Wednesday, May 14, 2008

CEO's Dissatisfied with Board of Directors

This article in the Philanthropy News paper (sign up for free email version here) points to a study by the Urban Institute. A must read for those of you working closely with your Board!

Many Nonprofit CEOs Dissatisfied With Board Performance,
Report Finds (5/12/08)

A significant number of CEOs at midsize nonprofits are dissatisfied with the performance of their boards, particularly in regard to fundraising and the way boards monitor their own performance, a new report from the Urban Institute ( http://urban.org/ ) finds.

The report, Boards of Midsize Nonprofits: Their Needs and Challenges ( http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/15012968/),
examined the results of a 2005 survey of 1,862 nonprofits with annual expenses between $500,000 and $5 million and found that
62 percent of CEOs indicated that their boards do a fair or poor job of raising revenue, while 60 percent assigned similar marks for their boards' self-assessment activities. In addition, more than a quarter of CEOs rated their boards as fair or poor when it comes to evaluating CEO performance; planning; monitoring programs and services; community relations; and educating the public about the organization.

Although most CEOs rated their boards as good or excellent in most roles, the only area in which a majority -- 53 percent -- rated their boards as excellent was in respecting board-staff boundaries.

The report, which was funded by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr.
Fund, also examined board composition and found that 36 percent of boards have no minority members, and that on average only
6 percent of board members are younger than 35, while 13 percent are over 65. Among other things, the report recommends widening the pool from which nonprofits select board members in order to attract well-rounded members from a variety of backgrounds and implementing procedures for boards to monitor their own perfor- mance regularly.

"Substantial percentages feel their boards are doing a poor or fair job in many areas," said Francie Ostrower, the report's author. "Our findings clearly do reveal disturbing levels of CEO dissatisfaction with board performance."


"Disturbing Levels of CEO Dissatisfaction With Board Performance"
at Midsize Nonprofits, Study Finds." Urban Institute Press
Release 5/08/08.

http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/15012969/story

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