How to Create a Board Development Plan: Step-by-Step Guide [+Template]

Key takeaways

• A nonprofit board development plan is a strategic framework for recruiting, onboarding, training, and evaluating board members — aligned with the organisation’s mission and governance needs.
• The 7-step process: Assess current board → Define ideal profile → Build recruitment pipeline → Orient new members → Provide ongoing board training and development → Evaluate performance → Leverage technology.
• A board skills matrix is the foundation of any nonprofit board development plan — it maps current expertise against organisational needs and identifies priority recruitment gaps.
• Individual board member development and evaluation should cover 5 criteria: attendance, committee participation, fundraising contribution, strategic input, and governance compliance.
• Review the plan annually; update it after significant board turnover, a strategic plan refresh, or a major change in the organisation’s funding landscape.
• Nonprofit board development is broader than board training — it encompasses the full lifecycle from recruitment through retention and succession.

A nonprofit board development plan is the strategic document that turns board recruitment, orientation, training, and evaluation from ad hoc activities into a managed process. Without one, nonprofits fill board vacancies reactively, onboard directors inconsistently, and have no systematic way to identify and address the skill gaps that limit governance effectiveness.

This guide walks through the full 7-step process for creating a nonprofit board development plan, including a sample board development plan template structure, a sample skills matrix, an evaluation framework for individual board member development, and a complete template you can adapt for your organisation.

What is board development?

Board development is the ongoing strategic process — typically overseen by the board development committee or governance committee — through which an organisation recruits, onboards, trains, evaluates, and retains effective board members over time. It connects board composition decisions to the organisation’s mission, strategic plan, and governance requirements.

A nonprofit board development plan is the written document that captures this process: who is on the board, what they bring, what the board is missing, and how the organisation will close those gaps over time.

Board development vs. board training: Board training refers to specific educational activities — governance workshops, legal compliance briefings, financial literacy sessions. Board development for nonprofits is the broader ongoing process that encompasses recruitment, orientation, training, evaluation, and retention. Training is one component of development, not a synonym for it.

The development plan answers four governance questions the board development committee should be able to answer at any time: Who is on our board and what do they bring? What skills or perspectives are we missing? How do we find and develop those people? And how do we know if our board is performing well?

Building an effective governing board is distinct from building an advisory board — which serves a different function and operates under different governance rules.

Why nonprofit board development matters

A well-executed nonprofit board development plan brings measurable governance benefits. A poorly developed board is one of the most common sources of nonprofit failure — not through misconduct, but through inadequate oversight, skill gaps, and disengaged directors who were never properly oriented or supported.

The seven most important reasons to invest in a structured nonprofit board development plan:

• Clarifies roles and responsibilities — directors who understand what governance means in practice govern; those who don’t drift into management or passive rubber-stamping
• Builds a cohesive board team — onboarding, retreats, and shared board training and development create the relationships that make difficult governance conversations possible
• Signals institutional commitment to improvement — a culture of learning is a board recruitment asset; strong candidates choose organisations that invest in their directors
• Motivates and retains good members — directors who feel supported through structured board member development stay longer and contribute more
• Improves governance decisions — better-prepared directors make better strategic and fiduciary decisions
• Strengthens diversity and inclusion — a structured board recruitment process with an explicit skills matrix reduces the tendency to recruit from the same networks
• Supports succession continuity — a plan integrated with board succession planning prevents leadership vacuums when experienced directors rotate off

How to create a board development plan: 7 steps

Step 1. Assess your current board

Before identifying what you need, document what you have. Conduct a board self-assessment covering individual skills, governance knowledge, engagement levels, and demographic composition. Use a skills matrix (see section 4 below) to map current expertise against the categories your organisation needs most.

• Survey all current directors on their professional background, sector expertise, and governance experience
• Review attendance records, committee participation, and fundraising contributions for the past 12 months
• Identify directors whose terms are expiring in the next 1–2 years
• Note skills and networks that will be lost when those terms expire

Step 2. Define the ideal board profile

Based on the assessment, define what your board should look like — not just who is currently on it. The ideal profile is shaped by your strategic plan: if your organisation is entering a major capital campaign, you need more fundraising expertise and major donor networks; if you are expanding services, you need more programme delivery and regulatory knowledge.

