Secure shortcut frees boards to do their vital work
BoardX is an Irish technology company that streamlines board meetings, governance, risk and compliance for non-profit NGOs
In the complex landscape of social change, NGOs face multifaceted challenges that require robust leadership, strategic guidance, and sustainable resources. “Boards of directors play an indispensable role in driving NGOs towards success and impact,” said David Malone of chief executive of BoardX.
A non-profit board plays a crucial role in the success of a charitable organisation. Yet most board members are volunteers and may not fully appreciate the fact that they are fully accountable for the governance of the organisation.
“A non-profit board should adhere to these seven core responsibilities,” said Malone. “These include advancing the mission, fundraising for the organisation, attending board meetings, evaluating the CEO, recruiting new members (skills required and succession planning), enhancing board communication, and serving on at least one committee.
“All too often agendas, board packs and other confidential information is sent via email and remains with past board members after their resignation.
“Apart from the obvious GDPR issues in emailing confidential personal information to outside organisations best practice demands a robust boars portal solution. That is why we created BoardX.”
BoardX is an Irish technology company, focussed primarily on non-profits. “We understand the governance, risk and compliance needs in the sector. Our clients leverage our expertise to ensure they are up to date with the latest regulatory and funder requirements.”
Streamlines board meetings
In a nutshell, BoardX streamlines board meetings, governance, risk and compliance for non-profits. “Invariably we find that when it comes to setting up meetings today, secretaries tend to email agendas and attachments which makes it difficult to find information, wastes board members’ time and is a potential GDPR breach,” said Malone.
“The typical board meets from four to 12 times a year and significant time would be spent discussing governance issues. BoardX automatically brings governance items into agendas and enables the automatic completion of the Compliance Record Form required by the Charities Regulator.
“Our system provides a simple, readymade portal. Board and sub-committee members have access to a meeting archive enabling them to easily find boardpacks and minutes from past meetings They can go in and search for decisions or directors interests.
“It also automates the compliance piece and manages succession plans. It is a solution that has been specifically designed for the non-profit sector to make boards more effective and help ease the burden of regulatory overload.
“BoardX helps streamline non-profits’ compliance and risk management programs with a strong focus on collaboration and automation. This simplifies how you prepare for meetings without digging through multiple applications, email threads, or file storage locations. It reduces manual work and the need for spreadsheets. You can build, circulate and manage all your policies from a centralised interface and bring structure to meetings and information.
“Board agendas and associated attachments can contain very sensitive personal information about staff, volunteers, donors and patients. It’s imperative that this data is not available to persons outside your organisation, including past board members. BoardX eliminates the need to email attachments and keeps everything secure.”
Demonstrating leadership
Since launching eight months ago, BoardX now has a number of small, medium and large non-profits using the system. Current clients demonstrating leadership in compliance include The Charities Institute, Oxfam, the Salvation Army and Bru Youth Services Crumlin.
Board compliance stands as an essential pillar for upholding integrity, maintaining transparency, and fostering trust. Malone said that the company will be adding three additional components over the next couple of months.
“We are adding a policy management component, a risk framework for automating risk registers and an overall compliance management architecture. These will mean that we are inserting more enterprise grade capabilities into the product yet maintaining ease of use. If you can use email you can use BoardX,” he said.
Best Practice Governance is an ever-evolving concept that requires continuous action, said Malone. It is not a once-a-year declaration of compliance. “BoardX addresses this issue and saves significant time. Your funders, donors, board members and employees deserve nothing less.”
