Time-Strapped Board Members of a Not-For-Profit

The Challenges:

We advise the Board of a not-for-profit entity:

• Paid and volunteer members are seriously strapped for time.

• Members come and go so frequently that Jordan Applebaum is the longest-standing member of this group.

• When working closely with a Treasurer, President and Manager, diplomacy can be challenging.

Our Solutions:

Having served on many boards and executive committees, Jordan Applebaum brings a high degree of exactitude. This NFP appreciates our comprehensive services, sensitive collaboration, sector experience, and strong governance practices. Jordan helps them make good financial decisions. Our multiple time-saving services have included:

• Creating an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) to profile their short-, medium- and long-term goals, objectives, philosophy, investment mandate, and unique parameters.

• Conservatively managing their cash reserves as fiduciaries, supported by a large group of BMO investment analysts and economists.

• Coordinating a full suite of wealth management services and specialists across BMO Private Wealth and doing their quarterly planning.

• Ensuring continuity by bringing new Presidents up to speed.

• Performing market evaluation and monitoring, generating ideas, and analyzing their portfolio and structures to keep them on track to achieve their objectives.

• Managing the Treasury funds with their expenditure needs clearly identified, as they must spend a certain amount or fund capital projects every year.

• Mitigating liabilities faced by board members, sharing in their fiduciary duties, helping them adhere to the Prudent Investor Rule, and improving their overall decision-making.

The Results:

We helped this NFP grow exponentially and brought many cohorts of volunteer and paid board members tremendous confidence. Together with our partners at BMO Nesbitt Burns and BMO Private Banking, we provided financing and advisory services for major investments such as a building purchase. Working as one team, we delivered a complete financing package quickly and easily all under one roof and helped this entity sell a real estate property.  We now manage the capital reserves from that divestiture.