Measure your board against the Not-for-Profit Governance Principles

The Not-for-Profit Diagnostic Tool is a supplementary service to our free-to-access document, The Not-for-Profit Governance Principles. It is designed to help not-for-profit (NFP) boards and leadership teams looking to advance their performance. This Tool enables an impartial and rigorous examination of how well a board’s practices measures against the ten NFP Governance Principles.

By identifying areas of strength and opportunities for improvement, the Tool can be used as a leaping-off point for board members’ professional development or for composing a strategy to increase the effectiveness of your governance practices.

What you can expect

The NFP Diagnostic Tool commences with an online survey to be completed by each member of your governing team, estimated to take one hour to complete. The questions are designed in parallel with the ten NFP Principles and their supporting practices, and are tailored to suit your board and organisation. They examine:

  1. Purpose and strategy
  2. Roles and responsibilities
  3. Board composition
  4. Board effectiveness
  5. Risk management
  6. Performance
  7. Transparency and accountability
  8. Stakeholder engagement
  9. Conduct and compliance
  10. Culture

Participants’ assessments and comments, while being kept anonymous, are compiled into a report by us and delivered to your board.

We offer an additional service to help your board understand and process the results of the Tool: a facilitated workshop, which discusses key aspects of the report and assists a board in formulating steps to address them.

How your board will benefit

The Tool’s independent report details both areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. It provides assurance regarding the good governance practices your board has already implemented, while allowing for honest and constructive conversation about problem areas and inefficiencies.

By gaining a clear and reliable picture of the quality of your governance, you will be able to work with assertion towards better leadership for your NFP.

Features of the NFP Diagnostic Tool

  1. Relevance – this Tool has been specifically designed for use by NFP boards.
  2. Confidentiality – survey responses are kept confidential to the individual and only reported in aggregated, non-attributable form.
  3. Benchmarking – over time, this Tool can be used as a means to measure progress against previous results.
  4. Consensus – the Tool provides collective clarity regarding governance strengths and opportunities for improvement.
  5. Time-efficient – the survey is estimated to require only an hour’s time from each board member.
  6. Assurance – use of the Tool provides stakeholders with a level of assurance that the board is committed to regular reflection and review against the free-to-access and transparent NFP Governance Principles.

Strengthening society through world-class governance.

We aim to be the independent and trusted voice of governance, building the capability of a community of leaders for the benefit of society.

© Copyright 2020 Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD)

version: 4.11.3.0