Does Your Nonprofit Board Have This Good Habit?
Sara Wilson, CPCC |
During my 20+years of consulting, I have noticed one of the habits many high functioning nonprofit boards have in common is they routinely evaluate their performance through two lenses. First, as an entity, are we performing our responsibilities? And second, as individuals, are we fulfilling our job requirements and serving the organization as promised?
Evaluating performance is both a necessity and a commitment (it’s a best practice if you haven’t made the commitment yet). Ask your board these questions as a mid-year performance check:
- What is our financial position and forecast for the rest of the year? Do we need to make any adjustments?
- Are we on track as a board to meet our commitment to attract resources to achieve the mission? Has 100% of the board written a check or made a pledge? Are board members meeting personal commitments to connect the organization to friends, businesses and funders?
- What is our board leadership succession plan–who is our next set of officers?
- What is the quality of our relationship with our Executive Director? Are we communicating with one voice? Do we respond to requests in a timely manner? Is the workload manageable? How are we communicating our appreciation?
- What keeps us awake at night regarding our organization?
Time is precious. Your organization’s mission is so important that its board members give of their time. Schedule time to have a candid conversation about progress, successes and challenges on an upcoming meeting agenda.
Thanks to all you nonprofit board members for your time, commitment and service. You make your community and the world better. Your effort counts.