Arguably the most uncertain time for a nonprofit occurs during a leadership shift. By their very nature, transitions are periods of vulnerability for staff, the board, the public, donors, clients, and stakeholders of all stripes. If concerns are not addressed, this period may have a negative impact on staff morale, efficient operations, funding, and the organization’s ability to serve clients and complete critical work.
Interim Executive Directors (IED) are specialists in managing organizational transition. Some have specific training, such as that offered by the Support Center for Nonprofit Management (https://supportcenteronline.org/), where we learn specific skills to support an organization undergoing significant change. But the best IEDs know how to quickly assess an organization’s needs while preparing it for a successful transition to permanent leadership.
Some important questions to ask if your organization is experiencing a leadership transition:
Do you have a plan for leadership during the transition?
Can a board member step in?
Can a member of the staff step in?
How is the morale of the staff and how well equipped are they to handle the transition?
Are you worried about the organization’s productivity during the transition?
Is the board aligned around what qualities the next executive director should possess?
Has the organization had an executive previously or is this a new role?
Press Releases
In the News
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Hearing Health Spring 2019 by Hearing Health Foundation
Each spring, the changing of the seasons brings new life, and at Hearing Health Foundation (HHF), we have also been in bloom.
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Colleagues
I am lucky to have great colleagues throughout the nonprofit sector. Let me know if you need someone with a particular skill set, I am happy to make an introduction. Here are just a few of my wonderful colleagues, all of whom I have worked with side by side:
Alexandra Bowie, JD
Principal, Alexandra Bowie Consulting
Alexandra Bowie specializes in increasing organizational capacity by teaching staff at all levels the skills to understand and use data to improve services and outcomes. She is skilled at program planning, process analysis, program development, and project management and has leveraged those skills as a successful grant writer raising tens of millions of dollars in federal, state, and local funding as well as foundation grants.
HuiWon Choi
Founder and President, Ampersand Fundraising, LLC
HuiWon Choi is the founder and president of Ampersand Fundraising, LLC. Her passion is empowering nonprofit organizations to reach their development goals, and she is honored to provide this support. HuiWon has over ten years of experience as a development consultant. Over the course of her career, she has helped organizations raise over $75MM in sectors including health, religion, social services, and education.
My Podcast with Joan Garry
Joan Garry’s wildly popular podcast, Nonprofits are Messy, is available on Apple Podcasts. I was honored when she asked me to join her there for this conversation about interim executive directors.
Joan Garry began her career in 1981 as part of the management team that launched MTV. After eight years, she moved to Showtime Networks. In 1997, she became executive director of the GLAAD, kicking off her nonprofit career with this celebrated advocacy organization. Subsequently, she became a successful political fundraiser and began her consulting practice that supports many nonprofits, large and small.
She brings this experience in nonprofit leadership to her work as principal of Joan Garry Consulting, a boutique firm that helps nonprofits “untangle strategic knots.” Joan also teaches at the Annenberg School for Communications, has written a book about nonprofit leadership, and maintains a blog that regularly reaches 100,000 professionals from more than 150 countries.
I am a big fan, I hope you will be too.
