Free Nonprofit Board Self-Assessment (With Scoring and What to Do Next)
What Is a Board Self-Assessment?
A board self-assessment is a questionnaire every voting member completes about how well the board does its own job: strategy, legal and financial oversight, composition, meetings and support for the executive director. Use the free 26-statement version below, score each section by hand, and discuss the results at your next board retreat.
Most board self-assessment tools sit behind a fee, a sign-up form or a product demo, and many free question lists stop before the scoring. This one is free and scored by hand. It also adds a section most tools leave out: how the board supports its executive director, a gap CNPC coaches hear about from the executive director’s side.
Key Takeaways
- Every voting member scores 26 statements from 1 to 4 on an unsigned form, a few weeks before the board retreat.
- Section 6, on supporting the executive director, is the one to compare with the executive director’s own answers.
- Flag statements where scores differ by two points, and treat clusters of question marks as low scores.
- Turn the two or three lowest scores into goals with an owner, a date and a funded resource.
How Do You Run a Board Self-Assessment?
Send the questionnaire to every voting member about three weeks before the board retreat, with a return date one week before it. Answers go to one person, usually the governance committee chair or the board secretary, who averages the scores and reports only section results. The executive director fills in the same form separately.
BoardSource recommends that boards assess their overall performance every two years and build a development plan from the results. A shorter check like this one fits the years in between. Allow members 20 minutes to complete it and an hour of retreat time to discuss it.
Ask members not to sign their forms, so a low score does not read as a complaint about a colleague. On a small board, members can return them in plain envelopes to a member who holds no office. Setting the date is part of the chair’s responsibilities, even when a committee runs the process.
What Does This Board Self-Assessment Ask?
The questionnaire has 26 statements in six sections, ending with support for the executive director. Score each statement 1 if it is not true of your board, 2 if partly true, 3 if mostly true and 4 if fully true. Mark a question mark if you do not know, and score the weaker part of any two-part statement.
| # | Statement | Score (1–4 or ?) |
|---|---|---|
| Section 1: Mission and strategy | ||
| 1 | Every board member can state the mission in a sentence or two. | |
| 2 | The board has approved a current strategic plan or list of priorities. | |
| 3 | Meetings spend more time on strategy and decisions than on staff reports. | |
| 4 | The board reviews progress on its priorities at least once a year. | |
| Section 2: Legal and fiduciary oversight | ||
| 5 | Members understand their legal duties of care, loyalty and obedience. | |
| 6 | Members disclose conflicts of interest every year, and the board acts on them. | |
| 7 | Minutes record every decision the board and its committees make. | |
| 8 | Every voting member receives the final Form 990 before it is filed. | |
| 9 | The board has written whistleblower and document retention policies. | |
| Section 3: Financial oversight | ||
| 10 | The board approves the budget before the fiscal year starts. | |
| 11 | Members receive financial statements they understand before each meeting. | |
| 12 | The board knows how many months of operating reserves the organization holds. | |
| 13 | The board or a committee reviews the year-end audit or financial review. | |
| Section 4: Composition and development | ||
| 14 | The board recruits against a written list of the skills it lacks. | |
| 15 | Every new member receives an orientation soon after joining. | |
| 16 | Members serve set terms, and the board follows its term limits. | |
| 17 | The board knows who is preparing to chair it next. | |
| Section 5: Meetings and culture | ||
| 18 | Members read the materials and come ready to decide. | |
| 19 | Every member speaks, and dissent is heard before a vote. | |
| 20 | Someone follows up when a member stops contributing. | |
| 21 | The board acted on what its last self-assessment found. | |
| Section 6: Supporting the executive director | ||
| 22 | The chair and the executive director meet one-to-one on a set schedule. | |
| 23 | The board and the executive director agree where governance ends and management begins. | |
| 24 | The board discusses the executive director’s workload at least twice a year. | |
| 25 | The executive director has a written development plan that the budget pays for. | |
| 26 | The board reviews the executive director yearly against goals agreed in advance. | |
Statement 5 refers to the legal duties of care, loyalty and obedience. Statements 6 to 9 follow questions in Part VI of the full Form 990. The Form 990 instructions say federal tax law generally does not require these practices, yet every filer must answer each question. A nonprofit that files a shorter return can treat them as good practice.
How Do You Score the Questionnaire?
Score each section on its own: add every score members gave in that section and divide by the number of scores. Leave question marks out of the average but count them, because a statement several members cannot score is a finding of its own. Keep the executive director’s form apart.
Look at the spread. Flag any statement where two members’ scores differ by two points or more. A section average of 3 can hide a board split between 4s and 2s, and that split is the conversation to have.
Count the question marks. When a quarter of the board marks one statement with a question mark, treat it as a low score. Members cannot oversee what they do not know about, and the fix often starts with a report or a briefing.
A low section 5 score can mean some members have stopped taking part. Our guide to re-engaging quiet board members covers what to try first.
