Daring to Lead » policy http://daringtolead.org A national study of nonprofit executive leadership Fri, 03 Oct 2014 20:06:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Boards http://daringtolead.org/boards/boards/ http://daringtolead.org/boards/boards/#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:11:33 +0000 Marla Cornelius http://daringtolead.org/?p=767

These are the key findings from Daring to Lead 2011 related to boards of directors. For more information, download The Board Paradox: Daring to Lead Brief 3.

Board Performance—More than two-thirds (68%) of executives were somewhat satisfied with their boards’ performance, and of those nearly 20% were very satisfied.  The remaining respondents–nearly a third–were either very unsatisfied or only a little satisfied. Among all respondents, the largest number (48%) were only somewhat satisfied with board performance.Executive Satisfaction with Board Performance, Daring to Lead 2011

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of executives were very confident that their own efforts could influence their boards’ performance.  Just 6% reported that they had no confidence in their ability to do so.

Board Chair Relationship—Most respondents felt positive about their partnership with their board chair. A majority (52%) described the relationship as functional, and a large number (38%) described the relationship as exceptional. Only a small minority (9%) reported a dysfunctional relationship.

Performance Evaluation—Forty-five percent (45%) of executives did not have a performance evaluation last year.  Among the majority of executives who did have a review within the past year, just a third (32%) said it was either somewhat useful or very useful, with the remaining two thirds reporting that it was only a little useful (53%) or not useful at all (15%).

Board Support—Nearly three-quarters (73%) of executives reported strong support from board members in the area of financial oversight. However, nearly half (44%) have not achieved 100% giving.Executives Reporting Significant Board Support, Daring to Lead 2011

Executives reported lower participation rates than in other areas of board responsibility, with the exception of board members making a personal contribution (71%).  Fewer than half of respondents reported strong board member participation in donor identification and prospecting (48%), asking for gifts (42%), and donor cultivation (41%).

Board Participation in Fundraising, Daring to Lead 2011

 

Time Spent on Board Work— The majority of respondents (56%) reported spending ten hours or less per month on board-related activities which translates to just six percent of a full-time executive director’s time. Only about 17% of respondents reported spending 20% or more of their time on the board.Hours per Month Executives Spend on Their Boards

Among executive directors who spend ten hours or less per month on board-related matters, only 17% said they were very satisfied with the board’s performance.  Of those who spent more than ten hours per month working with the board, 23%—nearly a quarter—were very satisfied with board performance.  More than a third of respondents (36%) said they needed to spend more time on the board.

Executives who spend more than 10 hours per month working with the board were more likely to have had a performance evaluation within the past 12 months, and were much more likely to report that the evaluation was very useful.

Hours per Month Spent on Board Work and Satisfaction with Board

 

Policy & Advocacy — Eighty-five (85%) of executives spend some time on policy and advocacy related activities.  Of those, 47% believe they do not spend enough time in this area. Regardless of the mission type of an organization, if it receives a majority of its revenue from government contracts, the executive was significantly more likely to be engaged in policy activities. Four percent (4%) of executives leading majority government funded organizations said they did not need to spend time on policy and advocacy, compared with 18% leading non-majority government funded organizations.

Executives’ on Boards—Forty-nine percent (49%) of executives were currently serving on a board of directors for an organization other than their own.

Download the full report PDF

 

Note: Other studies have found that executives who spend 20% of their time on board-related activity have high rates of satisfaction with board performance.

 

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