Naturist Legacy Inc. and its leadership

It was April, 2010. Crocus Grove Sun Club had just learned that we had lost our home of forty years. The club executive was meeting in emergency session.... The future looked bleak. The club had only about $12,000 in the bank. What could anyone do with such little money?... Many around that table seemed resigned to the idea that the club would never again have a permanent home.

But not everyone shared that view. Where most saw doom and gloom, there were those with business skills who saw opportunity. To them, that $12,000 was not all that we had, but was actually seed money to grow something new. Where others saw limitation, they saw opportunity.

With that Board's support and encouragement, John [Kundert] and I brainstormed through all hours of the night, for days and weeks on end. From endless hours of research and debate we gradually honed our plan. We continued to bring plans and ideas and concepts back to the Board, and from them seek support and input. In the end, only a small portion of that original $12,000 in seed money was needed to generate more than $200,000 worth of investment in our new home — Naturist Legacy Park. That's what people with business backgrounds can do in action. We saw opportunity and potential where most others would have seen limitations or the end of the road. It's those business skills that have brought us back from the abyss, and that have established our new home. It's those business skills that have earned the trust of the membership to properly care for their investments — large and small — and to use them to utmost advantage in order to ensure our immediate and long-term success....

Though Naturist Legacy Inc. is officially a non-profit corporation, it's still at its core a business, and it must be managed like one. Any business venture, no matter what kind, dies if it's not properly managed. Some poorly managed businesses die fast, some die slow, but they all meet the same fate. The main reason why small businesses fail can be specifically pinpointed: poor planning. The good news is that poor planning is completely avoidable. Once you know what kinds of planning you should do, and once you have the right people doing it, it's then just a matter of getting the job done. Careful and deliberate planning is the rule for Naturist Legacy's board. Winter months, for example, are never set aside as idle time. Instead, planning, discussions, negotiations and meetings take place....

In order for an organization to be successful, many different skill sets must be in place along with the right resources in cash, materials and equipment. Naturist Legacy was very fortunate because the ingredients needed to create our "recipe for success" all came together in the right place and at the right time. They came together when we needed them the most.

Any good chef will tell you that having the right people in the kitchen — that is, people who can actually cook and who can actually make recipes work — is and always will be the key to culinary success. Managing a business is no different. Naturist Legacy Inc. must always have the right "cooks" on our board of directors with the right skills to make our recipe for business success work. Our by-laws ensure that the majority of board members will always have extensive business experience. This is another key element to hold our future secure. The primary goal of any board of directors is to ensure the survival and health of our corporation, first and foremost. We are meeting that primary duty....

Naturist Legacy Inc. is a non-profit (non-share) corporation. No one "owns" Naturist Legacy Inc. It's governed by a board of directors (elected by its membership), who are in turn governed by the corporation's by-laws (approved by its membership)....

The board has a duty to exercise due diligence in overseeing the activities of the corporation. Its required to act in good faith and in the best interest of the organization. Board members are tasked not to act as they would personally, but to act as Naturist Legacy Inc. would and should — that is, for its sake, not theirs. In other words, Naturist Legacy's agenda and best interests are paramount, and not those of the board. It takes reflection and effort in order to be sure that members of the board are always separating the two.

Directors on the board may be held liable for failure to act as stated under a statute, or for the non-compliance of the organization with a statute. For example, directors may be liable for mismanagement, financial losses or nonperformance. It's also important to note that directors can be held personally liable. Ignorance is not a defense. Resignation is not necessarily a defense. Board indemnity may not be enough.

The board manages risk tolerance for the corporation. Risk tolerance describes the amount of risk that the organization is willing to assume. It has two key components: appetite for risk and capacity for risk. Risk management weighs potential opportunities against any adverse effects. There are essentially four ways to manage risk: avoidance, transferance, mitigation or acceptance.

We must constantly remind ourselves that Naturist Legacy is greater than any one person or any one personal cause. The corporation and its success always need to come first. We should all share this mindset, in fact, since it is this overarching priority that has provided us with the opportunity to practice naturism on our land....

16(e) Those persons seeking election to the position of director will be required to demonstrate and fulfill certain skill sets and working criteria that will be predetermined by the standing board of directors, as they are needed to fulfill the working mandate of the corporation. The corporation, through its nominating officer, will disclose and make available such criteria in reasonable time that the nominating officer may find suitable candidates. For the good of the corporation, the majority of directors shall at all times be comprised of individuals possessing extensive business experience, briefly defined as:

(1) Having worked in a management or professional position within the private or corporate sector, and/or

(2) Having owned or operated a successful company, and

(3) Possessing direct experience with and understanding of the financial, accounting, marketing and operational functions of a corporation or private sector organization or business.