Board and governance
Write a board self-assessment survey
Creates a way for your board to honestly check how it is doing.
Lower risk: public info only — Write the questions only; keep individual answers private.
Please note: This site is only a guide to help people understand. Consult your IT, security and/or privacy department for clarification.
Before you start, gather
Use [ORGANIZATION NAME] in the survey introduction. Have your board's committee list and the bylaws sections on meetings and duties open. Afterward, remove any statement about a committee or practice your board does not have. Keep individual responses out of the AI.
Starter prompt
Write a board self-assessment survey with about 20 statements that board members rate from 1 to 5, grouped into mission, meetings, finances, fundraising, relationship with the executive director and board culture. Add 3 open questions for [ORGANIZATION NAME]. Short introduction explaining that answers are anonymous. Do not cite benchmarks or national norms for board scores, and keep statements general rather than naming committees or policies we may not have; write MISSING INFO instead of guessing.
Paste the prompt into your AI tool first, then replace the placeholders with your own details. Don't use real names of clients or donors.
Open an AI tool
You are leaving this guide. Copy the prompt first, then open a tool. The link goes to the website of the company named on each link, in a new tab. That company's terms and privacy policy apply there. Paste the prompt in, then replace the placeholders with your own details. Don't enter real names or confidential details.
- Open Claude (Anthropic) (opens Anthropic's website in a new tab)
Anthropic documents pre-filled links only for the Claude Desktop app, not for the website, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open ChatGPT (OpenAI) (opens OpenAI's website in a new tab)
OpenAI does not document a link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Gemini (Google) (opens Google's website in a new tab)
Google does not document a link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Grok (SpaceXAI) (opens SpaceXAI's website in a new tab)
SpaceXAI (the company behind Grok) does not document a link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Amazon Bedrock (hosts Llama; needs an AWS account) (opens Amazon Web Services' website in a new tab)
Llama has no chat website of its own, and Meta's own assistant (Meta AI) now runs on a different Meta model. One host is Amazon Bedrock: sign in to AWS, open a playground, and paste the prompt.
- Open Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft) (opens Microsoft's website in a new tab)
Microsoft documents no link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in. The Copilot page shows a Sign in button, and you may need to sign in.
- Open Perplexity (Perplexity AI) (opens Perplexity AI's website in a new tab)
Perplexity documents no link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Mistral Le Chat (Mistral AI) (opens Mistral AI's website in a new tab)
Mistral renamed Le Chat to Vibe, at the same web address. Mistral documents no link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Givebutter (Givebutter): no website to open from here. Givebutter Magic works inside a Givebutter account; there is no public chat page.
- Grantable (Grantable): no website to open from here. Grantable's AI works inside a Grantable account; there is no public chat page.
Check the result
Pilot the survey with one or two board members and make sure results are kept anonymous.
What it might get wrong
Statements about committees, policies or practices your board does not have. Benchmark scores presented as national norms. Promises of privacy that a small board cannot keep.