Some of the basic responsibilities of the nonprofit board are:

• Policy Making
• Long Range Planning
• Financial stewardship
• Community outreach
• Fundraising
• Hiring/Evaluating CEO

One of the biggest challenges faced by the board and the CEO is answering the questions:
How are we doing?
and
How can we be more effective?

The most effective boards are ones that have a clear sense of the mission of the organization and fully understand their role in carrying out that mission.

Mather Associates works with boards and CEOs to help them develop their own criteria for an effective board. The next step is to evaluate how the board is performing based on those criteria. Then a plan is devised for continuous improvement and ongoing assessment. This approach to board assessment makes boards responsible for determining their own effectiveness and improving accordingly.

Some of the products developed in this process are:

• Board profiles
• Board officer job descriptions
• New member orientation programs/manual
• Nomination process guidelines and strategies
• Board Handbooks