OPPapers.com

Your Fiduciary Responsibilities

INTRODUCTION
In an ideal world, the board members of a nonprofit organization are altruistic individuals with a sincere commitment to their agency's mission. They are aware of what it means to serve on a board, and they fully understand their responsibilities. However, this utopian situation most often is not the reality for nonprofits. Therefore, it is vital that board members are made aware of their fiduciary responsibilities and that they strive to minimize the risk of liability for both themselves and for the organization.
This paper will serve as a review of the article, Your Fiduciary Responsibilities: Minimize the Risk of Liability by Becoming Familiar with Your Legal Duties by Robert M. Portman (2002). First, the article's key points will be addressed. Next, the article's application to nonprofit management will be discussed. Then, the article will be critiqued, and its main points will be compared with some of the related subjects from class readings. Finally, the paper will conclude with key findings and the significance of the article to the profession.
KEY POINTS OF THE ARTICLE
Portman (2002) begins his article by stating that despite the fact that nonprofit board members are volunteering their time as lay leaders, they still have certain legal obligations to the agency. This fiduciary responsibility that he refers to involves a duty of care, a duty of loyalty, and a duty of obedience. Portman then goes on to clarify the meaning of each of these duties.
First, the duty of care, as Portman explains, means that board members are obligated to demonstrate honesty and good faith when carrying out their various functions. Also included in this duty is the responsibility of volunteers to maintain a level of confidentiality with regard to sensitive information. Portman goes on to mention that "the obligation to maintain confidentiality continues indefinitely, not just until the volunteer's position expires" (Portman, 2002: 105).
The second...