Tweed-Weber Announces a Turnkey, Cost-Effective Board Assessment Survey

Reading, PA - As of September 2012, there were 1,080,130 charitable and religious tax-exempt organizations in the United States. Of them, 82.3 percent had operating budgets of less than $1 million*. Each of these organizations, however, has a board of directors that has an enormous impact on the organization and its ability to fulfill its mission and remain financially viable for future generations. It is not oversimplification to say, no not-for-profit organization ever became great without a great board of directors.

As the summer winds down and not-for-profit boards begin to reconvene, board leaders and organization executives begin to confront the continuing issues of board focus, engagement, and effectiveness. Questions that inevitably emerge include:

• Are board members clear about the mission of the organization?
• Do board members believe the organization's work activities are aligned with the mission?
• Is the board fulfilling its oversight responsibilities?
• Do board members receive the information they need to serve as effective governors of the organization?
• Do board members believe their talents are being used effectively?
• Is the board properly engaged in its work?
• Is the board configured in a way that will deliver the best results for the organization and its key stakeholders?

There is only one way to be sure of the answers to these questions: ask the board members.

Tweed-Weber, Inc., a business consulting firm in Reading, PA, with extensive experience in the not-for-profit community, has developed and tested a board assessment survey reflective of governance best practices.** It has conducted this survey for a wide range of not-for-profit organizations and found it delivers to these organizations the information they need to determine what, if any, changes are needed to ensure they are functioning as good stewards of the community organization for which they serve.

The assessment enables the board to evaluate itself in the following areas:

• Knowledge of the organization's mission/role/purpose
• Involvement in organizational planning
• Oversight of the organization's work activities
• Resource adequacy
• Fiscal oversight
• Marketing and public image/reputation
• New board member selection and orientation
• Board configuration and operations
• Overall organizational status

This survey is conducted online and a complete report is submitted to the board within ten days of the survey's "close" date. It is a complete turnkey process that makes it simple and easy for a board to learn about itself while satisfying an acknowledged best practice. Because Tweed-Weber understands the budget constraints of most not-for-profit organizations, especially the 82.3 percent of small not-for-profits operating under $1 million in revenue, it is offering this entire process from beginning to end for $595.

For more information, contact Tweed-Weber through any of the following methods: via telephone at 1-800-999-6615, by email at mail@tweedweber.com, on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.), or on Twitter (@TweedWeber).


*National Council of Nonprofits.
**McDermott, Will, and Emory list as board best practices the "establishment and maintenance of director orientation, training, continuing education, and self-evaluation programs, with particular emphasis on (i) the effectiveness and adequacy of the Board and its committees; (ii) the sufficiency and timeliness of the information provided by management to the Board; (iii) the background and qualifications of individual directors; and (iv) the contributions of each director to the Board and to mission effectiveness."