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From the Top: Executive Director Performance Evaluations

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Calling all board members! Did you know that evaluating your executive director is a key board responsibility? Evaluations foster clear communication about the boards’ expectations while giving the executive director an opportunity to weigh in on those expectations. Evaluations are also a critical tool for reviewing and setting the executive director’s pay. They open the door for frequent, honest discussions about your organization’s effectiveness and sustainability.

It’s never too late to start
The best time to establish the performance evaluation is before the executive director’s hire date. This way, the board can outline the standards of success and objectives in advance. However, it’s never too late to introduce an annual performance evaluation. Your board may even find that the evaluation results in a happier executive director who finally has a clear understanding of what success looks like to the board of directors.

Improve understanding to resolve conflict
Performance evaluations are also a useful tool to assess organizational failures or navigate conflicts. As HR professional, attorney, and Spokes Board of Director Jim Dorf says, “If the executive director is not achieving their goals, don’t just hope that things will improve. Once performance problems are observed, write everything down. Sit down with the executive director and set an objectively measurable performance improvement plan. Task a board member to assess the progress over agreed-upon intervals.”
Annual performance evaluations establish trust between executive directors and boards. Since executive directors manage day-to-day operations without oversight, board members can be left wondering what’s going on behind the scenes. Performance evaluations offer a safe space to inquire about daily operational strategies.

Keep it professional
It’s important to remember that the goal of an evaluation is to appraise professional performance, not the person. There is a great risk of bias, prejudice, and discriminatory actions when a board judges an executive director based on their personality or other subjective areas. According to 501 Commons, “An annual performance review can only hold the executive responsible for meeting targets, complying with policies, or achieving results that were agreed upon at least a year in advance. This way, the executive has time to organize resources and meet those targets and is given a chance to provide the board with information to indicate if the results and goals have been achieved.”

Make it a priority
To effectively conduct the evaluation, form a 2-3-person committee or task force – they will be responsible for determining the measurement criteria, establishing the formal process, and communicating with the executive director and the rest of the board. Download a checklist, like this one from Blue Avocado. Edit it to reflect your own measurement standards. Prepare to have a strategic discussion about organizational goals that have been set, met, or are pending.

Performance evaluations take time and effort to implement, but your executive director works hard. Your feedback plays a major part in their continued professional development. If you have questions or need supporting resources, feel free to call Spokes at 805-547-2244 or email [email protected].

The Best Way to Serve Your Community

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Are you looking to make a difference in your community? Are you passionate about making an impact in child welfare, social justice, environmental protection, and more? Are you new to board service or considering board service for the first time?

We’re Spokes, the nonprofit that supports nonprofits, and we’re here to help make your vision a reality. We think board service is one of the most meaningful ways to give back to your community. But you don’t have to just take our word for it. In this blog post, we’ll share some of the research on why board service is valuable for every entity involved, and we’ll finish by helping you with the next (or first) steps in the journey.

In San Luis Obispo County, more than 90% of local businesses are smaller owner-operated organizations – which bodes well for a local cultural of entrepreneurism, but presents real challenges for succession planning and talent development. It’s nearly impossible for small business owners to provide promising employees with professional development or cross training opportunities. But, there is another solution to develop leadership skills: nonprofit board service.

A recent study, Better World Leadership 2017, confirms that you can develop skills such as conflict resolution, management oversight, public relations, and crisis management while serving as board members for nonprofit organizations.

With more than 1,200 registered nonprofits, you’re bound to find your best match in San Luis Obispo County. However, successful nonprofit board service starts with training to understand the nuances of nonprofit management and governance. And, like all jobs, you should take time to carefully vet which nonprofit organization and mission is the best match for your personal values, interests, and expertise. Our course “Board Training Basics: Excellence in Nonprofit Leadership” on April 14 & 21 from 9 AM – 12 PM is designed to help you do just that. We encourage you to sign up for the course; we’re ready to help you start your board service career right! Reach out at [email protected], www.spokesfornonprofits.org, or 805-547-2244.

Getting Board Members to Agree

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Consensus. Harmony. Unity. These are the goals of every nonprofit board. Unfortunately, they are rarely part of their reality. So, how does a board leader honor every individual around the table while encouraging them all to move forward in agreement?

In his recent article for Fast Company, “This Is Why Your Passive-Aggressive Office Note Didn’t Work,” Shane Snow suggests that understanding each individual’s outer and inner expectations is the key to creating group agreement. Snow cites a framework presented in author Gretchen Rubin’s latest book, The Four Tendencies, that identifies different personalities and how best to empathize with and appeal to those personalities–rather than avoid them or fight them.

