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Governance
In August 2001 DARC consolidated its partnership with BoardSource a Washington D.C nonprofit. Through this partnership with DARC, BoardSource worked collaboratively with other West African organizations such as the West Africa Rural Foundation (WARF), the Ghana Association of Private Voluntary Organizations in Development and with some organizational development resource persons.
The aim of the partnership was to build the internal capacity of DARC to serve as the primary source in West Africa for board training, consulting, and advocacy.
The partnership set the foundation for DARC's governance program, which is to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations in governance training and consulting, and to sensitize the NGOs, governments to the importance of good governance.
DARC carries out its activities through:
- Board development training
- Board orientation
- Board recruitment and assessment
- Structure for an effective board
- Board Cycle
DARC's governance activities:
Governance Round Table
DARC conducted Governance Round Table Meetings (GRT). The Governance Round Table (GRT) program was designed to bring together nonprofit practitioners at various levels in their organizations to discuss governance practices among nonprofits in Nigeria. The organizations were carefully selected to represent the diversity of Nigeria's NGO sector. DARC convened two meetings for chief executives and board chairs.
Quick Tips Workshop
DARC conducted two Quick Tips workshops, one-on-one consulting sessions, published 18 Governance Briefs, and developed its website as a resource.
The Quick Tips workshops are an adaptation of BoardSource's one-day Governance Awareness workshops. These workshops are intended to expose non-profit board members to basic governance practices, and their roles and responsibilities. “participants confirmed the usefulness of the session and were thus encouraged to share knowledge gained through the workshop and material with other board members.”
One-on-One Board Development Workshop
DARC also facilitated board development sessions for Lift Above Poverty Organization and Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDs), Fate Foundation, Centre for Micro-enterprise Development (CMD) amongst others.
Translation of Governance books
DARC and BoardSource translated two BoardSource publications into French, The Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards, and Nonprofit Governance: Steering Your Organization with Authority and Accountability.
Governance Survey
DARC conducted a survey research of governance practices in Nigeria.
Major highlights and issues brought out in the survey include:
- The challenges of identifying board members,
- The need for clarification of roles and responsibilities, and the need for training on the legal ramifications of board member accountability, and
- Ineffective regulatory mechanisms (government oversight) may adversely affect efforts by NGOs to practice good self-governance.
EXAMINING THE BOARD'S PERFORMANCE
HOW EFFECTIVE BOARDS ADD VALUE
RESTRUCTURING MEETING TIME AND COMMITTEE WORK
ASSESSING PERFORMANCE TO IDENTIFY TARGETS FOR CHANGE
BUILDING GROUP COHESION AND TEAMWORK
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL BOARD DEVELOPMENT