The Board of Director's Role in Evaluation

So much focus in nonprofit management is on what the staff does and does not do, but the board of directors is a very important entity. In fact, the board of directors AS an entity is more permanent than any single or collective member of staff. While the staff may actually have a more in depth understanding of the work that is being accomplished, the board can be quite helpful and useful in evaluating programs, events, and other activities of the agency or organization.

The role of the board of directors is the overarching governing body of a nonprofit organization and also the ultimate responsible financial entity. This means that individual board members should have an interest in what is and is not working regarding the organization or agency's activities. Ideally, board members should be attending special events and other activities and while they may not be intimately involved with the day-to-day activities of the organization, they do have a duty to evaluate and investigate the operations.

The board should develop criteria for evaluating programs, projects and events. Some considerations might be whether or not the activity is in keeping with the organization's mission, how much money is raised, the amount of resources and/or staff time required to complete the project, program or event, and the number of community members or others who are impacted by the activity. All of these (and many more) can be very important criteria for evaluating the success, failure or impact of a particular event or activity.

Board members can ask questions, request reports, and collect other information and data in order to evaluate the organization's activities. Evaluation DOES need to become a regular part of the monthly or regular work of the board, however. As the "leaders" of the organization, board members need to be evaluating what is and is not working and what is and is not being done in order to develop a strategic plan for the future of the nonprofit.