• Define 3–5 priority skill gaps the next board recruitment cycle should address
• Set explicit diversity targets for professional background, sector, gender, and community representation
• Define the personal attributes that make directors effective on your specific board — not generic “board qualities”

Step 3. Build a board recruitment pipeline

Board recruitment should be ongoing — not triggered by vacancies. The board development committee should maintain a pipeline of potential candidates who match the ideal profile, so that when a position opens you have a shortlist ready rather than starting from scratch.

• Brief current directors on the priority gaps and ask each to identify 2–3 candidates from their networks within 60 days
• Engage your fundraising committee and advisory bodies as board recruitment sources
• Consider board candidate programmes through local nonprofit associations or community leadership pipelines
• Conduct structured interviews — assess candidates against the ideal profile, not just general impressions

Step 4. Orient new board members

New director orientation is the highest-leverage investment in nonprofit board development. Directors who receive structured onboarding become productive faster, stay longer, and engage more meaningfully. Directors who receive no formal orientation take 12–18 months to reach full effectiveness — if they ever do.

• Provide a written board orientation kit: governance overview, bylaws, strategic plan, recent financials, committee structure, and board member handbook
• Schedule a 1:1 meeting with the board chair and the executive director in the first 30 days
• Assign a board mentor — an experienced director who can answer informal questions
• Include a facility or programme visit so new directors understand what the organisation actually does
• Ensure completion of conflict of interest disclosure and any required governance training before the first board meeting

Step 5. Provide ongoing board training and development — board development best practices

Board training and development is not a one-time event at onboarding — it is a continuous programme of board development activities. Even experienced directors benefit from governance refreshers, sector updates, and education on emerging risks and regulations. These ongoing board development activities are among the highest-return investments a nonprofit board can make.

• Include a 15–20 minute education segment in at least 4–6 board meetings per year
• Host an annual board retreat for strategic planning and relationship-building
• Budget for 1–2 directors per year to attend external governance conferences
• Provide targeted board training and development when the organisation’s context changes — new regulations, new programmes, major fundraising initiative
• Track training completion and share records in the board portal

Step 6. Evaluate individual and board performance

Without board member evaluation, the development plan has no feedback loop. Annual performance assessment — at both the individual director level and the full board level — identifies what is working, who needs support, and who may need to be asked to step down.

• Conduct annual board self-assessments using a structured survey
• Review individual board member evaluation against the 5-criterion framework (see section 5 below)
• The board chair meets privately with each director to discuss their performance and development goals
• Use board member evaluation results to inform the next cycle’s board recruitment priorities and training plan

Step 7. Leverage board management technology

Board management software like Ideals Board supports every phase of the nonprofit board development plan — from storing orientation materials and tracking attendance, to running secure digital votes and maintaining the governance document library. Technology does not replace development planning, but it removes the administrative barriers that cause board development activities to be deprioritised.

Board skills matrix: how to build and use one

A board skills matrix is a table that maps each director’s expertise against the skill categories your organisation needs. It is the most practical tool in any nonprofit board development plan for making board composition visible and driving evidence-based board recruitment decisions.

Below is a sample board development plan skills matrix for a mid-sized nonprofit. Adapt the skill categories and member columns to your organisation.

Skill / Expertise area	Director A	Director B	Director C	Director D	Director E	Director F	Gap?
Financial management / CPA	✓	—	—	✓	—	—	No
Legal / nonprofit law	—	✓	—	—	—	—	No
Technology / cybersecurity	—	—	Part.	—	—	—	⚠ Gap
Fundraising / major gifts	—	—	✓	—	✓	—	No
Marketing / communications	—	—	—	—	Part.	—	⚠ Gap
Programme / sector expertise	—	—	—	✓	—	✓	No
HR / talent management	—	—	—	—	—	Part.	⚠ Gap
Government / policy relations	—	✓	—	—	—	—	No

In this example, the board has gaps in technology/cybersecurity, marketing/communications, and HR. These three areas should be the explicit priorities for the next board recruitment cycle, communicated clearly to all current directors so they can activate their networks accordingly.

