Tools
Executive Director Core Competencies

Use ICL's list of Executive Director Core Competencies for self-assessment, development planning, job descriptions, or determining priorities when recruiting a new E.D. These Executive Director Core Competencies are also the outcomes to our popular
Executive Director Leadership Program.

Through our years working with organizations and their leaders, ICL has amassed a list of competencies that great organizational leaders embody.

 

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Board: Self-Assessment Benchmarks (All Volunteer Groups)

Use this tool to assess how well your board's practices compare to ideal nonprofit standards or benchmarks, identify important areas to strengthen, and set next steps for a more effective board. The board survey is one of seven sections in ICL's field-tested organizational assessment improvement tool, Benchmarking Workbook for All-Volunteer Groups.

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Support Networks

Worksheet from the Managing in Hard Times workbook to identify your sources of support as a leader and as a person.

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Sample Cash Flow Budget

Sample cash flow budget from the Managing in Hard Times workbook.

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Board Composition Grid

Complete or adapt this chart from the Managing in Hard Times workbook to determine how well your current complement of board members covers the professions, abilities, and constituencies you need.

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Sample Contingency Budget

Set of financial tools from the Managing in Hard Times workbook, including a sample contingency budget, bottom line financial position worksheet, and sample revenue and expense statement.

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Expectations for ED, Board, and President

This list of expectations will guide you on what a board should expect of its executive director, what the executive director should expect of a board, and what the board and the executive director should expect of its board president.

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Six Models of Cooperative Efforts

This two page handout gives an overview of the six different models of cooperative efforts, as profiled in ICL's publication, Working Together: A Toolkit for Cooperative Efforts, Networks, and Coalitions. Discuss the diagrams and comparison chart with partners to determine which model best fits your cooperative effort.

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Benchmarks for Coalitions

Use this self-assessment tool to determine how well your coalition or cooperative effort currently functions and to identify areas that are important to improve.

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Board Committee Plan Worksheet

Use this committee worksheet to ensure that each committee has a clear charge from the board of directors, including a board-approved action plan, expectations for reporting back to the board, and performance or success measures tied to the board's annual plan. 

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