I was a little surprised by the news last week that the entire board of Minnesota Dance Theatre resigned. I thought at first that perhaps there had been a rift in the board and many of them resigned in anger, but as far as I can tell it was everybody.
I was hoping more information would emerge since then, but as of this moment, there is no clear explanation as to why. For awhile, I had thought perhaps the founder pushed them out, but she died in 1995. Her daughter is now leads the company.
This whole incident touches on the topic of who owns a non-profit.
However, the real concern for me is that the board has legal responsibilities for the organization and is better off not resigning. I wrote about this a couple years ago. Resigning is the worst possible option if a non-profit is in dire financial straits because you may end up subpoenaed as the courts resolve the issues, but you no longer enjoy any of the protections of board insurance.
All the articles I have read say the organization is in stable financial shape. But if there are any legal issues that arise, this decision could come back to haunt the board.
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Title of this post inspired by “There Is No Crying In Baseball” scene in A League of Their Own