Note: In 2025, the Board Leadership Faith-Based program will be integrated with the general Board Leadership program. To be contacted when the application window opens for our 2025 cohort, please fill out this form.

The Murdock Trust Faith-Based Board Leadership and Development Program equips nonprofit Christian organizations to fulfill their unique missions by building board capacity.

Strong institutions are led by strong boards. This training program provides concrete, practical, and proven tools to equip executive directors, board chairs, and board members to address the most strategic issues, challenges, and opportunities of board leadership. This unique faith-based training experience has been researched and developed by a team of experienced coaches and faculty assembled by the Murdock Trust.

Helping You Build Capacity and Sustainability

• Learn the four pillars of a high performing board including governance, culture, sustainability, and strategic planning
• Clarify the board’s role and the executive director’s role—eliminate fuzzy responsibilities and create positive synergy
• Maximize the most critical relationship: the board chair and the Executive Director
• Become a board increasingly characterized by spiritually discerned decisions
• Leverage the four phases of board development: cultivation, recruitment, orientation, and engagement
• Establish dashboard metrics to monitor the health of an organization
• Identify the strategic next steps and benchmarks needed to create a sustainable future
• Align your mission, vision, and values with measurable results and goals
• Think carefully about the organizational future including succession planning and transitions
• Set the engagement bar high and foster a culture of continuous learning

Program Basics

Over the course of six months, the Faith-Based Board Leadership and Development Program will equip you to fulfill the unique mission of your nonprofit Christian organization.

Organizations will receive four days of training over two sessions scheduled in February and March, as well as approximately two days of customized coaching (includes coach preparation time). Often this coaching allotment is broken up into calls between the coach and the organization before session 1, between session 1 and 2, and following session 2, with a visit by the coach to the organization this spring/summer. Most often the coach can spend a day with the organization, allowing for travel and prep time. The Trust will cover all transportation fees of the coach to the organization for one trip.

The 2024 cohort will meet together on February 6-7, 2024 (virtual) and March 12-13, 2024 (in-person).

Your assigned coach will suggest how you might allocate your two days of customized coaching over the program’s 4 phases:

• Phase 1: Baseline survey and coaching connection (prior to Session one)
• Phase 2: Session one via Zoom | February 6-7, 2024 | 9:00am-3:00pm PT each day
• Phase 3: Session two in-person | March 12-13, 2024 | Day 1: 10:00am-8:00pm Day 2: 8:00am-2:30pm
• Phase 4: Completion of Top 5 Action Steps for Your Board and coach site visit

Participation Fee and Requirements

“The board-CEO relationship is the soul of the Christ-centered organization. It connects leaders to followers, communicates vision and mission to the body, and sets the tone for the organization.”

Stewards of a Sacred Trust: CEO Selection, Transition and Development for Boards of Christ-centered Organizations, David L. McKenna

To participate, your organization must commit to the following:

The executive director/CEO, the board chair/future board chair, and one other board member must participate in both sessions (February and March) and work with your coach on mutually agreed-upon dates.

In addition to the three participants described above, each organization may invite additional board members (up to 10 participants total) to attend the first virtual session in February.

The second session in March will be in person and must have a minimum of three and a maximum of four participants attend (the executive director/CEO, the board chair/future board chair, and one or two other board members).

1. Participants must complete all readings and assignments before, during, and after the sessions
2. Participants will be expected to complete three assessments related to the program: the first will be conducted prior to the first session in February, the second will be completed immediately after the second session in March, and the third will be completed one year later (March)
3. A program fee of $1,500 per organization is due upon registration which covers all session materials, two training sessions, meals, two days of customized coaching, and hotel costs for the March session. Travel to Vancouver, WA for the March session is the responsibility of the organization.

Application

The application window is currently closed for our 2024 programs. To be contacted when the application window opens for our 2025 cohort, please fill out this form. Please also note:

• Organizations from the Pacific Northwest region (OR, WA, AK, MT, ID) or national groups with a strong regional presence in our area are invited to apply. Although the board training program is not connected to our grant process, grantees working in the five sectors we serve (arts and culture, education, health, human services, and scientific research) will be given preference in consideration for this program.
• Organizations that are accepted into the program and that tend to benefit most from the training are often those with annual budgets of over $300K and more than one FTE. In recent years, the average budget size of organizations in the cohort has ranged from $600,000-$3,000,000.

Questions? Contact us at boardleadership@murdocktrust.org or 360-906-6077.