Course Overview

Welcome to our training resource for new board members. Joining a non-profit board and lending your skills and experience to pursue a greater good is always an exciting time! To help you set out on the right track, we have brought together some learning resources, that collectively, will provide you with an overview of your board role and responsibilities.

Irrespective of the type or size of non-profit board you sit on, you will need to understand:

• The purpose of the Board
• How the Board operates
• How board decisions are made
• How the Board oversees the running of the organisation

When you have completed each of the four sections of the training resource, you may wish to download a certificate of completion. To obtain the Board Induction Training Certificate of Completion, you will first need to successfully complete the final quiz.

Course Structure

The course is divided into 4 component parts and takes approx. 1 hour to review. Participants are provided with a set of interactive resources to review. A Board Directors Handbook is provided with the course. Topics are self-contained to facilitate micro-learning for the time conscious participant.

1. The Purpose of a Board

Each non-profit organisation has a defined mission and objectives which it is set up to achieve. Typically, the mission and objectives of a non-profit seek to achieve a greater good or social impact, or to support the needs of a particular community or group of beneficiaries.

2. Board Operations

Board operations refer to the system of activities undertaken by a Board that enable a non-profit organisation to function effectively. The board of an organisation should put in place a “system of activities” to ensure that board operations are of an adequate type and scope to facilitate satisfactory board oversight, decision-making and corporate compliance. 

3. Board Decision-making

The decisions taken by a board, significantly affects the ability of a non-profit organisation to:

• achieve its mission and strategic objectives;
• maximise its resources and opportunities; and,
• to comply with its legal and regulatory obligations.

Decisions taken by board members therefore, have lasting implications for a wide range of stakeholders including employees, volunteers, service users, beneficiaries and funders.

4. Board Oversight

This section explores the mechanisms and methods used by board members to track an organisation’s progress towards achieving its mission, strategic objectives and financial and performance targets. 

Upon successfully completing the course, participants may download free of charge a course Certificate of Completion.

Cost

The course costs €35.67 per participant for 90 days course access.

Purchase Course

To purchase the course, please enter the valid details in the payment section at the bottom of the page.

Commence the Course & General Instructions

Once you have purchased the course you will automatically be enrolled on the course:

1. Please progress through each of the lessons in the course sequentially.
2. To move from one lesson page to another, click on the ‘Mark Complete’ button located at the end of each lesson page. Once you have clicked the ‘Mark Complete’ button, you may then progress to the next lesson in the course.
3. Some lesson pages contain interactive resources. To open an interactive resource, click the orange ‘Launch’ button contained on the web page. Click on the ‘Next’ buttons or arrows within each interactive resource to move from one screen to the next within each of these resources.
4. Document names in red within a lesson or topic page denote that the document is available to download. Just click on the document name (in blue) to open it for viewing and download.

To start the course, click on the lesson 1 heading in the table below.