exercising Board powers in the interest of SMS, above all other individual or other organization’s interest.

1. Be informed about SMS’s Mission and Vision, Strategic and Operating plans, policies, and programs. Work with the rest of the Board to review, approve and oversee SMS’s Mission, and review performance in achieving it. Be an avid proponent of the Mission, and inform others about SMS, its Mission, Vision and programs.

1. Ensure legal and ethical integrity, and maintain accountability and transparency to members, funders, donors, other constituents and the general public.

1. Prepare for, attend, and participate actively in Board and Committee meetings, and special events. Serve on Committees and undertake special assignments willingly and enthusiastically when asked. Provide candid and constructive input, advice, and criticism. Ask timely and substantive questions at Board and Committee meetings consistent with conscience and conviction, while supporting the majority decision on issues decided by the Board.

1. Make a personal, tax-deductible contribution once a year at a level reasonable to the individual.

1. Participate in the generation and approval of policies focusing on mission, finances, and income. Ensure that programs are consistent with the Mission.

1. Suggest possible nominees for election to the Board, who can make significant contributions to the work of the Board and the organization.

1. Keep up to date on developments in and affecting the nonprofit sector.

1. Provide moral and professional support, and be available as resources, to the Executive Director. Respect existing time commitments and priorities of staff.

1. Avoid involvement in all political campaigns in the name of SMS, unless directed by the Board or Executive Director to question or present an advocacy issue on behalf of the organization to a potential candidate.

1. Maintain confidentiality of the Board’s executive plans and discussions.