Board member evaluation framework

Individual board member evaluation is one of the most avoided aspects of board governance — and one of the most important. Without it, underperforming directors are retained out of politeness, and the nonprofit board development plan cannot improve because it has no feedback mechanism.

The following 5-criterion framework provides a practical, consistent basis for annual board member evaluation:

Criterion	What to measure	Benchmark
Meeting attendance	% of board meetings attended in the past 12 months	75% minimum; 90%+ expected
Committee participation	Active membership and attendance on at least one standing committee	Active on at least 1 committee; attends 80%+ of committee meetings
Fundraising contribution	Personal giving (100% board giving is the standard); donor introductions made; personal asks completed	100% board participation in giving; minimum 2 donor introductions per year
Strategic input quality	Engagement in board discussions; preparation evident from pre-reading; quality of questions and contributions	Qualitative assessment by board chair; peer feedback optional
Governance compliance	Conflict of interest disclosure current; required training completed; board confidentiality maintained	100% compliance required; non-compliance is a governance matter, not a development matter

Board member evaluation results should be discussed privately between the board chair and each director — not shared with the full board or staff. The purpose is development, not discipline. Where performance consistently falls below benchmark, the board chair should have a direct conversation about expectations and, if necessary, whether continued board membership is appropriate.

Sample board development plan template: 7-section structure

The following sample board development plan outlines the seven sections every nonprofit board development plan template should contain. Each section is a standalone document or clearly defined portion of the plan. Use this as the basis for your own nonprofit board development plan template.

Section	What to include
1. Mission alignment	How the board’s composition and board development activities connect to the organisation’s current strategic plan and mission priorities. Updated when the strategic plan is refreshed.
2. Skills matrix	Current board skills inventory mapped against organisational needs. Identifies gaps and priority board recruitment areas. Updated annually or after significant turnover.
3. Recruitment targets	Number of open or anticipated vacancies; specific skill gaps to fill; diversity targets; candidate pipeline list with names, background notes, and contact status. Target timeline for next board recruitment cycle.
4. Orientation checklist	Complete list of onboarding activities and materials for new directors: documents to review, meetings to attend, training to complete, people to meet. With target completion timeframes.
5. Training calendar	Annual schedule of board development activities: in-meeting education segments, retreats, external conference opportunities, compliance training. With assigned owners and budgets.
6. Evaluation criteria	The 5-criterion board member evaluation framework (or your organisation’s equivalent); the self-assessment survey template; the board chair review process; timeline for annual evaluations.
7. Technology plan	How board management software supports each phase of nonprofit board development: document access for orientation, attendance tracking, digital voting, communication security. Platform name, access instructions, and training resources.

Board member development plan: supporting individual directors

In addition to the organisation-level nonprofit board development plan, high-performing boards also maintain individual board member development plans — brief documents that capture each director’s goals, learning priorities, and commitments for the year.

An individual board member development plan typically covers:

• Role focus — which committee, which portfolio, which specific responsibilities the director is taking on this year
• Development goals — what skills or governance knowledge the director wants to develop through targeted board development activities, and what activities will support that
• Fundraising commitments — personal giving intention, donor introductions planned, specific asks committed to
• Network activation — which 2–3 people from their network the director will introduce to the organisation or to the board recruitment pipeline
• Review date — when the director and board chair will review progress through the annual board member evaluation (typically at year-end)

These individual plans are managed by the board chair and kept confidential — they are not shared with the full board or with staff. They are the mechanism that transforms the organisation-level nonprofit board development plan into specific individual commitments.

How board management software supports nonprofit board development

Purpose-built board management software like Ideals Board supports the full nonprofit board development lifecycle — from board recruitment and orientation through ongoing board training and development and annual board member evaluation.

