Most nonprofit boards know they should review their executive director every year. Plenty don't. And when they do, it's often 3 board members filling in a form about someone they see for 2 hours a month.
Here's a process that works for small and mid-sized nonprofits, plus the 360 survey we use so the people who work with the ED every day get a say.
(Org360 was built by Nonprofit Builder, which works with 35+ foundations and more than 1,300 grantees. A lot of what's below comes from watching boards do this well, and badly.)
Who evaluates the executive director
The board does. The ED reports to the board as a whole, so the review belongs to it.
In practice, a small group runs it: the chair plus 1 or 2 others, often the executive or governance committee. They collect input, write the summary and lead the conversation. The full board approves the outcome.
What to evaluate
3 things, and keep them separate:
- Results. Did the organisation hit the goals the board and ED agreed at the start of the year? Funds raised, programmes delivered, the budget, the strategic plan milestones.
- Leadership. How did the ED get there? Do staff trust them? Do partners and funders want to keep working with them? Is the team stronger than last year?
- The board relationship. Does the ED keep the board informed, bring problems early and use the board well?
Boards are usually decent at the first and third. The second is where they're guessing, because they don't see it. That's what a 360 is for.
The process in 7 steps
1. Agree goals at the start of the year
You can't evaluate against goals nobody wrote down. In the first board meeting of the year, agree 3 to 5 goals with the ED and how you'll know they've been met.
2. Ask the ED for a self-assessment
A page is enough: what went well, what didn't, what got in the way, what they want to work on next year. It often turns out to be the most honest document in the whole process.
3. Collect board input
Each board member rates the goals and the board relationship. Keep it short. Ask them to skip anything they haven't seen first-hand.
4. Run a 360 with staff and partners
This is the step most boards skip and the one that tells them the most. Ask direct reports, a few other staff, 1 or 2 peers from partner organisations and a funder if the ED is happy with that. 8 to 12 people is a good number.
It has to be anonymous, and people have to believe it. More on that below.
5. Pull it together
The committee reads everything and writes a 1 to 2 page summary: what's going well, the 2 or 3 things to work on, and how the goals turned out.
6. Have the conversation
The chair and one other board member meet the ED. Share the summary in advance so it isn't an ambush. Spend more time on next year than on last year.
Many boards hold the pay discussion as a separate meeting. That way the ED can talk openly about weak spots without feeling it's a salary negotiation.
7. Agree a development plan
2 or 3 priorities for the next 6 to 12 months, each with something concrete to try. Then check in at the mid-year board meeting. A coach helps a lot here, if the budget allows. Some foundations fund exactly this kind of support for their grantees.
A free 360 template for executive directors
We use the Nonprofit Leader All-Rounder 360. It has 74 questions (72 rated across 15 areas, plus 2 open questions) and takes 12 to 15 minutes per person. The leadership items are used with Marshall Goldsmith's permission, adapted for nonprofits (beneficiaries and funders where the original talks about customers).
The 15 areas, with one example question each. Raters answer on a scale from 1 to 5.
- Thinking globally: Makes decisions that incorporate global considerations.
- Appreciating diversity: Recognizes the value of diverse views and opinions.
- Technological savvy: Successfully recruits people with needed technological expertise.
- Building partnerships: Builds effective alliances with other organizations.
- Sharing leadership: Strives to arrive at an outcome with others (as opposed to for others).
- Creating a shared vision: Clearly identifies priorities.
- Developing people: Provides developmental feedback in a timely manner.
- Empowering people: Trusts people enough to let go (avoids micromanagement).
- Personal mastery: Demonstrates effective emotional responses in a variety of situations.
- Constructive dialogue: Accepts constructive feedback in a positive manner (avoids defensiveness).
- Integrity: Avoids political or self-serving behavior.
- Leading change: Effectively translates creative ideas into results.
- Anticipating opportunities: Effectively anticipates future opportunities.
- Beneficiary satisfaction: Regularly solicits input from beneficiaries and funders.
- Relevance and quality: Achieves results that lead to long-term impact.
The 2 open questions:
- What does this person do that you particularly appreciate? (Please list two or three specific items.)
- What suggestions would you have for this person on how they could become even more effective? (Please list two or three specific items.)
74 questions is a lot. It's meant for the annual review. For a mid-year check, the 12-question Leadership Pulse takes about 5 minutes.
Making it safe for staff to be honest
Staff rating the person who decides their job are going to be careful. In a team of 10, they'll also worry that the ED can guess who wrote what.
For an ED review we'd use Org360's Highest confidentiality mode (on the Pro plan):
- The report only opens once at least 5 people have replied.
- Reminders go to the whole group, so nobody can see who hasn't answered yet.
- Written comments stay hidden. The ED reads an AI summary of them, so nobody's phrasing gives them away.
- Names of people and organisations are removed before any text reaches the AI.
Who sees the report
Decide this before you send the survey, and tell the raters.
In Org360 the person being reviewed owns their report and chooses who sees it. For an ED review, a setup that works: the ED and their coach see the full report, and the board gets the summary and the development plan. The ED keeps control of their own feedback, and the board has what it needs to do its job.
The report itself shows scores by area, where the ED rates themselves higher or lower than others do, the main strengths and growth areas, and a 6-month development plan. See a sample report.
Mistakes we see often
- Only reviewing when something's wrong. Then the review feels like a warning, and everyone gets defensive.
- Board members rating what they can't see. A board member who's never been to the office shouldn't score staff morale.
- Mixing the review and the pay rise. Hold them in separate meetings.
- No follow-up. If nobody mentions the development plan until next year's review, the ED learns that the review doesn't matter.
- Skipping it because things are going well. A good year is the easiest time to have an honest conversation about what's next.
Run it
The Nonprofit Leader 360 is free to read and copy. On Org360 you can send it in 8 languages, edit any question and get the report as soon as enough people reply.
Your first survey is free. Nonprofits get 40% off any annual plan: just sign up with your .org email. Start here.