The job of the nonprofit executive is one of the most rewarding. It's also among the most challenging, requiring a deep passion for the work and the ability to juggle competing demands, sustain multiple relationships, and manage a very possibly under-resourced infrastructure. Failed executive transitions often cause repeated executive turnover, loss of organizational focus and momentum, and extended periods of underperformance. This resource outlines how to approach executive transitions intentionally and mitigate these negative outcomes.
succession planning
Use this sample inventory sheet to keep record of both onsite and offsite locations of important documents, bank account numbers, and other important information. (TransitionGuides)
Nonprofit organizations can adapt this sample emergency succession plan (CompassPoint) for the process of appointing an acting executive in the event of an unplanned absence.
Every organization will eventually experience a change in executive leadership, which is a time of both risk and opportunity. Nonprofit organizations can adapt this executive director succession policy example to create their own succession policy (Raffa, formerly TransitionGuides).
Executive transitions can be stressful for everyone involved. Transition Guides makes this transition easier with an "Executive Search & Transition Time Line Worksheet" to assist your organization in the process. (Transition Guides)
A Sabbatical Leave Policy (editable Word doc from Workable) describes the requirements and procedures for offering paid sabbatical leave to your employees. This type of leave is separate from vacation, PTO and sick leave, and applies only to long-term employees.
Sample Emergency Succession Plan by Tim Wolfred gives a model plan with emphasis on "identifying the key leadership functions carried by the executive, identifying the agency managers best qualified to step into the executive role in an emergency, and prescribing the cross-training necessary to prepare the back-up managers to cover the leadership functions." (CompassPoint Nonprofit Services,
Nonprofit executive directors often wonder if it's the right time to leave. Maybe the demands of the job seem ever more burdensome, or the board seems increasingly dissatisfied, or the ticking of the retirement clock is getting louder.
Common sense, an inclusive listening tour, frank dialogue, and more are essential ingredients for the process of succession. Examples of unspoken challenges are revealed in Successful Successions: Executive Transitions that Worked, stories of Nonprofit Quarterly's experience recruiting chief executives and their successors for three different organizations.
This article explores succession planning for nonprofit leaders other than the CEO. Eureka moments often occur during our consulting engagements when nonprofit teams realize the CEO is one of many individuals whose departure could cause ‘transition trauma.’ Read on for inspiration for establishing a non-CEO succession planning process. (Nonprofit Risk Management Center)