Board Evaluation
Evaluating Your Board's Performance Characteristics
Performance characteristics are the age old, important foundations of the board, listed in most publications on Non Profit Organization's (NPO) board performance. Recently, I encountered the following number of characteristics of an effective board member in NPO literature: seven (Howe, 2004), eight (Tweeter, 2002) nine (Smith & Bucklin) and (Waldo, 1986), twelve, (Bryce, 2000) thirteen (Bradshaw, 1992), fourteen (Gelatt, 1992), and fifteen (Oster, 1995).
"Board members do not always recognize the need to evaluate themselves. However, in growing numbers of nonprofit organizations, boards are beginning to realize how crucial that is. After all, a board is the top governing body of an organization- a body with authority over the CEO and responsibility for carrying out the mission. Therefore, it is crucial that the board be held to certain performance standards that have been carefully established" (Tweeter, 2002, p. 161). The board has a responsibility to assess its own performance. (Gelatt, 1991) "These two fundamental issues-the clarity of the organizational mission and board member's role expectations-significantly influence the effectiveness of the board as a whole and the level of commitment and motivation of individual board members. Al boards must deal successfully with these two issues if they are to be effective" (Herman & Heimovics, 1991, p. 93). Thus evaluating board performance is one of the key responsibilities of any NPO board.
