Best Practices: Nonprofit Corporate Governance

One of the most significant and valuable developments of the post-Sarbanes-Oxley Act environment has been the emergence of governance "Best Practices" proposals designed to enhance and improve corporate responsibility and governance.

These proposals have come from a wide variety of sources, ranging from self-regulatory agencies (e.g., NYSE, NASDAQ) and business groups (e.g., The Business Roundtable, The Conference Board, National Association of Corporate Directors) to professional associations (e.g., the American Bar Association) and major corporations (e.g., General Electric, WorldCom, TIAA/CREF). While most of these Best Practices proposals have been recommended for adoption by public companies, their relevance as an aspirational goal for nonprofit corporations and non-public companies is widely recognized. From these and other resources, we have developed the following set of guidelines as "food for thought" concerning governance "Best Practices" to assist nonprofit corporations