Board Overboard: Laughs and Lessons for All but the Perfect Nonprofit (JOSSEY BASS NONPROFIT & PUBLIC MANAGEMENT SERIES) - Hardcover

O'Connell, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0787901792 ISBN 13: 9780787901790

Publisher: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub, 1995

Synopsis

O'Connell draws on forty years of camaraderie and affection to offer this hilarious spoof. Presented in the form of one organization's board meetings' minutes, Board Overboard is a witty sendup of a world that is too seldom treated with humor.

About this title

About the Author

BRIAN O'CONNELL is the founding president of INDEPENDENT SECTOR, the national alliance of nonprofits to encourage private philanthropy and voluntary action. He served previously as president of the National Council on Philanthropy and as executive director of the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations. He is currently professor of public policy at Tufts University's Lincoln Filene Center.

From the Back Cover

Brian O'Connell--drawing on forty years of camaraderie and affection--offers a hilarious spoof of the world of volunteer organizations. Presented in the form of one organization's board meetings' minutes, Board Overboard is a witty sendup of a world that is too seldom treated with humor.This book is a perfect gift for all board members and nonprofit executives, who after reading it, will be glad they work with your organization, and not Brian O'Connell's.

From the Inside Flap

If you think your board is a shambles, wait until you read about the board portrayed in Brian O'Connell's hilarious book.Brian O'Connell draws on forty years of camaraderie and affection to offer a hilarious spoof of the world of volunteer organizations. Presented in the form of one organization's board meetings' minutes, Board Overboard is a witty sendup of a world that is too seldom treated with humor.Mrs. Jeffrey (Effie) Black, the recording secretary and narrator of this lampoon, makes few editorial remarks in her note-taking, most often allowing her colleagues to incriminate themselves in their own words. Other board members include Rodney Russell, chairperson; Penelope Mitchell, vice-chairperson; Louella Buckminister; and the Reverend Bryant Horsinger. In his disclaimer, O'Connell says, "Any resemblance to any board or board member I have ever worked with is an unbelievable coincidence." You are sure to find some delightful resemblances, however, to people you know.This book is a perfect gift for all board members and nonprofit executives, who after reading it, will be glad they work with your organization, and not Brian O'Connell's.

Reviews

Anyone who has ever been on the board of a nonprofit organization will get a chuckle from this book. O'Connell, the founding president of Independent Sector, has spent decades attending board meetings. Now safely in the bosom of academia, he pokes gentle fun at well-meaning but often inept board members. Instead of telling us what transpires at board meetings, O'Connell allows the official minutes of an unnamed charity to speak for him. Each month, the board of the fictitious charity has a meeting and the faithful secretary takes it down (errors and all). At the end of the year, the board has accomplished very little, but the reader has had some good laughs. Recommended for public libraries.?Andrea C. Dragon, Coll. of St. Elizabeth, Convent Station, N.J.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0787901792
• ISBN 13: 9780787901790
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 221