STEP 2

Now that you understand your role and that of your board, let's talk about the very first step to getting your board right: the board audit.

If you have a passive or disengaged board, the best step forward isn't to simply let them go and bring in new board members. Without first understanding why your board became passive or disengaged, you might bring in new board members who end up repeating the same dysfunction.

Plus, you might have some board members who are still worth their weight in gold, others who are willing to go all-in to support the mission, and a good number who are ready to step down and make space for new, committed people to join.

So, how do you get those who are valuable to step up, while letting go of those who are tired, gracefully? How do you understand why the board went cold in the first place, so you can make proper corrections moving forward?

This is where the board audit comes in.

The board audit not only helps you understand why your board became disengaged, it also helps you see how your leadership may have contributed to it, how your board members contributed, and the gaps within your board.

The re-engagement after the audit helps you have one-on-one conversations with board members. This allows you to get those ready to recommit to step up, gracefully let those who are tired step down, and get the entire board to agree to recruit new board members to complement the team.

The board audit is a four-stage process:

1. The Founder's Audit, or "The Mirror Test": The purpose of this stage is to help you see how your own leadership has impacted, limited, or elevated the board. It forces you to look at your own actions before asking your board to look at theirs.

2. The Complete Board Audit: The purpose of this stage is to help you see the gaps in your board when compared to what an ideal board should look like for an organization like yours. This is the objective part of the audit, where you assess the skills and experiences you have versus the skills you need.

3. The Board Self-Evaluation Audit: The purpose of this stage is to help board members self-evaluate their own performance and decide how they want to move forward. With this, you can know how to engage each board member and where their passions and skills truly lie.

4. The Board Re-engagement: This is where you put the insights from the audits into action through a structured, transparent process.

Below, you will find the audit forms for yourself and your board members, including email templates to help you manage the communication process of administering these forms.

Interpreting the Board Audit

After the board audit, you need to interpret both your response and the responses of your board members.

For your leadership response, look for specific patterns. For example, do you primarily lead by giving instructions, or by facilitating decisions? Do you take action independently, or do you consult the board? This will help you identify your own lapses and make corrections based on your new understanding of your role and that of your board.

For the individual responses from each board member, you can look through and make a concrete decision on the best way to engage each person moving forward. You'll base this on their skills, where they think they'd best fit, and their stated decision on how they want to move forward.

For the entire board, compile all the skills you presently have and identify the skills you need to fill the gaps. This will help you build a powerhouse team eager to create results.

To get a better, more in-depth understanding of the board, you can use AI to evaluate your response and that of the board to uncover deep insights. I have provided a prompt for you to use with ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or any of your favorite AI platforms. All you need to do is paste the audit responses in with the prompt, and it will analyze the data and give you a well-grounded interpretation of your board and a path forward.

You should then create a PDF with these analyzed insights, titled "The Present State of Our Board." This document should not be a raw data dump but a clear summary of key findings, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of the board. You will distribute this PDF to the entire board, along with a link for them to pick a one-on-one meeting time with you to discuss their individual response and another link to pick a time to meet as a board to discuss the state of the board as a whole.

By doing so, you have set the stage for successful re-engagement.

Board Re-engagement

One-on-one re-engagement: The goal of this meeting is to decide with each board member how they want to move forward—either by recommitting or stepping down gracefully. These conversations can be difficult, but you must always remember why you are holding the meeting: not to confront, but to figure out a path that works for everyone and for the best interest of the organization.

At the end of the meeting, the board member should either agree to step up and give their best to the organization or step down gracefully to make room for others. When I say "step down," they don't have to leave the organization entirely; they could transition to an advisory board member, a volunteer, a donor, or any role that works best for them.

Here are a couple of examples of how to approach this conversation:

- For a recommitment: Instead of saying, "You haven't been doing enough," you can say, "I see you have incredible experience in marketing, and the audit showed we have a gap there. How can we re-engage your skills to help us solve this?"

- For a graceful exit: Instead of saying, "We need you to leave," you can say, "Based on your self-evaluation, it seems like your time and energy are better spent elsewhere right now. We deeply appreciate your service. Is there a way you'd like to stay connected, perhaps as an advisor or a donor, to continue supporting the mission without the full board commitment?"

I have provided some more questions and templates to help you guide these conversations.

Board-wide re-engagement: The reason for this meeting is to help board members see the gaps within the board as a whole and agree to do something about it. "Doing something" could mean going out to recruit new board members, agreeing to step up as a board and take center stage as they're supposed to, and showing up with energy and eagerness to ensure the organization operates smoothly and impact is created consistently.

This should be a very open and transparent conversation, with you the founder speaking from the heart and educating the board on their true role, now that you fully understand it yourself. You can also share a copy of the section dedicated to board members within this resource before the meeting.

Let's end with this: your board is your most valuable asset. You can't create impact with a broken, disengaged, or passive board. To fix your board, you must get them to step up or step down gracefully, and the board audit process is how you do it. In the next section, we will talk about how to recruit new board members as a board. Carrying your board along is very important so you don't show up as a one-man show. Professionals want to see they're joining a real board, and that's how you make them respect your board institution.

 

Regarding the Forms & Templates:

The way these are set up is that they are templates for you to make a copy of and use within your own Google account. This ensures you have full editing control and privacy over your organization's data.

Here's how to access and set up your forms using Google Forms:

1. Access the Form Link: Click on the links provided below. These links will open the forms directly in an editable view.
2. IMMEDIATELY Make a Copy: As soon as the form opens, you must make a copy to save it to your own Google Drive. To do this, go to the three vertical dots (More options) in the top right corner of the form, then select "Make a copy.” Then close the original form link.
3. Rename and Customize: Your new copy will be saved in your Google Drive. You can then rename it (e.g., "Your Organization - Board Audit Form"), customize questions, add your branding, and modify it to perfectly fit your organization's needs.
4. Share Your New Form: Once you've customized and published it, you can share the link to your new copy of the form with your board members to collect their responses.

This process ensures that you have a completely separate, editable version of each form, and all responses collected will be stored directly in your Google account, safe and private.