1. Board Evaluation 23 @ 4 Series – October 2013 Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center Allen County Public Library

2. Today’s Objectives: ● What is Board Assessment? ● Why it Should be Done ● Is the Board Ready? ● What Assessment Can & Can’t Do ● “How To” 2 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

3. What It’s Not:  A Performance Evaluation  Substitute CEO Evaluation  Miracle Tool 3 What Is Board Assessment? A Process Review Plan ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

4. Self-Assessment of… Individual board members’ own knowledge & skills, or knowledge & skills of the Board as a whole? Process 4 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

5. Once completed who will evaluate & tabulate the results? Will it be done in-house or out? Process 5 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

6. Review Next step, identify & discuss strengths; areas which need improvement. 6 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

7. Plan Third step: ●Agree on goals ●Prioritize activities to reach goals ●Implement changes ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series 7

8. 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 8 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

9. 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. 9 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

10. It’s Not Ready When: ●The organization is facing crisis ●The board & staff are at odds ●The board lacks capacity to implement the assessment 10 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

11. What Assessment Can Do … ●Tell board members how the Board thinks it’s doing ●Provide a summary of the board’s ‘health’ ●Open discussion 11 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

12. And Can’t Do: ●Take place of the CEO’s Evaluation ●Solve the problem of a difficult board member ●Transform a board overnight 12 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

13. How to; Start with… Getting Everyone Committed The CEO and Board Chair should be of one mind about assessment 13 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

14. 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. 14 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

15. What Do You Want to Know? 15 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

16. 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? 16 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

17. 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 17 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

18. 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. 18 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

19. How To: Review & Evaluate ●Tabulate Results Share Results ●Make it an Occasion ●Discuss what changes should be implemented 19 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

20. How To: ●Develop Governance ●Improve performance, e.g. effective meetings ●Keep it Going ●Schedule periodic review 20 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series

21. Resources: 90 Question Self Assessment: Nonprofit Association of Oregon 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 21 ©Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center - 23@ 4 Series