The Pursuit of Excellence board self-assessment tool helps family foundations understand their current performance as they strive for greater effectiveness. It allows you to compare and measure your practices with the broader field of family philanthropy and pinpoints areas of shared interest, helps you understand your strengths, and identifies areas for improvement, especially when it comes to family-specific aspects of governance.
Pursuit of Excellence is available at no cost to current NCFP Members and for $2,500 for nonmembers. Contact Jason Born for additional details.
The Pursuit of Excellence Process
1. Quickly assess your strengths and weaknesses
Your board members (and, in some cases, senior staff members) will complete a research-based, industry-tested, 15-minute questionnaire to review your current practices in grantmaking strategy, governance, and other family-specific aspects of managing a foundation.
2. Identify areas of shared interest and concern
Based on responses to the assessment tool, you’ll receive a comprehensive report providing instant insight into your foundation’s current strengths and opportunities, and areas where perceptions of effectiveness may differ across respondents.
3. Create an action plan for moving forward
Working with your chosen consultant*, you’ll meet with fellow board members to review the results of your assessment report and identify any areas needing improvement or a new approach. You’ll create a customized action plan for moving forward, with special access to the examples and practices of other family foundations that have faced similar challenges.
*If the foundation does not have a consultant who has been trained to use the tool, NCFP can provide a referral. Arrangements concerning consultant fees, scope of work, etc. are to be negotiated solely between the consultant and the foundation.
Frequently Asked Questions
View the full list of FAQ here.
Overview of the Assessment Categories
View an overview of the assessment categories here.
NCFP’s Pursuit of Excellence diagnostic tool is straightforward, comprehensive, and, most importantly, useful. In the short term, it helped our board guide the evolution of our grantmaking. Over the longer term, it has helped guide the recruitment of new board members and develop our understanding of the responsibilities we accept.
– William Graustein, Trustee, William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund