Template · Governance
Executive director annual review
A fill-in yearly review of your executive director: last year's goals, results, board input, next year's goals and the pay decision, properly recorded.
The Word file opens in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Pages and LibreOffice. Reviewed October 21, 2026.
The executive director (or CEO, or whatever you call your top staff person) works for the board, and the board's most important staff job is to support and review that person. A yearly review is fair to the director, who learns how the board sees their work, and to the charity, which gets a clear record of goals and results. The New York Attorney General's guidance on internal controls lists "evaluating staff and programs" among the procedures a charity should have, and says the chief executive's job description should make clear "exactly what information is expected by the board and when."
The review is also where many boards decide the director's pay. If your charity files the full Form 990, Part VI, line 15 asks whether the process for setting the top management official's compensation included all of these:
- review and approval by the board or a compensation committee, without members who have a conflict of interest;
- "use of data as to comparable compensation for similarly qualified persons in functionally comparable positions at similarly situated organizations"; and
- "contemporaneous documentation and recordkeeping" of the deliberations and decision.
This template has a place for each. Use it together with our compensation approval minute, which records the pay decision in the board's minutes, and see our guide to paying people fairly.
How to adapt it
- Choose who leads the review. Usually the board chair, or a small committee of two or three directors with no conflict of interest.
- Agree the goals in advance. The best reviews look back at goals the board and director agreed a year earlier. If this is your first review, use Part 1 to set goals for next year and keep the rest short.
- Ask the director first. A self-review in the director's own words makes the conversation fairer and easier.
- Gather board views, briefly and in writing, so the review reflects the whole board, not one person.
- Keep it confidential. Share the completed review only with the director and the board, and keep it in a secure personnel file.
- Record the pay decision separately in the board minutes, with the comparability data attached.
Preview
Executive director annual review
[ORGANIZATION NAME]
Executive director: [NAME]
Review period: [START DATE] to [END DATE]
Review led by: [NAME(S) AND ROLE(S)]
Date of review meeting: [DATE]
Part 1. Goals for the past year
List the goals the board and the director agreed at the start of the year, and how each went.
| Goal | Result | Met, partly met or not met |
|---|---|---|
| [GOAL 1] | [WHAT HAPPENED] | [ ] |
| [GOAL 2] | [WHAT HAPPENED] | [ ] |
| [GOAL 3] | [WHAT HAPPENED] | [ ] |
Part 2. The director's self-review
To be completed by the director before the meeting.
- What went well this year, and why?
- What was hardest, and what did you learn?
- What support do you need from the board?
- What would you like to achieve next year?
Part 3. Areas of responsibility
For each area, the reviewers note strengths and anything to improve. Adjust the areas to fit your director's job description.
- Programs and results: [NOTES]
- Finances and budget: [NOTES]
- Fundraising and relationships with funders: [NOTES]
- Staff and volunteers: [NOTES]
- Working with the board: information shared on time and in the agreed form, as set out in the job description. [NOTES]
- Compliance: filings, policies and legal requirements kept up to date. [NOTES]
- Community and reputation: [NOTES]
Part 4. Board input
Summarize the written comments from directors, without naming who said what.
- Main strengths: [SUMMARY]
- Main areas to develop: [SUMMARY]
Part 5. Goals for next year
Agree three to five goals, each with a way to tell whether it was met.
| Goal | How we'll know | By when |
|---|---|---|
| [GOAL 1] | [MEASURE] | [DATE] |
| [GOAL 2] | [MEASURE] | [DATE] |
| [GOAL 3] | [MEASURE] | [DATE] |
Part 6. Development and support
Training, coaching, time off or other support the board will provide: [NOTES]
Part 7. Compensation
- Current pay and benefits: [AMOUNTS]
- Comparability data reviewed: [SOURCES, POSITIONS AND FIGURES; attach copies]
- Board members who took part in the decision: [NAMES]
- Board members who left the room because of a conflict of interest: [NAMES, OR "NONE"]
- Decision: [NO CHANGE / NEW PAY AND BENEFITS, WITH EFFECTIVE DATE]
- Recorded in the board minutes of: [DATE]
Part 8. Signatures
The director's signature shows the review was discussed, not that they agree with every point. The director may attach written comments.
Board chair (or committee chair): ____________________ Date: __________
Executive director: ____________________ Date: __________
Director's comments attached: [ ] Yes [ ] No
General information. Not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change and every situation is different, so check the official sources and talk to a qualified professional before you act. More about this.
Keep going
- TemplateBylaws for a small nonprofitStarter bylaws for a small US public charity with a volunteer board and no members. Edit the blanks, then have a lawyer in your state review them.
- GuideA simple strategic plan for a small charityWhen you need a plan and when you don't, who to involve, a light look at where you stand, three goals with measures, and how the plan feeds your budget.
- Founder pathwayForming your charity legallyChoose a name, incorporate in your state, adopt bylaws, get a free EIN and apply to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status on Form 1023 or 1023-EZ.
- Founder toolBoard recruitment plannerSee which skills your board has, which it's missing, and where to find them.
Sources
Checked on October 21, 2026. Rules and fees change, so follow the links for the current version.
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