Board Policies

In 2016, the PACDL Board of Directors undertook a board self-assessment and priority-setting survey to strengthen its foundation of superior board performance.  Based on those results, the Board of Directors designed a board governance framework that incorporated compliance, essential and leading governance practices.
 
Compliance Practices.  The Board’s first task was to strengthen its fundamentals, define a clear vision and effective processes, and ensure the basic elements were in place to enable directors to focus their time and energy.  With this in mind, the Board adopted policies that: 1) specified regular meetings, 2) required executive salary setting based on data decision-making; 3) provided for the Board’s annual review of its Form 990 prior to IRS submission; and 4) created its document destruction and retention, whistleblower,  and conflict of interest policies. 
 
Essential Practices.  The Board then turned to essential governance practices to prioritize its focus to ensure the greatest benefit for the Association.  It enacted changes to board policies and other governance documents that:  1) required board meeting attendance; 2) enacted board terms limits; 3) clarified board duties to strengthen its board recruitment processes; 4) approved a 3-year strategic plan and incorporated an annual budget process; 5) created a chief executive job description and evaluation plan; and 6) built a strategy for a regular audit of the Association’s financial records. 
 
Leading Practices.  Finally, the Board of Directors took steps to align its vision and improve its governance practices to enable its success.  It looked at the gold standards of leading practices in effective board practice.  It took the following steps: 1) adopted consent agendas to consider routine items and arranged agendas to address the pressing matters; 2) approved board policies that focused on board composition, diversity and inclusion; 3) measured its collective performance; 4) created a board orientation process to share relevant information; 5) updated its bylaws and prepared committee charters; 6) outlined individual board member responsibilities and board core responsibilities; 7) defined its personal giving expectations; 8) engaged in regular board retreats; 9) reduced the board size; 10) verified the relevance of all board committees, objectives and accomplishments; 11) created a board governance committee that invests in the collective expertise and enthusiasm of directors; and 12) increased transparency by posting its Form 990s and member policies on this website. 
 
By having a conversation about effective board management, being flexible and dynamic, and acting on its findings, PACDL’s board has chosen to do more and do it better.