How is your staff doing right now? …How are you doing right now?

Everything we’re hearing from our colleagues and clients these days seems to indicate that burn out and stress are at record levels. This time of the year is an incredibly stressful time both personally and professionally for those in the nonprofit space. Reconciling expenses with budgets at year-end and doing strategic planning for the year ahead have always been causes of headaches for staff and leadership. However, when employees are already stretched thin in their roles and burdened by fundraising worries, this stress can take a bigger toll and derail the organization’s effectiveness in achieving its mission.

His diverse background encompasses military service, consulting, and nonprofit leadership, making him a uniquely qualified expert in organizational development and strategic growth.

Prior to Valtas, Derik was the Founder and Managing Partner of Sparrow Nonprofit Solutions, a nationwide consulting firm helping leaders of social sector organizations maximize their world-changing impact.

In addition to coaching nonprofit professionals at all levels, Derik has been a nationally recognized speaker and author on various nonprofit subjects, including fundraising, operational excellence, grant research and writing, and board development. In 2021, he published The 40 Laws of Nonprofit Impact.

"I’m honored to join the Valtas and CFOS community and support our shared mission of guiding leadership transitions for social enterprises. It’s humbling and inspiring to join such a passionate and experienced team dedicated to empowering world-changing organizations and expanding our impact in current and future markets. Thank you in advance for the opportunity to learn, grow, and contribute alongside you as we work together to help our clients build a better world." said Derik Timmerman.

Derik’s previous roles included serving as a senior management consultant at McKinsey & Company and a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer with two combat deployments to Iraq. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, as well as a Master of Divinity, a Ph.D. in Philosophy, and a CFRE certification in fundraising.

“For the past six years, Valtas has delivered on our commitment to guide leadership transitions for our nonprofit clients. We’ve had the opportunity to navigate our transition in 2024, and I couldn’t be more excited about our decision. Derik is the right leader at the right time to continue to grow our impact, and I look forward to collaborating with him on Valtas Group's next phase.  Derik is strategic, compassionate, and committed to supporting nonprofits in achieving success and will be an exceptional partner and resource to our team and clients.” – Christine Martin, Partner, Valtas Group.

About Valtas Group
Valtas Group guides leadership transitions within the social sector. Since its founding in 2018, Valtas has built the state’s strongest and most experienced Interim Executive Director team of consultants while serving over 245 clients ranging from The Seattle International Foundation and Crisis Connections to grassroots organizations like Seattle Against Slavery and Babies of Homelessness.

During this period, the Valtas Group executive search practice has successfully placed over 86 new CEOs and Executive Directors in Washington, Oregon, and Colorado nonprofit communities.

To learn more, contact us at [email protected]
​or call 425-516-7888.

Chances are, you’ve heard this quote before: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.”
It’s a quote that is often associated with sports (and just as often misattributed to Aristotle instead of its original author Will Durant, but that’s beside the point). If you ask any elite athlete, they’ll tell you that this insight is absolutely true! The continual practice of their skills, attitude, knowledge, and commitment to excellence are big drivers to success in their sport.

Having worked extensively in nonprofit leadership over my career, I have seen this apply to boards as well. I believe if you ask any effective nonprofit board, they too will say their ongoing practice of skills, attitude, knowledge, and commitment are the keys to good board governance, which helps to make their organizations great.  

The relationship between a nonprofit Executive Director (ED) and Board Chair is a unique one, which is why they should have their own “training day.” Find out how setting time aside to work together one-on-one can benefit the organization they both serve!

If you’re a sports fan, you probably understand what I mean when a refer to the concept of a training day but let me offer a story from many years ago to provide some broader context. When my daughter was just a teenager, I arrived at her fastpitch softball practice. I looked around and she was nowhere in sight. I came to realize she’d been right in front of me the whole time, but she was covered in catcher’s gear so I didn’t even realize it was her. I soon learned from the coach that both the starting and back-up catchers were unavailable for the weekend tournament. So, they asked my daughter if she would be the catcher because they felt she had the best ability to command the field. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but she did great! Fast forward to a month later and the catching gear remained, but it had been adjusted to fit better. She grew into being a good backup catcher and, although it wasn’t her permanent position, it was a great learning experience for her that she carried into her college softball playing days.

Through this experience I started understanding that being a catcher is more than just catching the ball behind the plate. The catcher is a leader (calling plays on the field) and a key strategic partner with the pitcher (in leading the game and the team).
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Behind every good pitcher is a good catcher – someone who has a certain way about her to mentally and physically help and challenge her pitcher. A pitcher who knows to respect and trust her catcher’s instincts while being direct about what she needs from her catcher is often the key to winning. The same can be said about the Board Chair and ED relationship!

One of the biggest pain points in nonprofit leadership is board engagement. Some boards may try to wear too many hats while others may lack engagement, but neither is desirable for effective nonprofit management! 

​The ideal scenario is one where a board plays the role that the organization needs when it needs it – a sort of “just right” balance between being too hands-on and being too hands-off. And while this may seem like an impossible fairy tale request, it’s one that becomes attainable when the board understands their overarching purpose and has clearly defined boundaries.​

Losing a long-standing leader brings a host of unique challenges that many organizations are unprepared to face. When a long-term nonprofit leader leaves that person is typically beloved by the staff, creating a hole emotionally as well as functionally.
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Sometimes this person is the original founder, other times they aren’t but they’ve been in the role for the organization’s most formative years. Regardless of whether they were there at the very beginning or not, they are someone who has been at the helm though significant periods of growth. As a result, they have imbued institutional knowledge that must be retained by the organization and passed onto the next leader.

When a leader’s era is over it’s important to recognize the challenges that lay ahead, understand where opportunities for growth may exist, and craft a formal transition plan to guide the organization through the change.

Today we’re sitting down with Ed Rogan, Partner and Search Practice Leader here at Valtas, to discuss forming a search committee for your Executive Director (ED) search. He is going to share some nonprofit search committee best practices from his more than two decades of experience in connecting people with missions to help you be better prepared for finding a new ED to lead your organization.
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Our hope is that you will use this as a sort of “search committee formation FAQ” to get your most pressing questions answered, but if you still have questions at the end, please reach out to Ed directly to get those answered in a way that’s customized to your organization’s specific needs. Let’s get started!