Assessment of the Chief Executive FAQ

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While the chief executive is typically surrounded by people — board members, staff members, funders, and stakeholders — leaders of organizations are often isolated from information about their own performance. The board assessment of the chief executive is one of the most important — and sometimes the only — vehicles for the executive to obtain input into his or her performance. It is a critical process for the executive’s and the organization’s success, and an essential function of the nonprofit board.

Please click here to view our full process and timeline. We estimate that it will take on average one month from the date of purchase to the date the facilitator receives your organization’s final report to conduct an Assessment of the Chief Executive (ACE) with BoardSource.

Pricing for our ACE tool varies on your membership with BoardSource.  To purchase the ACE tool, please click here.

$0-$699 Organizational Members | $899 Individual Members | $1,199 Nonmembers

To learn more about our membership offerings, please click here or reach out to our member relations team at [email protected].

No. It is the policy of BoardSource that all individual identifying information provided by survey participants remains confidential. Names and e-mail addresses provided to BoardSource are not, under any circumstances, shared with any other companies or organizations. Please review the Privacy Policy here.

No. Your answers are kept confidential. They are submitted directly to BoardSource and individual answers cannot be accessed by anyone on your board. Only the aggregate answers are shared with your board via a data report. Answers to open-ended questions will be grouped together in random order in the data report. The text will appear exactly as it was entered, but it will not be attached to specific participants. Please review our assessments privacy policy here.

No. The facilitator cannot link responses to individuals. The facilitator, however, is given information about who on the board has completed the assessment. Please review our assessments privacy policy here.

Often, performance on the organization’s goals (as identified in the mission, strategic plan or annual plan) are used as a de facto assessment of the chief executive. If the organization meets its goals, the chief executive is seen as having met his or her annual goals as well. While the overall performance of the organization is a critical aspect of the chief executive’s leadership role and should be considered in the assessment process, there are other skills and talents that go into the leadership and management of the organization that should be taken into account as well. These leadership and management functions are a primary focus of the ACE tool.

The outcomes of the assessment are one critical point in the discussion of the chief executive’s performance and in decisions about adjustments to the chief executive’s compensation. However, there is no “magic formula” that correlates specific ratings on the assessment to specific changes to compensation. Compensation decisions are complex and need to take into account the organization’s policies and approach to compensation, the terms of the chief executive’s contract, length of tenure, market-based benchmarking data, and specific performance metrics or bonus criteria, in addition to the outcomes of the assessment process.

The chief executive needs regular feedback from the board on his or her performance, therefore we believe that the assessment process should be completed annually.

Your deadline for completing this assessment is included in the e-mail sent to you. We estimate it will take each individual around 30-45 minutes to complete the assessment.

If you wish, you can begin the assessment and then return to complete it at a later time. Your answers are saved every time you move to the next page. To have your answers included in the data report, you must complete the entire assessment before the deadline date. You will find the deadline date for the survey in the e-mail you received.

The white bar at the top of the page will turn blue as you progress through the survey so that you can track your progress.

When you see “We thank you for your time spent taking this survey. Your response has been recorded”, you can feel confident that your survey has been successfully submitted. Below this confirmation language, you will see a link on the right to download a PDF of your responses. We encourage you to click the link to download the PDF and save for future reference.

Yes. If the survey deadline has not already passed, you can change or edit your answers. Please contact a BoardSource Assessment Services Representative at 202.349.2583 or [email protected] and request that we reopen your survey. If you wish to change a response after the deadline has passed, you must contact your organization’s facilitator to inquire about the possibility of doing so.

Typically, the assessment process is led by the one of the board officers (the Chair, the immediate past chair, or the chair of the Governance or similar committee).

The ACE is a board governance responsibility. Therefore, the primary group of respondents should be limited to board members. In some cases, depending on the size, complexity and culture of the organization, it may be appropriate to obtain input from the senior staff who have a closer working relationship with the chief executive and may be able to provide important insight into his or her performance.

We recommend that the chief executive complete the assessment and the ACE provides a vehicle for this. The ACE report presents the chief executive’s responses separately from the board’s responses, enabling the board to compare and contrast their perceptions from those of the chief executive. In addition, many chief executives also prepare a self-assessment narrative highlighting key aspects of their performance over the past year.

The ACE tool is a board-run undertaking designed to carry out its governance role of ensuring that the chief executive is effectively carrying out his or her responsibilities. Typically, only board members and the chief executive participate in this process. While the results of the ACE have clear implications for the chief executive’s professional development, the ACE is primarily a vehicle for performance review. A 360 assessment is a tool for leadership and professional development and typically involves the person’s supervisor, peers and direct reports. The 360 assessment process is typically undertaken and “owned” by the individual being assessed. The individual is free to accept, reject or ignore the feedback received. A 360 assessment is primarily a vehicle for performance development and enhancement.

We do allow customizations to be made to the survey. There is a $250.00 fee associated with this offering.  Please reach out to [email protected] for more details.

As an important note: There are limitations to the customization that can be made to the survey. Changes to the survey will result in changes to the final report as well.

Yes. We allow for segmentation within the final report for the ACE. There is a fee of $250.00 associated with each requested report segmentation. Your partnering BoardSource assessment services account representative will be able to assist you with payment so please reach out to them at [email protected] to let them know of your interest.

Yes, we offer year-to-year report for the ACE. There is a fee of $250.00 associated with a year-to-year report. Your partnering BoardSource assessment services account representative will be able to assist you with payment so please reach out to them at [email protected] to let them know of your interest.