From self-assessments to peer evaluations, board evaluations are vital to ensure the board of directors is effectively functioning and fulfilling its responsibilities to the organization and its stakeholders.
Board member evaluations are not just about compliance or routine checks. They help pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, empower boards to be more effective and engaged, and foster a culture of continuous improvement and accountability.
While many boards know they should be routinely evaluating board performance, it’s often easier said than done. Board evaluations can be challenging without the right tools and resources to facilitate the process.
The good news is that specialized board evaluation tools like Aprio can help you in every step of the board evaluation process and gain actionable insights into board performance.
Read on to see the benefits of board evaluation tools and how they work. Or skip ahead to these sections:
- Why use board evaluation tools?
- Why not use online surveys for board evaluations?
- How Aprio’s board evaluation tools work
- Key considerations when choosing board evaluation tools
- Why customers choose Aprio for board evaluations
- Elevate your board’s performance with Aprio
Why use board evaluation tools?
Board evaluation tools are specifically designed to make it easier to create, collect and analyze self-assessments of individual board members as well as peer evaluations. They often include structured questionnaires, customization options and secure data collection and reporting.
While board evaluation tools help streamline the administrative efforts of board evaluations, board evaluation tools like Aprio help them stay objective and consistent. For example, board evaluation tools make it easy to clone past evaluations to help compare board performance year over year – a huge benefit for nonprofit organizations and their boards.
See this related post: How to run secure & effective board evaluations
Why not use online surveys for board evaluations?
While tools like Google Forms, TypeForm, and Survey Monkey are great options for gathering general feedback, they do not offer the same level of data protection or granular access capabilities as board management software. And they are not purpose-built for boards.
Board evaluation tools integrated within board software prioritize data security and confidentiality, offering a more robust and tailored solution for boards that need to safeguard sensitive board information.
For example, Aprio allows you to gather feedback anonymously without revealing who provided it, ensuring that respondents’ identities are protected. Administrators can create an assessment and remove their access to the final results. You can also choose to make surveys and assessments private or public and control specific user access to the final summary reports to maintain confidentiality.
Board software also makes it easy to archive past board evaluation results that may be needed for governance or regulatory compliance reporting.
How Aprio’s board evaluation tools work
Aprio’s board evaluation tools help boards improve the effectiveness of board evaluations and support every step of the assessment process. Collect real-time, honest feedback from board members and executives securely and efficiently with Aprio.
Here’s how it works:
- Easily create simple polls, annual evaluations or comprehensive assessments.
- Customize your board survey or assessment with headings and different question types.
- Choose to keep data private with anonymous data collection.
- Help assessments get completed on time with invites to participants to complete the evaluation with a due date.
- Re-run past evaluations and assessments helping you to compare data year over year.
- Ensure data stays in the right hands by controlling who can access the summary report.
- View trends over time by archiving past evaluations.
Key considerations when choosing board evaluation tools
Board assessment tools help make the evaluation process a lot easier to prepare and conduct board evaluations, but what should you look for when comparing these board tools and solution providers? Consider these factors:
- User-friendly: Look for a solution that’s user-friendly for both board members and administrators to use. It should be simple for board administrators to create evaluations and easy for board members to complete.
- Security: Look for solutions with robust security measures including granting authorized access for specific evaluations.
- Customization and flexibility: Check how you can customize your evaluations and how it can be adapted to various evaluation types, from simple polls to long-form assessments.
- Reporting: Ask how results are presented and how the solution assists with compliance and governance documentation such as auto archiving.
- Training and support: Understand what training will be provided on using the tools and what customer support you can count on later if you need help, for both administrators and board members.
Why customers choose Aprio for board evaluations
Aprio stands out in the industry for providing an easy-to-use secure board portal that works the way a board really works. We ensure your board’s evaluation process is not only efficient but also secure.
Customers ultimately choose Aprio for:
- Ease of use: Compared to other solutions, Aprio’s board evaluation tools are straightforward for both board admins and directors to learn and use. We make it easy to create simple polls to long-form board evaluations and analyze the results.
- Unmatched expert support: From day one, we help you set up your board software and start using it with personalized group and one-on-one training. And whenever you call, you’ll talk to a real person who knows firsthand the stresses and urgencies of board meeting management and communication —24/7, 365 days a year.
- Industry-leading security: Not all board evaluation tools offer the same data protection. We offer layers of advanced security and give you the power to control access to sensitive board data.
“New directors who haven’t seen Aprio before are immediately impressed with how quickly they can get up to speed. Aprio keeps them looped in, easily, all year round, and they offer helpful support that’s flexible, no matter how tech-savvy a director is.” – Your Neighbourhood Credit Union
Elevate your board’s performance with Aprio’s board evaluation tools
Board evaluation tools are not just time savers, they are investments in the future of your organization’s governance and success. Aprio’s board evaluation tools can help empower your corporate or nonprofit board with actionable insights to improve board performance, ensure alignment with your overall strategic plan, and promote transparency in your board meetings.
See the benefits of our board portal software firsthand. Take the first step: talk to our sales team today.
