New director cheat sheet · 6 min
New director cheat sheet — nonprofit / land trust
Duty of care, loyalty, and obedience; Form 990 board review; gift and conflict habits for 501(c)(3) boards.
Cliff-note educational aid for new directors — not legal advice, not a substitute for counsel, bylaws, or the board packet. Public sheets are generic by board type. Board-specific one-pagers use only this board's recorded data and never invent minutes, decisions, or policy status.
Before your first meeting
- Read recent minutes and the current Form 990 board-review window status (board copy — Prepared does not file).
- Find the conflict-of-interest policy and any related-party register entries.
- Know officer seats (Chair, Secretary, Treasurer) and when terms end.
- Ask where gift / whistleblower / code-of-conduct acknowledgments live.
Nonprofit-specific habits
- Obedience means staying inside mission and gift restrictions — not rubber-stamping management.
- Form 990 Part VI / Schedule O questions are board process proof, not a tax filing product.
- Land trusts and similar boards often track conservation / restricted assets separately from operating cash.
What Prepared Board records (live)
- Filings-window tracker, related-party register, governance calendar, officer elections.
- Policy acknowledgment trackers and document retention schedule (template aid — no auto-purge).
- Does not: e-file with the IRS, give tax advice, or act as a whistleblower hotline.