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Board member survey template

Bring the board's own view to the annual retreat

Three questions for board members once a year: how well materials, meetings, the use of their skills and the clarity of their role are working, how many hours they give and what would make their contribution more valuable. Use it as it is or change any question, and Usertick reads every written answer for you.

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What this board member survey tells you

A board member survey asks the people who govern your organization how well the board works for them. This template takes about a minute: a grid for materials, meetings, use of skills and role clarity, a question on hours given each month and one open question on making their contribution more valuable.

It is written for a few weeks before the annual retreat, sent by Usertick to a list of board members, so the answers can shape the agenda. When members should answer without their name attached, share the survey's link in your own board email and turn on anonymous responses, which hold for link or QR code surveys.

Every written answer is read as it arrives and filed under a category from your list, such as communication or volunteering, with a type and a sentiment. Results shows a heat map of the four parts of board work with row averages and the share for each band of hours given.

In an emailAs a linkOn your websiteAs a conversation
Questions
3
Time to answer
About a minute
Written for
A few weeks before the annual retreat, by email to the board
Plans
Every plan, the free plan included

See it on every channel

The same template on your website, behind a link, in an email and as a conversation.

In an email

Send it from Usertick to a contact list, and a button in the email opens the survey on its own page. Usertick sends 50 emails a month on the free plan, or connect your own sender.

The 3 questions, one by one

What each question asks, why it is there, what it shows you and what to change.

Question 1 of 3 · Matrix · Optional

How well is each of these working for you as a board member?

Why ask it
The four rows cover what the chair and the executive director can change before next year: the board pack, how meetings run, whether skills are put to use and whether each member knows their job.
What you learn
A heat map shows each row from Poor to Excellent with its average, so a low score for Use of your skills next to a high one for Effectiveness of meetings points to how work is shared out. Select Poor or Fair in Clarity of your role to read what those members wrote.
Make it yours
Add a row for committees or fundraising expectations if your board has them.
Question 2 of 3 · Multiple choice

About how many hours a month do you give?

Why ask it
Hours given put the other answers in context: a member giving more than 10 hours a month who rates role clarity low needs a different conversation from one giving less than 2.
What you learn
A donut shows the share and count of each band. Select More than 10 to see how those members rated the use of their skills and the clarity of their role.
Make it yours
Change the bands if your board meets weekly or only each quarter, so most members fall in the middle bands.
Question 3 of 3 · Text · Optional

What would make your contribution more valuable?

Why ask it
The open question invites members to say what they would offer if asked, such as a skill, a contact or a committee they would lead. It also brings up frustration early, such as skills that go unused, while there is still time to act on it.
What you learn
Usertick reads each answer as it arrives, files it under a category and a theme from your list, and marks it as an idea, a complaint or a question.
Make it yours
Bring the themes to the retreat as an agenda item, and leave names out when the survey went out by anonymous link.

What the answers show

Results turns each question into numbers you can follow week by week.

About how many hours a month do you give?

The share of each answer with its count. Select an answer to narrow the whole page to those people and read what else they said.

How well is each of these working for you as a board member?

Each row's answers side by side, so the part that needs work stands out.

Every written answer, read for you

Each answer arrives with its category, theme, type and urgency, so the urgent ones reach your team first.

Use this template in four steps

From the template to the first answers.

  1. 1

    Open the template

    Sign up free and pick Board member check-in in the template gallery. It opens in a matching style, ready to change.

  2. 2

    Make the questions yours

    Reword any question, change the options, and add logic or more questions.

  3. 3

    Choose where it runs

    Show it on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.

  4. 4

    Publish and read the answers

    Answers arrive in Results and the inbox as people send them, each written one read and filed by Usertick.

Tips for this survey

Small choices that keep people answering and the answers useful.

  1. 01

    Close it a week before the retreat

    Send it three to four weeks before the retreat and set a closing date a week ahead of it, so the chair can build the agenda around the answers.

  2. 02

    Decide on names up front

    Tell members whether their answers carry their name. A Usertick email ties each answer to the member's contact; a shared link with anonymous responses on doesn't.

  3. 03

    Keep the same questions each year

    Run the same survey before every retreat, so this year's heat map can be read against the year before.

  4. 04

    Share the results in the retreat pack

    Export Results as a PDF for the retreat pack, with 3 exports a month on Free. Emails are masked and contact details are never printed.

Churn surveysNonprofit surveysEmail surveysThe board questions

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Frequently asked questions

Once a year, three to four weeks before the annual retreat or the board's planning meeting, so the answers can shape the agenda.

Yes, by link. Turn on anonymous responses and share the link in your own email: no user ID, traits or visitor ID are stored, which holds for link or QR code surveys. A survey sent through a Usertick email ties each answer to the recipient's contact.

Yes, on a plan that still keeps last year's answers: response history is 30 days on Free, 1 year on Starter, 2 years on Pro and 5 years on Business. Keep the same questions so the rows line up.

The chair and the executive director first, then the whole board at the retreat. Share the heat map and the themes, and leave out any answer that would point to one member.

Few enough to finish in a couple of minutes. This template asks three and takes about a minute; add a row to the grid before you add a new question.

Yes. Every template comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.

Yes. The template becomes your own survey, so reword any question, add or remove questions, and change the options and the logic. The gallery stays as it is.

Yes, from Starter. The template is written in US English. Add languages by hand or with AI translation, and each person sees the survey in their browser's language.

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