• Upholders will do anything to meet a work deadline (an outer expectation) and also their New Year’s resolution (an inner expectation). They’re self-starters and highly reliable, but they can be defensive and rigid.
• Questioners tend to be good at meeting their inner expectations, but they need to be convinced why to do something before doing it, this way they can decide for themselves whether it’s worth doing. They’re comfortable bucking the system but can suffer from analysis paralysis and get impatient with people who just accept things as they are.
• Obligers are motivated above all else by helping others and by following rules. They can be counted on as responsible but can have trouble imposing limits or saying “no.”
• Rebels are motivated by freedom of choice and self-expression. They don’t want to be told what to do; they want to decide what to do. They’re great at being independent, spontaneous, and creative but not at being disciplined.

Read his entire article here to learn more about your own personality type, better identify the personalities of your peers, and gain strategies to use this framework to create more true consensus in the board room, with your colleagues, and in your personal relationships, too!

Easier Solutions for Board Fundraising

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Lately, there have been a stream of nonprofit leaders – both board and staff – contacting Spokes and asking for help to engage their board members in their organization’s fundraising efforts. Conversations around the issue are stilted and awkward. Board meetings end with directors nodding in agreement to help raise funds, then leaving the room and continuing to be inactive. Resentments build. Fiscal goals are not met.

Sound familiar? Maybe painfully familiar?

The good news – and bad news – is that you are not alone. For many nonprofit leaders, nothing about fundraising seems easy. It’s a reasonable sentiment. After all, most important work is never easy. However, there are ways to make the work easier and more of a cultural norm.

Start by formally acknowledging that most folks find it hard to ask friends and family to make donations to the organizations they serve – not because they don’t believe passionately in the mission – but because they are uncomfortable requesting a favor. There is an underlying fear that a time will come when they need their friends and family to help them with a more critical issue, and they don’t want to feel that they’ve already asked too much on behalf of their favorite charity.

It’s time to stop asking board members to solicit their friends and colleagues and take a tremendous first step to shift their resistance to fundraising. Instead, ask them to focus on what they can do within their comfort level to contribute to your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts:
“Not comfortable asking for a gift?
o Can you invite potential donors to our next event?
o Can you use your Facebook page to share our client success stories with your friends and neighbors and advocate for our mission?
o Can you wear your board member nametag at your work-related events?
o Can you help us thank our current donors in a way that is personal and meaningful?”

It’s important to clarify to your board members how the friends, associates, and colleagues they introduce to the organization will be treated. Assure and demonstrate that all prospective donors are treated respectfully, with the intention of developing a long-term relationship. Define how donors are cultivated, asked, thanked, recognized, and protected.

Finally, remind board members that the organization will be more successful with fundraising goals if donors are asked to join the board in their giving. It’s far more difficult to encourage a new donor to make a gift if current board members are not willing to do the same. Ask your board members to conduct a modest board giving campaign with 100% participation. Then ask staff, other board members, and volunteer leaders who are comfortable with asking for donations to take the lead.

Read these two helpful articles for more information and inspiration on how to make fundraising easier and more successful for everyone in your organization.

The 5 Step Strategy for Getting Your Board Members Engaged in Fundraising by Joe Garecht

How to Run a Successful Board Giving Campaign by Joe Garecht

NOTE: Spokes member organizations have access to templates for board of director commitment forms and other policies to facilitate board giving campaigns.
Special thanks to Connie O’Henly, Executive Director of the Clark Center Association, for sharing these articles with Spokes!

The Secret to Successful Board Meetings?

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The Secret to Successful Board Meetings? Great Facilitation.

Think back to the last time someone invited you to sit on a nonprofit board. If you’re like most folks, the first thing that popped into your mind was something related to board meetings… how many board meetings do I have to attend, how long are they, will I be wasting my time…?

No one joins a board because they want to go to board meetings; folks join boards because they want to help make the organization’s mission a reality. But, here’s the catch:

Well-attended and well-facilitated board meetings are critical to the organization’s ability to achieve its goals.

So, now, think back to the last board meeting you attended. Did you leave the meeting feeling it achieved something valuable in pushing the organization towards its goals? Did you feel your time was well-spent? Did you walk out of the meeting with understanding and agreement on what actions were needed from your colleagues and you? Were you glad you attended and proud of your affiliation with the organization?

No? Not exactly? Do you relate to the cartoon above?

If so, there’s a good chance that your organization is making a few cardinal mistakes that sabotage the nearly 11 million meetings held in the US each day:

  1. Failing to design your meeting agenda for success – a task that begins at least a week before your meeting.
  2. Failing to properly prepare meeting participants by sharing your agenda and relevant information prior to the meeting.
  3. Failing to understand how groups make decisions. Not supporting the process required for the particular action/decision your group is considering.

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