CONFIDENTIAL BOARD ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR X NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
Table of Contents Slide
Mission
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Scope of Work
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Survey Summary
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Findings
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Board of Director’s Role..………………………………………………………….8 Board Responsibilities …….…….……………………….………………………...9-11 Recommendations
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Appendix
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X NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
Mission Statement X Non-profit Organization offers hope to people with autism and their families by providing high quality life-long support through services which enable people with autism to function better in everyday life.
X Non-profit Organization offers the most advanced treatment and training programs for the benefit of people with autism, and will continue to pioneer, through research, comprehensive treatment models which can be adopted nationally.
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Engagement Objective & Scope of Work Sean Collins Company was engaged in November 2009 to conduct a Board Assessment for X Non-profit Organization . The purpose of the assessment has been to ascertain the board’s strengths and weaknesses and to make recommendations for improvements in areas that challenge board and organizational growth.
The scope of work included an on-line survey of the Board of Directors, in-person meetings with the
Executive Director and Associate Executive Director, one-on-one meetings with each member of the Board of Directors, meetings with the Business Manager and the Director of Development, a review of the board meeting minutes, the Certificate of Incorporation, by-laws, Form 990, 2008 audited financial statements, and news publications.
The following pages detail the outcome of the board survey, interviews, and research. It includes findings of organizational strengths and weaknesses and makes recommendations for strategic planning, committee structures, and general board engagement and development.
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Board Survey Results Summary The initial board survey was organized to get a sense of the level of board member engagement in the work of the organization (questions on strategy and committees) and to get a view of what board members could potentially bring to X Non-profit Organization in terms of their interests, experience, and skills (questions on personal expertise, interest, and commitment).
The survey reveals that board members are mixed on whether the organization is strategic or not, but a majority say that organizational strategy is not documented. Most board members say that while board meetings are long term focused, clear goal planning at the committee level does not occur. Board members unanimously expressed their interest and commitment to becoming more engaged in board work. There is a lack of finance and marketing expertise among the board and a preponderance of community relations expertise.
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Findings: Strengths X Non-profit Organization’s leadership staff is highly talented, committed, experienced, and knowledgeable. Clinical staff is experienced, well trained, credentialed, and dedicated. X Non-profit Organization programs are highly regarded. Applied Behavioral Analysis methodology, practiced at X Non-profit Organization , has proven success.
X Non-profit Organization and its leadership is well known and well respected in the broader autism spectrum disorder community and is sought after for educational, research, training, and public policy collaboration. The organization has a solid source of income from its consulting practice.
X Non-profit Organization’s facility is new and high quality. The board of directors is committed to X Non-profit Organization’s work and is able to focus on institutional needs and to separate individual needs. The board is committed to community service and has strong representation in legal and community service experience. Board members understand the need for more involvement and the need to formulate a plan for the organization’s future. Parent volunteers are highly committed and special events are well attended and successful.
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Findings: Weaknesses No plan exists to achieve the organizational mission to provide “high-quality life-long support� for its clients. Board engagement to oversee policy, conduct committee work, and direct organizational mission is weak. Board member recruitment efforts lack a formal process. The board lacks necessary skills: insurance, investment, marketing, and accounting (outside board president).
Leadership staff is overcommitted. Executive Director and Associate Executive Director are heavily involved in all clinical and administrative programs. Institutional knowledge is concentrated in too few individuals and there are limited back up plans and redundancies. Revenues are predominantly weighted in consulting service fees. Consulting income is impacted by NYS Department of Education budget cuts. Adult program rate negotiation with OMRDD is an ongoing and yet unsolved process. Younger parents and other constituents are not well known among current board members. Implementation of Effectiveness Assessment as resolved to have taken place in 2009 has not occurred. 7
Recommendations Recommendation for X Non-profit Organization Board of Directors
The board must take a leadership role, in partnership with the executive director, to guide the present and future work of X Non-profit Organization . This means that each board member must be pro-active in his or her own role, acting in collaboration with other board members by way of the committee structure. The amount of work that any board needs to conduct is too large and has to be broken down into component parts. This work is conducted between board meetings at the committee level. Committees are the board’s resident expert in their subject matter as it relates to the board’s work. Therefore, committee members should offer some level of expertise or insight into the particular committee to which they are assigned.
