Your board: Effective or not?

• Published date: 01 March 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30425
• Date: 01 March 2017

8 Board & Administrator

DOI 10.1002/ban © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

Your board: Effective or not?

If the nonprofit CEO can’t give an accurate as-

sessment of the board’s performance, who can? Here

are some ideas on board effectiveness you can use to

figure out if your board “needs improvement.”

• Effective boards regularly receive board

training. Does yours?

• Effective boards establish a clear difference

between the staff’s role and the board’s. Is this

the case with yours?

• Effective boards plan and then revisit the

plan as circumstances change. Is this occurring?

• Effective boards have priorities and make

them clear to the executive director. Has your

board clarified its priorities?

• Effective boards evaluate their performance.

When was your board’s last self-evaluation?

• Effective boards think and act outside the

organization. Does your board advocate, engage

with the community and survey stakeholders?

• Effective boards are accountable. Instead of

worrying about what funders want, they are con-

cerned with the impact of their work on clients’

lives. Can you say this is true of your board?

• Effective boards put pressure on you to per-

form and improve. Does your board provide you

with a professional, objective performance ap-

praisal each year?

• Effective boards ask “Are we seeing results?”

When was the last time your board asked you

this question?

• Effective boards discuss and work things out

because that is how the best decisions get made.

Is your board a dialogue board?

• Effective boards plan for their own succes-

sion because they are concerned about the orga-

nization’s future. Does yours?

Tip: Require board members to serve as a vol-

unteer for six months prior to joining the board.

There is no better way to understand an organiza-

tion’s culture. ■

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