Forum - August 2011

The process and the survey results give SOA a routine way to collect members’ opinions on the strengths and weaknesses in the board’s activities and assess board effectiveness at all levels.

members, newly-elected members, and members who’ve just completed their terms. Members submit completed surveys anonymously through a web-based survey tool and the Leadership Development Committee analyzes compiled responses.

SOA keeps its survey short to encourage participation. A copy of the 2010 survey may be obtained at www. soa.org/board-assessments. Members rate board performance on key responsibilities such as accomplishing the mission, ensuring effective planning and accountability, monitoring and strengthening programs, providing financial oversight and ensuring integrity. They rate performance on key “enablers” of success such as orientation and integration of new board members, appropriateness of committees and clarity of their charters, focus on strategic rather than administrative issues, effective decision making, board and staff collaboration, and overall board experience. Board members also answer several open-ended questions, identifying principal accomplishments of the past year and how the board can be more effective.

New board members complete a different survey. They evaluate the board’s on-boarding process, rate their understanding of board responsibilities, identify concerns about any of the accomplishments of the prior year, identify significant challenges and opportunities as a new board member, and share ideas to strengthen board participation. A copy of the new board survey also may be accessed at www. soa.org/board-assessments.

Committee added a new and valuable step. The committee developed a set of questions for all outgoing board members. Rather than conduct this survey electronically, the committee believed SOA would gain greater insight if these questions were asked as an “exit interview.” The committee retained an outside consultant to conduct the interviews to gather the information and provide board members with the assurance of confidentiality. The questions addressed issues such as lessons learned as a board member, most important issues addressed, issues that could have been handled better, and advice for strengthening board effectiveness. The consultant provided a completed report — without attribution to any individual member — containing interview results. A copy of SOA’s Departing Board Member Survey, used for the first time in 2010, may be found at www.soa.org/board-assess-ments.

Finally, the Leadership Development Committee chair presents the survey results at the next regular board meeting, identifying areas of accomplishment and concerns, as well as discussing improvements needed.

Does It Make a
Difference?
Anyone who serves on, works for or con-
sults with a nonprofit board knows that
helping a board and individual board
members to be effective is an ongoing
challenge. Board service is complex —
balancing fiduciary oversight with the
need to focus on strategic issues — and
involves many points of view, personal
styles and values. Having an effective
board evaluation process will not make
these issues disappear. It won’t pre-
vent all board problems or significant
disagreements. And it certainly won’t
resolve major strategic issues facing an
association.

How Does It Help?

Nevertheless, SOA believes board self-
evaluation is vital to the effectiveness
of its board and boards in general. The
process and the survey results give SOA
a routine way to collect members’ opin-
ions on the strengths and weaknesses
in the board’s activities and assess
board effectiveness at all levels. The
process helps:
• Identify problems and develop effec-
tive responses.

• Identify accomplishments board members feel are truly important.

• Improve orientation of new members, a critical skill due to turnover and term limits.

• Provides SOA an expected time each year when the board, as a whole, participates in open communication about its performance, including accomplishments and weaknesses.

Provides Specific
Recommendations
In addition to these benefits, the survey

Please consult the Association Forum’s “Facilitation of Effective Board Decision Making” Professional Practice Statement for more helpful tips on the role of the association executive in identifying, synthesizing, analyzing and communicating issues and relevant data to the board.