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This thread is about: Best Practices for Executive Directors and Boards of Nonprofit Organizations, Checklist to Evaluate a Nonprofit Board of Directors, Overview of Roles and Responsibilities of Corporate Board of Directors and Guidelines for Recruiting New Board Members.

The following document on best practices was developed from a highly-successful training program called MATRIX* that was conducted in 1999 and 2000 for 12 youth-serving agencies in Whatcom County.
http://www.wcnwebsite.org/docs/practice.pdf

Best practices for non-profits. Topics include: Board of Directors/Governance, Human Resources Management, Financial Management, Strategic Planning, Collaboratives/Partnerships, Outcomes and Quality Improvement, Information Technology Management, Fundraising and Marketing.
http://www.wcnwebsite.org/practices/board.htm

Many self-assessments ask chief executives to consider their performance or understanding of their responsibilities in very broad or abstract terms. The following questions are designed to bridge the gap between theory and reality by addressing actual situations and concrete actions.
http://www.boardsource.org/Spotlight.asp?ID=35.200

http://www.managementhelp.org/org_eval/uw_brd.htm

http://www.managementhelp.org/boards/brdrspon.htm

http://www.managementhelp.org/boards/brdvsstf.htm

http://www.managementhelp.org/org_eval/uw_indicators.htm

http://www.managementhelp.org/boards/recruit.htm

Thanks for posting - this document was actually quite helpful!
It would be easier to read if it was just a webpage - I hate loading PDFs but the information is quite comprehensive and practical. I liked how they laid it out it - Best practices vs. Suggestions for Achieving best practices; though some of the suggestions seemed high-level/generic.
For those who are not keen on loading PDFs, I copy-pasted a table of contents so you can decide if it has what you need:

Board of Directors/Governance ................................................................................................ Page 1
II. Human Resources Management ............................................................................................... Page 6
III. Financial Management .............................................................................................................. Page10
IV. Strategic Planning ................................................................................................................... Page 14
V. Collaboratives/Partnerships .................................................................................................... Page 17
VI. Outcomes and Quality Improvement ...................................................................................... Page 19
VII. Information Technology Management.................................................................................... Page 23
VIII. Fundraising............................................................................................................................... Page 26
IX. Marketing .................................................................................................................................. Page 28

And here is a sample recommendation:

E. Funders are provided with honest and accurate information about the organization’s work and status.
Best Practices Suggestions for Achieving Best Practices
1. Regular communications are made with donors
with accurate information about the organization’s
performance, programs and activities.
1.1 Executive Director, fund development staff and
management staff develop and implement strategy
for communicating with donors through whatever
regular mechanism and timeline is appropriate, e.g.
newsletter, email update, special reports, annual
report, etc.
1.2 Executive Director, fund development staff and
management staff solicit information from program
staff about programs, services and outcomes to use
in donor communications. (See also Marketing)

It is a very good idea to have clearly documented roles and responsibilities for the board, Chief Exec and staff - but this particular list is very short and superficial. Does anyone have a more comprehensive list to share?

Check out http://www.managementhelp.org/boards/brdrspon.htm