Strengthen Your Nonprofit Board by Elevating the Member Experience
The effectiveness of your nonprofit board directly impacts your organization’s ability to fulfill its mission, yet many organizations struggle to accurately assess board performance beyond attendance metrics and fundraising totals. This comprehensive Board Member Survey provides the structured feedback mechanism you need to identify both strengths and growth opportunities within your governance structure.
Unlike generic satisfaction surveys, this specialized assessment examines 20+ dimensions of board effectiveness through the eyes of those who know it best: your board members themselves. By capturing both quantitative ratings and qualitative insights, this tool reveals the unspoken challenges that may be limiting your board’s collective impact.
Why This Survey Delivers Actionable Intelligence
This board assessment tool:
- Evaluates both personal engagement and systemic effectiveness, revealing the connection between individual experience and overall board performance
- Measures satisfaction across critical governance functions—from executive oversight and fundraising to meeting management and decision-making processes
- Identifies skill utilization gaps by comparing members’ self-identified strengths with their perception of how well those strengths are leveraged
- Creates a safe channel for honest feedback about leadership, peer contributions, and committee effectiveness
- Uncovers retention risks by gauging interest in continued service while there’s still time to address concerns
How to Implement for Maximum Impact
For optimal results:
- Distribute to all board members, emphasizing that candid feedback is essential for meaningful improvement
- Assure confidentiality by making the name field optional and aggregating quantitative results
- Use a neutral party to collect and synthesize responses to encourage honesty
- Present summarized findings to the full board, highlighting both strengths to celebrate and priorities for improvement
- Develop a specific action plan addressing the 2-3 most significant opportunities identified
When to Conduct This Assessment
This survey is particularly valuable:
- As part of an annual board self-evaluation process
- Before strategic planning initiatives
- When experiencing significant board turnover
- After major organizational transitions (new leadership, mergers, etc.)
- When board energy or participation seems to be waning
Exceptional boards don’t happen by accident—they evolve through intentional reflection and improvement. This survey provides the structured feedback mechanism needed to transform good intentions into exceptional governance.