The spread between members tells a board more than its average.
What Do Your Scores Mean?
Read each section average against three bands. At 3.5 or above, the practice is working, so keep it on the calendar. From 2.5 up to 3.5, it works with gaps, so give the lowest statement an owner and a date. Below 2.5, the section needs a plan, and it goes first on the retreat agenda.
The bands are a guide for discussion. To compare your board with other nonprofit boards, BoardSource’s paid Board Self-Assessment benchmarks results against the boards that take part.
Expect uneven sections. In BoardSource’s 2015 Leading with Intent report, boards earned a B- average, and they did better at technical work such as financial oversight and compliance than at adaptive work such as strategy and community outreach. If sections 2 and 3 outscore sections 1 and 5, your board fits that pattern.
Why Does Executive Director Support Matter Most?
Section 6 is the one section the board cannot score alone. Compare the board’s section 6 average with the executive director’s answers to the same five statements. A gap of a point or more between the two views is the first conversation for the retreat, ahead of any score in sections 1 to 5.
The board evaluates the executive director, so the executive director rarely tells the board how stretched the job is. CNPC coaches hear that side. In the strongest partnerships, the chair and the executive director meet monthly outside board meetings, and both can say where governance ends and management begins. In struggling ones, the board assumes support exists that does not, and neither side checks.
A board can grade its own meetings. Only the executive director can grade the support.
In our coaches’ view, the board’s duty of care, read broadly, includes making sure the executive director has the resources to succeed. In CNPC’s intake, 23 of 152 applicants (15%) named board relations as a coaching need. Our guides to the board and executive director partnership and evaluating the executive director go deeper on statements 22 to 26.
How Do You Turn Low Scores Into a Plan?
Turn each low score into three things: one finding in plain words, one development goal with an owner and a date, and one resource the budget pays for. Then put the plan on the next board meeting agenda, so the findings turn into work with a deadline.
Limit the plan to the two or three lowest statements, and fold it into the board’s yearly cycle to grow the board’s capacity. The table shows three example findings and one way to turn each into a goal.
| Low score | Development goal | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| Statement 24: the board rarely discusses the executive director’s workload | The chair and the executive director agree three priorities each quarter and review them at each one-to-one | A standing item on the one-to-one agenda, plus six sessions of executive coaching for the executive director |
| Statement 15: new members start without an orientation | Every new member has an orientation meeting within 60 days of joining | Governance committee time and a one-page orientation checklist |
| Statement 11: members cannot read the financial statements | The treasurer walks the board through one report at each meeting this year | A finance volunteer or a short training session for the board |
Our volunteer coaches donate their time, which is why six sessions for one leader cost $300, $400 or $600, set by operating expenses, at fees 85% or more below market rate. When the senior team needs to align on priorities, executive team coaching works with teams of three to fifteen people for six sessions at $500, $700 or $1,100.
For the policies behind sections 2 and 3, compare your scores with our list of governance best practices.
When Is Coaching Not the Answer?
Coaching works on a leader’s own decisions and habits, so it fits low scores in section 6 and some in section 5. Low scores in legal or financial oversight call for governance training, a finance volunteer or outside counsel. Open conflict between members, or between the board and the executive director, calls for a neutral facilitator.
CNPC offers no board consulting and no board development program, and six sessions do not add hours to anyone’s week. A self-assessment has limits too: it records how members see the board, which can differ from how the board performs. Our guide to capacity building covers board training, and our notes on coaching for nonprofit boards explain where coaching fits.
What Should the Board Do Before the Retreat?
If your executive director resigned tomorrow, would the board know why? Section 6 is where that conversation starts. This week, send the questionnaire to every voting member and the executive director with a return date one week before the retreat, and put the section 6 comparison first on the agenda.
If the plan includes coaching for your executive director, Apply Now to be matched with a volunteer coach. CNPC serves leaders of 501(c)(3) nonprofits, government agencies and analogous non-U.S. organizations, never for-profits.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should a board do a self-assessment?
BoardSource recommends a formal self-assessment every two years. A short check like this one can fill the years between, timed a few weeks before the annual retreat so the results shape the agenda.
Should the executive director complete the board self-assessment?
Yes, on a separate form. Section 6 is only useful when the board’s scores sit beside the executive director’s, so report those answers on their own line, apart from the board average.
Who reviews the results?
The governance committee, or the chair and one member on a small board, reviews the results first and drafts two or three goals. The full board approves each goal at the retreat, with an owner and a date.
Can a board pay for coaching for its executive director?
Yes. Because our coaches volunteer their time, six sessions cost $300, $400 or $600, set by operating expenses. Our answers to the questions boards ask about coaching cover confidentiality and results.
Fund the Lowest Score in Section 6
Turn one low score into a funded development goal. Volunteer coaches donate their time, so six sessions for your executive director cost $300, $400 or $600.
Apply Now →
