Advice on board performance measures, based on ASAE Foundation research.

In the ASAE Foundation research, CEOs were asked to give their board a numerical rating on each of the following 20 measures. The rankings were 1 for “needs improvement,” 2 for “satisfactory,” and 3 for “excellent.” Board performance rankings were based on the sum of all ratings.

Stewardship

• Overall quality of board relations with staff
• Overall quality of relations among board members
• Stewardship over the organization’s resources
• Willingness of the board to take responsibility for difficult decisions
• Ability to make decisions based on organizational interests and not self-interest
• Collegiality of the board atmosphere
• Leading the organization in a way that maintains the public trust in nonprofits

Member Relations

• Overall quality of board relations with the membership
• Accountability to members
• Direct outreach and engagement of membership

Strategic Performance

• Effectiveness at strategic rather than operational thinking
• Board participation in advocacy, public policy
• Effectiveness at aligning the organization’s resources with strategic needs
• Ability to serve as a catalyst for change
• Understanding of the organization’s external environment and trends
• Ability to achieve strategic plan

Internal Accountability

• Board’s ability to set performance standards for itself
• Board’s record of enforcing self-imposed performance standards
• Securing feedback on its own performance from key constituencies

Chapter Relations

• Overall quality of board-chapter relations (if applicable)

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