Our August board meeting promises to be a lively one, with three important questions to work through. Anyone who observes our board meetings knows that we like to be thorough, and with three big topics, you’ll want to bring your roller skates to help us navigate through these conversations!
Item #1: Creating the Future’s Annual IRS 990 Filing
Last year, the board talked about the criteria they want to use for reviewing the 990, noting that the form’s focus almost exclusively on the finances doesn’t come anywhere near telling the story we want to tell.
When it comes to the at-a-glance story of the organization’s performance, here is what the board said they wanted to see:
- Mission successes: “Paint a picture of the mission.”
- Resources that were engaged to create that success (beyond money)
- Demonstrate consistent values, beliefs and language
- Celebrate what we accomplished and what we learned
- Overall cohesiveness, consistency and thoroughness
To that end, there is some data in the Schedule O itself, but mostly a link to our site, where 2 videos tell the story more clearly. The shorter one is here, for a 2 minute tour through 2013!
Item #2: Instructor Compensation
From there, the board will consider a framework for compensating Creating the Future’s instructors.
Our faculty development work has resulted in fellows who are writing educational blog posts, developing Flash Classes and preparing to co-facilitate the immersion classes. What formula / process will we use for compensating those instructors?
Item #3: Reflections on Operating Openly
After nearly 2 years of conducting our board meetings openly via Google Hangout, with non-board-members participating both inside the hangout as guests and via Twitter, the board will reflect on
- What has operating openly made possible for the organization, for the board and for the colleagues who participate or observe externally?
- What we have learned, individually and collectively, through this process?
- And ultimately, because the decision to operate openly was part of Creating the Future’s R&D experimentation… Is this an approach we want to continue using? Has this experiment been a success? If we do intend to reaffirm this as a way of being, what might make this approach more successful – for the organization and for each of us as board members?
As always, we look forward to having you join us at the video right here, and via Twitter at #CTFuture. See you Monday!
LISTEN TO THE MEETING HERE
or Download the MP3
(To download to your hard drive, right-click {or click and hold on a Mac} on the link above and select “Save Target As”.. or “Save Link as”… depending on your browser)