Tim Wolfred of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services emphasizes the importance of backing up the executive director’s key functions within the organization to provide stability in the event of an unplanned absence. Use "Emergency Backup and Cross-Training Plan" to create plans for your nonprofit.
succession planning
Adapt this template called, "Confidentiality Agreement for Service on the Search and Transition Committee" from the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits to help committee members be clear about the do's and don'ts around their committee work.
Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2008 "Building Leaderful Organizations: Succession Planning for Nonprofits" seeks to continue detoxifying the topic of nonprofit succession planning so that executives, boards, staff, and funders can take up these activities without unnecessary fear or concern and provides nonprofit boards and executive directors a framework for their own succession planning activities.
Jeanne Allen's "Boards and the Onboarding Process for New Nonprofit Executives" has five recommendations from Boosting Nonprofit Board Performance Where It Counts for boards to adopt a “leadership development mindset” for supporting the new Executive Director.
Succession planning can be a touchy subject. Members of a nonprofit board may fear the risk of insulting a CEO by suggesting the topic as an agenda item. Some CEOs may feel disinclined to raise the subject because it could send mixed signals about their intent to remain with the nonprofit.
To find the right firm for your search, you must consider a number of factors. This article shares what actions should be taken prior to selecting and engaging with a search firm. (The Bridgespan Group)
A Nonprofit Organization's Guide to Engaging an Executive Search Firm
52 Free Development Opportunities for Nonprofit Staff is a list organized by skill type of ways nonprofit leaders can engage staff members in critical skill development areas without sending them to formal external trainings.
Capturing the Power of Leadership Change: Using Executive Transition Management to Strengthen Organizational Capacity from The Annie E. Casey Foundation highlights the challenges associated with executive transitions and describes a model of executive management transition.
Ready to Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out
This report combines perspectives and data from about 6,000 emerging nonprofit leaders from throughout the country on the advantages and drawbacks of leading a nonprofit organization. There are also recommended action plans for nonprofits to engage with immediately in order to bring about real change and develop great leaders for tomorrow.
Over the course of 15 years, CompassPoint conducted four national studies of nonprofit executive leadership. In a companion essay to this study, ETM thought leader Tom Adams lays out how the field of ETM has evolved over 20 years of practice and where he and other experts see it going next.