• Orientation — all onboarding documents, bylaws, policies, and historical minutes stored in a secure library accessible from any device; new directors have everything they need from day one
• Attendance tracking — the platform automatically records meeting attendance and committee participation, generating the data needed for annual board member evaluation
• Digital voting — board votes recorded with timestamp and full audit trail; roll call votes captured automatically
• Document security — role-based access control ensures directors only see what they should; governance policies, personnel matters, and financial documents are appropriately restricted
• Communication — secure messaging keeps board discussions off personal email accounts
• Training records — completed board training and development activities tracked and documented within the platform

How to evaluate your board development plan progress

The plan itself needs an annual evaluation cycle — separate from the individual board member evaluation:

• Set measurable goals at the start of each year — number of directors to recruit, skills gaps to close, orientation completion rate, board development activities to deliver
• Collect data through the year — attendance records, committee participation, self-assessment surveys, training completion
• Analyse and report to the full board annually — what was achieved, what was not, what needs to change
• Adjust board recruitment targets, training calendar, and board member evaluation criteria based on findings
• Update the skills matrix to reflect board composition changes and any shifts in organisational priorities

Review the plan annually. Major updates should occur after significant board turnover (more than 30% of seats changing in one cycle), a strategic plan refresh, or a significant change in the organisation’s funding landscape or programmes.

Conclusion

A board development plan is not a governance compliance document — it is a practical management tool for building the board your organisation needs to fulfil its mission. The seven-step process from skills assessment through technology adoption gives the board a clear sequence to follow; the skills matrix makes gaps visible; and the evaluation framework closes the feedback loop that most boards are missing.

The organisations with the strongest boards are not the ones that happen to recruit well — they are the ones that have made recruitment, orientation, training, and evaluation a managed process. A written, annually reviewed board development plan is how they do it.

FAQ

What should a board development plan include?

A complete board development plan includes: a current board skills assessment (skills matrix), an ideal board member profile, a recruitment pipeline and process, a new member orientation checklist, an ongoing training and education calendar, a performance evaluation framework, and a technology plan for governance tools. See the 7-section template structure above.

How do you create a board development plan?

Start by assessing your current board’s skills and identifying gaps using a skills matrix. Define the profile of ideal new members based on those gaps. Build a recruitment pipeline from your network and community. Create a structured orientation process for new directors. Plan ongoing training and education. Establish an annual evaluation process. Finally, identify tools — including board management software — that support execution.

What is the difference between board development and board training?

Board training refers to specific educational activities — governance workshops, legal compliance briefings, financial literacy sessions. Board development is the broader ongoing process that encompasses recruitment, orientation, training, evaluation, and retention — designed to continuously strengthen the board as a whole over time. Training is one component of development.

How do you evaluate board member performance?

Effective evaluation covers five criteria: meeting attendance rate, committee participation, fundraising and donor network contributions, quality of strategic input at meetings, and compliance with governance policies. Most organisations conduct annual self-assessments combined with a private board chair review. Results should be discussed one-on-one with each director.

What is a board skills matrix?

A board skills matrix is a table mapping each current board member’s expertise (financial, legal, technology, fundraising, marketing, etc.) against the organisation’s needs. It visually identifies skill gaps and guides recruitment priorities. It is the foundational tool in any board development plan, updated annually or after significant board turnover.

How often should a board development plan be updated?

Board development plans should be reviewed annually — typically in conjunction with the board’s self-assessment process. Major updates should occur after significant board turnover, a strategic plan refresh, or a change in the organisation’s programmes or funding landscape. The skills matrix portion should be updated any time a director joins or departs.

What format should a board development plan be in?

Most board development plans are maintained as internal documents — a structured Word or Google Doc with clearly labelled sections — covering skills matrix, recruitment targets, orientation checklist, training calendar, and evaluation criteria. Many organisations store them as board portal documents for easy access by all board members and the governance committee. The most important thing is that it is written, reviewed annually, and actually used.