Robert’s Rules for Nonprofit Board Members

Here at Jurassic Parliament, nonprofits hold a special place in our hearts. You and your cohort have a passion to be the change you want to see in the world, and that’s a rare gift that you’re willing to share with others. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

But with this passion to help others comes the challenge of passionate conflict.

As you know, getting things done requires collaboration and execution from a variety of people—and  thankfully, none of us is exactly the same, otherwise life would be pretty boring. But, sometimes differences of opinion about topics people are passionate about can make collaboration and working towards a common goal difficult.

That’s why we’re so excited to teach our friends in nonprofits the ins and outs of Robert’s Rules of Order.

Robert’s Rules of Order was written way back in 1876 by our friend, U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert. After years of attending meetings filled with shouting and finger pointing, he came up with best practices to bring order to meetings so that stuff could actually get done.

But his book is hefty reference material—and pretty dry and boring. So we have made it our mission to bring these important materials to life in a fun, interactive way.

Whether you’re new to serving on a nonprofit board or you have a long history of service, our materials on getting the most out of Robert’s Rules of Order will help you understand best practices such as:

• Making sure the agenda is followed so meetings are more effective.
• How to keep discussions from rambling or having one or two people taking over the meeting.
• Helping communicate clearly when decisions have been made and everyone understands the next steps.
• How to use motions to get the best out of your meetings.

After you have understood and put Robert’s Rules into practice at your nonprofit board meetings, you will find that your meetings—while they still may be heated—will accomplish more and be more inclusive than they may have been in the past—and the work for those you want to impact in a positive way will actually move forward.