What Makes the Board Excellence Assessment Different?
The Board Excellence Assessment uses a proven governance excellence framework and takes an innovative approach at turning data into insights, rich discussion, and meaningful action.
Let's talk about the final report for your board.
It's not a scorecard. Not a spreadsheet. A professional, confidential PDF that surfaces what your board most needs to discuss.
What does the BEA report include?
Key findings up front, discipline-by-discipline scores, anonymous comments, and specific areas of disagreement. Structured to move your board from reading to conversation.
How does the BEA show my board's governance scores?
Scores are shown discipline by discipline, not as a single overall number, so you can see exactly where your board is strong and where attention is needed. We also intentionally display data visually instead of using numbers or red-green-yellow indicators. Our brains are wired to look for "number go up" and miss the nuance; this report is designed to provide data and draw board members into the insights.
How does the report show where board members disagree?
Response distributions are shown visually for each question, so it's immediately clear where board members are aligned and where they're not. Those gaps are highlighted throughout the report so your debrief focuses where it matters most.
Who can see our board's assessment results?
Delivered as a private PDF with lifetime access, not a shared dashboard, not visible to staff.
How do we use the report in a board debrief?
Structured for a 2–3 hour board debrief: review findings, identify your top focus areas, leave with concrete commitments.
How much does the Board Excellence Assessment cost?
One assessment, one report, one price ($1,950 USD). Set up free, only pay when you're ready to generate the report.
Let's talk about the assessment process itself.
Set up in minutes, complete on any device. The BEA fits your board, not the other way around.
Does the BEA work for nonprofit and church boards, not just corporate?
Yes. The BEA is designed for corporate, nonprofit, and church boards. Questions, language, and terminology all adapt to match your governance reality.
What kind of terminology can be customized?
We give you flexibility to choose the term (either from a list or your own) for: what you call your company/organization, what you call your senior staff person, the word you use for "board" and "board member", the group of people that "own" the organization (i.e. shareholders, members, etc), and how you bring new board members onto the board.
How many board members can participate?
While we recommend boards stay within the 5-9 board member range (good engagement from everyone plus a good mix of expertise and perspective), we recognize board size can be quite a bit outside the norm. There is no minimum or maximum board member participants for the BEA! We don't charge by seat, and the results will be illuminating regardless of board size. Larger boards means more data, so honing in on the results to get rich discussion may be extra important, and we encourage a skilled facilitator leads that debrief.
My board members aren't very tech-savvy, will this assessment work for them?
Directors receive a unique link by email and respond directly in their browser. No account, no password, no app to install. If they can open an email and click a link, they can complete the assessment.
Are board member responses kept anonymous?
Responses are never attributed, not even to the administrator. Comments appear anonymously and in random order. That said, the end goal is to talk about the real (and sometimes uncomfortable) dynamics. Nothing (apart from your own wording, perhaps) will indicate who submitted which responses, but we do encourage boards to foster the psychological safety that enables each director to choose to "own" their comments in discussion.
Is the Board Excellence Assessment based on a governance model?
Yes. The BEA is built on the Governance Excellence Model (GEM), a framework developed over 20+ years of governance practice. This is not a generic survey repurposed for boards, but a purpose-built tool designed by experienced governance practitioners.
How much time does it take to administer the BEA?
Total administrator time from setup to report is under 30 minutes: about 5 minutes to set up, a moment to send reminders if needed, and less than a minute to generate the report once responses are in.
Can we run the assessment more than once?
Yes, and we encourage it! The BEA is designed to be run annually. Record your action commitments after each assessment, run it again the following year, and see the difference your follow-through made. Returning boards receive 50% off their next assessment (within 18 months).
We don't offer comparison reports—on purpose. Our stance is that setting meaningful action commitments and following through on them is a far stronger metric than comparing numbers year over year. Two simple questions: Did you accomplish your last action commitments? Now, what's the most meaningful action you can commit to this time?
Great Governance Doesn't Happen by Default
It takes hard work, but we can make it easier.
For corporate boards
For nonprofits
For churches
The board understands and oversees the company's most significant risks, including those that are emerging or uncomfortable to discuss.
The board provides oversight of the organization's policies and internal controls to identify and govern significant risks.
The board has effective processes to understand and oversee significant risks facing the church.
Questions adapt to your organization's language
Anonymous responses
We spend too much time on operational updates and not enough on strategic direction.
Board members aren't always clear on the boundaries between governance and management.
I feel like honest concerns rarely get raised during actual meetings.
Responses anonymized—no attribution, no attribution anxiety
Response distribution
Strongly
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Where perspectives differ is where the conversation starts
Built for Your Context
Questions adapt to corporate, nonprofit, or church boards. Your terminology. Your governance reality. Make it feel custom-made for your board members.
Anonymous Input, Real Conversations
Responses are anonymized and presented without attribution. That creates the conditions for honest input—and for the candid conversations your board may have been putting off.
Discussion-Focused
Visual data shows patterns, but we emphasize the comments and differences in perspective that reveal where your board needs to focus.
Ready to Equip Your Board for Excellence?
Set up your board, invite members, and launch your assessment. Only pay when everyone's responded and you're ready to generate the report.