The Arboretum Foundation would like to thank you for the opportunity to participate in the Board Effectiveness Assessment survey this spring (2010). The self-assessment exercise was incredibly thorough and professional and our organization has benefited greatly from this exercise.

This is the first time our board has conducted a board assessment. We began talking about the need to do this work several years ago and we just couldn't seem to get it organized. Having the opportunity to participate in an existing survey process was perfect for us. The report gave our board an opportunity to look at the organization from another viewpoint.   

At our May Board Meeting, we used the results to develop strategies for improving board engagement. We broke into small groups to discuss what energizes board members at meetings and what doesn't work well. We also tackled how to structure the Executive and Full Board committees as well as looking at what to tackle first in making our board as effective as possible. The small group discussion was very successful and it is now part of our board culture.

Thanks again for making this process such an enriching and satisfying one. We gained invaluable knowledge on how to move our board forward.

The survey and the system for collecting data were appreciated by our people, many of whom mentioned to me (unsolicited) that they thought it was a well-written, well-organized survey that covered the sorts of items that they thought were important to assess. 

The online format was easy to access and to complete and a number of people at our last meeting mentioned that it took them less than 15 minutes to complete, which they appreciated.

Also, as the person who handled the coordinator role, I found that aspect of the system to be well designed and easy to manage.

Our Society has worked hard in the last few years to develop policies and processes that would improve the way we govern ourselves. Part of that process is self-assessment to ensure we are performing as effectively as possible, including Board and Staff roles that are clear and separate, a committee structure that works to achieve the goals and vision we have identified, and directors who know what they are doing, feel well prepared for the task, and have faith in the leadership. Board Check-up uses a well-designed and tested questionnaire that covers all of the areas of Board performance that are important to us. It's quick and simple to use and the results are analyzed and summarized for us. It's a great tool for checking our performance and zeroing in on areas for improvement. It sure makes my job easier!

Thank you for providing this well designed and efficient online tool. The reports you provided ointed precisely at the stronger and weaker performance elements of the board in our organisation. This provided excellent material for our retreat and we are planning to repeat it annually to measure the improvements that we are planning to initiate.

I had feedback from our board members via e-mail that the survey was excellent and had really made them think about issues that they had not considered before.  In short, a big thumbs up!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to participate in this survey process. The instant report feature is amazing - very thorough and helpful. Our survey validated the work we have done to improve our performance and the work we have yet to do.

Thanks so much for your assistance in analyzing our board capacity and effectiveness.  The survey highlighted areas of congruence, but more importantly, areas where we had split opinions and perspectives.  The information from the survey allowed us to objectively discover areas of disagreement and provided us an opportunity to deal with the issues. We are a much better board as a result of this exercise. 

Board Checkup helped us intentionally align governance and management for greater organization impact.