Board Effectiveness Assurance

audienceexperiencekeywordsOne or more of the following reasons may prompt the independent assurance of governance effectiveness.

  • Regulation or recommended practices increasingly emphasize formal and rigorous governance evaluations, including evaluations periodically facilitated by independent third parties, assurance of anonymity, disclosure of outcomes, and an evaluation statement (with attestation or advisory resolution on the evaluation statement as possible emerging best practices);
  • Inclusion of board assessment in the mandate of the board or governance committee;
  • The strategic planning and risk management processes may identify opportunities or needs for assessing and improving governance;
  • A director, new board chair, or executive may recommend (and wish to participate in) a board evaluation;
  • A member of the organization, shareholder, funding agency, donor, creditor, insurer or other stakeholder may request disclosure of board evaluation practices and outputs or the board may wish to enhance its credibility (or decrease its costs) with one or more of these groups;
  • A national or regional not-for-profit board or association may recommend evaluations for chapter or member organizations;
  • Directors may request feedback in order to develop and improve their effectiveness and impact; and
  • The media, expert scrutiny or litigation against the organization and its officers and directors may have disclosed governance shortcomings.

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