Double Board of Directors

The Idea

One idea that was implemented by a large national non-profit to build up a stronger sense of representation of the members in the governing process was to create two boards with separate 'portfolios".

Fiscal Board: 

A fiscal board oversees the questions of generating income, reporting income, finding grants, representing the organization in national events, promoting the organization. This board might include non-MFT members such as a CPA, a lawyer, a high level civil servant from Medicare, a member of the AARP board. etc Their proximity to CAMFT could enhance our image among other "annex" organizations.

Program Board: 

A program board oversees the various programs that CAMFT runs. Made up of MFT's it makes sure CAMFT is offering new and cutting edge trainings, it oversees the publication of the Therapist, integrates new tools on the Web site to make the life of MFT's easier, it makes sure membership continues to be managed properly.

How it might work:
If the Program Board decides they want to implement a new three year project to for instance create an encrypted online charting service for members as part of their annual membership, they turn to the fiscal board with a budget and try to convince them that it is a worthy investment. The fiscal board then decides if it's legally and financially sound then finds a good way to allocate funds and/or generate the income necessary to cover such a project.

If the fiscal board sees that there is a projected drop in revenue it turns to the program board, explains the process and leaves it up to the program board to determine which programs it sees as priority and which ones might be able to cut back.

Discussion Ideas

• What do you think?
• How might this improve the way CAMFT meets the needs of MFT members?
• What are the upsides? The downsides? 
• How could we improve this?
• What kind of members would you like to see on a fiscal board?