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Board Evaluation23 @ 4 Series – October 2013
Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource CenterAllen County Public Library
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Today’s Objectives:
● What is Board Assessment?
● Why it Should be Done
● Is the Board Ready?
● What Assessment Can & Can’t Do
● “How To”
©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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What It’s Not:
A Performance Evaluation
Substitute CEO Evaluation
Miracle Tool
What Is Board Assessment? A Process
Review
Plan
©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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Self-Assessment of…
Individual board members’ own knowledge & skills, or knowledge & skills of the Board as a whole?
Process
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Once completed who will evaluate & tabulate the results?
Will it be done in-house or out?
Process
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Review
Next step, identify &
discuss strengths;
areas which need
improvement.
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PlanThird step:
●Agree on goals
●Prioritize activities to reach goals
●Implement changes
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Why Should Assessment be Done?To check on the state of
health of an organization.
Also:
• It’s a Best Practice
• It spurs discussion
• It leads to objectives
Strong Organizations ≡ Strong Boards
©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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Is it the Right Time to Assess?
Board assessment should be done
periodically, but especially when there is
a leadership transition anticipated or
several years have lapsed since the last
evaluation.
Also, be sure both the board and staff
are committed to the process. ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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It’s Not Ready When:
● The organization is facing crisis
● The board & staff are at odds
● The board lacks
capacity to
implement the assessment
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What Assessment Can Do …
●Tell board members how the
Board thinks it’s doing
●Provide a summary of the
board’s ‘health’
●Open discussion©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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And Can’t Do:● Take place of the CEO’s
Evaluation● Solve the problem of a difficult
board member
● Transform a board overnight
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How to; Start with…
Getting Everyone Committed
The CEO and Board Chair should be of one mind about assessment
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How to:
Determine who’s responsible for getting the process started.
It could be the CEO, Board Governance Committee, or several dedicated, willing board members.
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What Do You
Want to Know?
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The Questionnaire There are many examples of surveys available. But think …
What is it you want to know? Do board members understand their
responsibilities?
Are they committed to the organization’s mission?
Or maybe you want to know how they perceive the
quality of board meetings?
Are meetings run efficiently? Are they too long?
Are the financials easily understood?©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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If you write your own Questionnaire
●Ask the same question in different ways
●Avoid:
●ambiguous questions
●‘leading’ questions
●Do allow for ‘no answer’ or ‘not applicable’
●Use balanced choice scales
©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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How to: administer the survey
?Anonymity is important to honest answers so consider that when choosing. ?Paper or email?
First determine if you will do it in-house or use an outside resource.
©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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How To:
Review & Evaluate
● Tabulate Results
Share Results
● Make it an Occasion
● Discuss what changes should be
implemented©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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How To:
● Develop Governance
● Improve performance, e.g. effective
meetings
● Keep it Going
● Schedule periodic review
©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
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Resources:
• 90 Question Self Assessment: Nonprofit Association of Orego
n
• Indiana Community Action Association Self Assessment
• Individual Member Report Card: Foley-Hoag
• Basics of Survey & Question Design
• Tools for Self-Assessment
• Board Report with Assessment Grid
©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series
