Board Governance
Organizing a Board of Directors
This section explores the building blocks of an effective board: how they are structured and composed, how they operate and make decisions, how power and responsibility are shared among members, and how they serve as caretakers of the organization's mission and vision.
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Collected from farmers markets across Oregon, use these examples of recruitment messaging and application forms as inspiration for your market to attract new board members.
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These resources pair with OFMA’s Governance 101 workshop on board recruitment and retention:
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Often referred to as the "Red Book,” this short pamphlet is produced by the Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) Charitable Activities Section. It is designed to assist nonprofit board members in understanding their core roles, rights, and responsibilities.
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This workbook accompanied OFMA’s Good Governance workshop at the Small Farms Conference, which was designed to give board members a deeper understanding of the foundations of team building and some specific tools for helping boards function better. It also provided tips on dealing with difficult board members, personality conflicts, and strong differences of opinion.
Webinars and Trainings
If you’ve just joined a farmers market board, we recommend starting here! This webinar will define and describe board:
» Roles and responsibilities, including in financial accountability and fundraising
» Job descriptions & officer positions
» Notebooks & orientations
» Relationships with staff
» Committee-based governance strategies
Everyone interested in the joys and challenges of stewarding a farmers market will come away with meaningful contributions they can make to their organization's leadership structures.
In this showcase, the Lane County Farmers Market shares insights from the their journey making their board meetings and work processes more efficient and effective. Learn how their staff and board worked with a consultant to revamp their organizational structure, define board member roles, boost communication with a 'board notebook' and build best practices for generative and collaborative meetings.
OFMA's Market Innovation Showcase series features Oregon farmers markets sharing their consultant collaborations to tackle business challenges and improve operations. We highlight best practices, share valuable experiences, and discuss strategies for market development.
Recruiting new board members is only the beginning, the first few months of a new board member's service will set the tone for their tenure with your board. Approaching their onboarding process with care can ensure they are well prepared to be effective in their leadership role and decrease attrition. In this session we explore strategies for identifying and recruiting new board members as well as planning for a valuable orientation process.
OFMA's Market Innovation Showcase spotlights market collaborations with consultants, offering actionable practices to improve farmers market management.
In this episode, the Woodlawn Farmers Market shares the purpose and process of crafting effective board governance documents. Clear and organized materials are vital for onboarding new board members and ensuring and enhancing transparency, accountability, and decision-making within your organization.
Woodlawn’s board members talked about:
» Why organized governance documents will grow and diversify its board
» The challenges of documenting information held by previous volunteers
» How they developed a market charter, workflow outlines, and other organizational documents
» Provided document templates for any market to use