The committee level work is meant to be exhaustive, meaning that when it comes to the full board, a committee’s particular project is thoroughly researched and vetted so that the committee’s recommendation is solid. This does not mean that the board cannot question a committee’s work. It should. But is should not micromanage the work that the committee, the board’s resident expert, has toiled over. Boards and its committees must focus on policy not operations. Operations are the work of the executive director and the staff. Committees focus on planning, policy, governance, fundraising, board development, and financial oversight.
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Recommendations The committees recommended for the X Non-profit Organization board are specifically: 1- Strategic Planning Committee 2- Finance Committee 3- Board Development Committee 4- Development (Fundraising) Committee 5- Audit, Risk & Legal Committee The first order of work that X Non-profit Organization must undertake is to: 1- begin a mission reaffirmation process, followed by a visioning and strategic planning process, 2- undertake a board development process, 3- form committees to increase participation and effectiveness in planning, finance, board development, fundraising development, and audit and risk. Board members must drive the process. You are stewards of the organizational mission and work on behalf of the population served by X Non-profit Organization .
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Recommendations: Committees - Fundraising Development (Fundraising) Committee Mandate 1- To ensure that financial resources meet program needs* 2- To develop a plan to retain donors and develop new donors Tactics 1- Examine year over year donor gains and donor losses to gain an understanding of why donors leave, how to retain donors, and what donor categories are most susceptible to loss. 2- Implement a donor research process to identify prospective donors. 3- Initiate and develop donor cultivation programs which include participation by all board members. 4- Develop a plan to recognize annual donor giving and grow unrestricted annual contributions. 5- Participate in board development by identifying prospective board members. 6- Implement a program to build relationships with current grant making agencies and organizations. 7- Participate in researching grant-making organizations and identifying relationships and networks. 8- Develop intimate and ongoing knowledge of X Non-profit Organization’s education program and adult program. 9- Conduct an examination of current special events to determine expense ratios, time allocation, and event effectiveness. 10- Develop a plan to engage all board members in the process of donor cultivation, grant research, donor solicitation, special event planning and implementation. 11- Review calendar of donor solicitations vis-a-vis events and holiday appeal to determine effectiveness and potential change Timeframe 1- Immediate: Review donor gains, losses, and develop cultivation and retention strategies 2- Immediate: Examine special events for fundraising effectiveness 3- Immediate: Develop a program to build grantor relationship and research prospective grantors Prospective Committee Members Mary X., Chair; John B., David G., Kathy P., Jennifer Z., Committee Secretary * X Non-profit Organization’s main resource is consulting revenue followed by tuition. The Development Committee’s mandate is to work to ensure that supplemental revenues meet and exceed the expense gap.
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Recommendations: Committees – Audit, Risk, & Legal Audit, Risk, & Legal Committee Mandate 1- To develop, implement, and monitor internal controls 2- To oversee organizational financial audit 3- To assess organizational risks and develop plans to address risks
Tactics 1- Implement Effectiveness Assessment. 2- Participate in annual audit process including follow up to audit management letter, if any. 3- Participate on Corporate Compliance Committee. 4- Review and update by-laws. 5- Monitor and assure adherence to internal control policies (conflict of interest, whistleblower policy, code of ethics). 6- Assess organizational risks – financial, personnel, external – and develop plans to address risks. 7- Review emergency procedures related to programs, systems, facility. 7- Review and update insurance coverage for organizational liability and directors and officers liability, 8- Ensure timely and complete regulatory filings. 9- Develop procedure for vendor contract approvals. 10- Address and monitor any legal matters that could impact the organization. 11- Ensure process to review and compensate executive director. Timeframe 1- Immediate: Implement Effectiveness Assessment 2- Immediate: Develop plan to assess and address organizational risks 3- Immediate: Participate on Corporate Compliance Committee Prospective Committee Members Mike Q., Chair; John F., Joe C., Kate N., Gloria O., Committee Secretary 11
Survey Results The following 13 slides illustrate the results of the on-line survey completed by the Board of Directors of X Non-profit Organization . Most results are shown in bar chart form and in percentage terms of the total number of board members. Responses for bar chart questions range from high to low as arranged from left to right.
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Survey Results
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Survey Results
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Survey Results
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