The overwhelming majority of business leaders and philanthropically inclined citizens who join nonprofit boards have the best of intentions. They typically are passionate about the cause(s) the board supports and want to give back to an organization that means so much to them both personally and to the community where they live.

On rare occasions, a small minority of board members can look to leverage its involvement on a board for self-serving purposes, which could impact all the members if the organization’s mission and fiduciary duties aren’t appropriately outlined.