Free · Certificate included
Fiduciary Responsibilities
Grasp the legal duties you owe your nonprofit as a steward of its trust.
What you’ll learn
- Understand the duties of care, loyalty, and obedience
- Recognize and avoid conflicts of interest
- Apply the business judgment rule and protect against personal liability
- Make decisions that meet your fiduciary standard
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Create a free account →Course outline
- 1
What "fiduciary" actually means
When you join a nonprofit board, you become a fiduciary — a person the law trusts to manage something valuable on behalf of someone else.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 2
The Duty of Care
The duty of care is the duty to pay attention.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 3
The Duty of Loyalty & conflicts of interest
The duty of loyalty requires you to put the organization’s interests ahead of your own — and ahead of any other person or business you’re connected to.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 4
The Duty of Obedience
The duty of obedience is unique to the nonprofit world.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 5
The business judgment rule & personal liability
New board members often ask the scary question: "Can I be sued or held personally responsible?" The honest answer is that the law actually gives diligent, honest…
6 min Quiz Interactive - 6
Board vs. management: governing, not running
A huge part of fulfilling your duties is staying in your lane.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 7
Red flags & putting it together
Most fiduciary failures don’t arrive as dramatic scandals — they show up as quiet warning signs a careful director learns to notice.
5 min Quiz Interactive
Sources & further reading
- National Council of Nonprofits — Board Roles and Responsibilities (duties of care, loyalty, obedience)
- National Council of Nonprofits — Conflicts of Interest
- BoardSource — Legal Duties of Nonprofit Board Members
- Internal Revenue Service — Governance and Related Topics — 501(c)(3) Organizations
- U.S. Congress — Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-19)
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