How to Begin Your Search for a Nonprofit CEO

The most important job of any Board of Directors is to hire the Chief Executive Officer. As a board member of a not-for-profit, what steps should you take to find and recruit the very best?

Could this be your situation?

It’s Friday afternoon, and you’ve already booked a long week in the office putting out fires. (After all, you’re the boss at your day job!) The phone rings: it’s the CEO of the nonprofit for which you’re chair of the board. She wants to stop by in an hour. This is highly unusual for her—so red flags go up—but you’re too focused on the email you’re trying to complete to ask any questions. “Sure! See you at 4pm.”

Fast forward: it’s now 5:30pm. You’re still in the office and your CEO is still apologizing. She has accepted a new role at a bigger organization and has just given you four weeks’ notice. (By now, you’ve opened that bottle of wine you were saving for a “special occasion.” This was not the occasion you envisioned!)

You can’t be angry. She has been great at her job. You also recognize that she has outgrown the position. The new opportunity sounds ideal for her, and it includes a 30% salary increase. A counteroffer, you believe, is not best practice.

When they want to go…let them go.

The kneejerk response: a classic misstep and a pitfall to avoid

Perhaps your next thought goes something like this: “Let’s make it easy on everyone (especially since I just don’t have the bandwidth) and just promote the COO. He is trustworthy, been with the Org for over 10 years, and follows direction well.”

Recruit from within. Promote your next best leader.

Tentatively, you’ve chosen the path of least resistance—the easy way out. Problem solved, right?

Before you head home, you email the board calling for an emergency Executive Committee meeting on Zoom for Sunday to discuss the problem and your solution.

A better idea: begin a formal executive search process

By the time you’ve completed your commute home, a calmer mind is beginning to prevail. Maybe the path of least resistance is not the optimal solution. It’s just the fast and easy way out of a difficult situation.

You make three calls to discuss the options: two calls to other board chairs, and one call to a very savvy friend who does executive searches for for-profit clients. Based on these conversations, you now realize that a full-blown executive search is in your near future. (And that sounds like it will be another full-time job!)

The Executive Committee meeting: a step-by-step game plan

It takes some time to steer the other Executive Committee members to a good place—to lay the groundwork for conducting a formal search—but you get there. It helps that the Chair-Elect had previously been on a Search Committee for another nonprofit and is able to share sage advice based on experience in the trenches.

Thanks to your leadership prowess, everyone on the Executive Committee eventually agrees to a solid game plan for finding a new CEO for your nonprofit. In brief, here it is, step by step:

• Discuss the profile of the ideal candidate with the Executive Committee. If the profile is different than the outgoing CEO, then further discussions need to take place before the search goes live in the market. At that point, it’s likely the entire board will need to weigh in.
• Form a Search Committee.
  • 5 members is an ideal number for a Search Committee; 7 is ok. But don’t make the Committee any larger.
  • It’s best to have the Executive Committee represented. If you have 5 people on the Executive Committee, have 3 of them on the Search Committee.
  • The Search Chair should be the person who will be the next Board Chair.
  • Though not necessary, it’s best to have the Board Chair on the Search Committee. It just saves a step. The Chair needs to be in the loop.
  • Consider having a senior member of the staff as a nonvoting member of the Search Committee. Staff representation has a calming effect on the team, especially if there are negative ripples throughout the organization.
  • The Board should provide the Search Committee with the authority to bring the final candidate to the Board for a final vote. The Board does NOT (re)interview the final candidate.
• Identify 3-5 nonprofit executive search firms.
• Initiate an RFP (request for proposal). It’s best to make this a generic RFP. Questions specific to the search can be asked during the search firm interviews.
• Pick 2 or perhaps 3 of the firms to meet in person. Keep the following tips in mind:
  • Ask the same questions to each firm.
  • Bigger is not always better. A smaller firm typically has the ability to cast a wider net for candidates since they don’t have as many clients which are ‘off limits’ to recruit from.
  • It’s important that the Search Chair really clicks with the lead consultant … the two of you will get to know each other very well over the course of the search!
  • Also important: Ask who will be representing the Organization on a daily basis? Is it the person presenting at the pitch or is it a junior consultant you have not met?

The 5 major takeaways for your Board

1. The most important job of any Board of Directors is to hire the CEO.
2. The Board of Directors must start by hiring a highly qualified and experienced executive search firm that specializes in serving nonprofit clients.
3. The Search Committee should not be consumed with the search. If the executive search firm does its job correctly, the burden is taken off the Search Committee.
4. The Search Chair needs to be available for a regularly scheduled meeting with the executive search firm on at least a weekly basis.
5. The Search Committee needs to be available to:

• Approve the Search Firm;
• Approve the Job description drafted by the search firm after due diligence;
• Meet to discuss the Top 10 Key Criteria of the ideal candidate facilitated by the Search Consultant;
• Meet 30 – 40 days after the search being live in the market for a status report from the Search firm;
• Meet to confirm the final candidates and approve the draft questions provided by the Search Consultant;
• Review the materials of the final candidates and be ready for the interviews;
• Put aside an entire day to interview the final 3 candidates and (hopefully) select the final candidate;
• Be available to make reference calls if requested; and
• Be an advocate of the new CEO, especially during the first year.

One last piece of advice: enjoy yourself

The search for your nonprofit’s next CEO is the most important decision you will make for the mission you serve. Enjoy your opportunity—and own your responsibility—to choose the “new look of leadership” for your organization!

And, finally, embrace the search firm as your trusted advisor. Allow the firm to do its job and manage the process. With the firm’s guidance, you’ll get the leadership you desire when you need it most.