Effective Governance Kathy Merritt Why governance When governance

Effective Governance Kathy Merritt

Why governance? When governance works well, stations can: • build stronger community connections • increase their value as community institutions • tap into new funding sources with the help of high -level community volunteers • concentrate on public service, not bureaucracy or petty politics

Why now? • The public radio system is maturing • Signal expansion changes dynamics • Licensees are re-thinking priorities • Listeners and donors want more accountability and stability • New models of governance are emerging

The big challenge Our core task is to align our governance with our public service vision.

Gov-o-Metrics • First sampling of opinion on public radio governance • Tested 15 attributes of effective governance • Rated importance and performance

Overview • What’s important? Everything

Overview • Do different stations see governance differently? Generally not

Overview • Are some things more important than others? Absolutely

Overview • What’s most important?

Fiscal control Importance • Financial controls are in place • Station personnel control basic business functions

Operations Importance • Programming decisions made without intrusion • Station is stable in times of change • GM is able to make decisions with flexibility and speed • GM’s interactions with governing body are productive

Big picture thinking Importance • Station has meaningful mission statement • Public service underlies all major decisions • Long term planning is the rule

Board functions Importance • GM is encouraged to be entrepreneurial • Board sets policies, staff carries them out • Board makes decisions as a whole

Community outreach and fundraising Importance • All board members make personal donations • Station has board that is a direct link to the community • Board members willing to visit donors

Performance • Performance follows importance • Wider variance from best performance to weakest performance

Fiscal control Importance • Financial controls are in place • Station personnel control basic business functions Performance

Operations Importance • Programming decisions made without intrusion • GM is able to make decisions with flexibility and speed Performance

Operations Importance • Station is stable in times of change • GM’s interactions with governing body are productive Performance

Big picture thinking Importance • Station has meaningful mission statement Performance

Big picture thinking Importance • Public service underlies all major decisions Performance

Big picture thinking Importance • Long term planning is the rule Performance

Board functions Importance • GM is encouraged to be entrepreneurial Performance

Board functions Importance • Board sets policies, staff carries them out • Board makes decisions as a whole Performance

Community outreach and fundraising Importance • All board members make personal donations • Station has board that is a direct link to the community • Board members willing to visit donors Performance

Conclusions - Importance • Attributes ranked most important are internal and real-time – Emphasis on daily operations and good management

Conclusions - Importance • Attributes ranked less important are external and long term – Lack of focus on relationshipbuilding and outreach activities

Conclusions - Performance • Performance is strong on attributes related to fiscal control and should remain so

Conclusions - Performance • Concentrating on the under-performing attributes can provide new infusions of community and board support

Effective Governance www. srg. org Kmerritt@srg. org