What makes the best nonprofit leaders the best? In our line of work that’s something we talk about and strive to define every day. It’s an intensely human question, and at times it can be painfully introspective as well. But like most important questions, it’s one that makes us better for asking. So, is greatness something that some people are just born with or is it something forged through experience that anyone can achieve? We believe it’s the latter! Our team of nonprofit leaders has honed their skills over time, learning from their previous roles and consulting engagements and leveraging insights from their professional networks as they have progressed through their careers. They have seen the best and worked hard to join their ranks.
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With the rapid changes that we’ve seen over the last decade across technology, culture, and industry, organizations that fail to adopt an innovation mindset will run the risk of stagnating in their mission delivery and becoming obsolete in their communities. What does this mean for your organization? To put it plainly, the time to innovate is now! But wait, innovation may not mean what you think it does! While many conversations around innovation typically focus on expanding technological capabilities, the kind of innovation mindset that truly powers today’s top organizations is not solely tech-based. True innovation is about fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement that remains focused on your mission and its impact on the communities you serve. Embracing this kind of innovation is what will set tomorrow’s nonprofits apart! As a society we’ve weathered the storm of the pandemic and its subsequent prolonged fallout and now are firmly in what is being considered the “post-COVID” era. So, what does this mean for nonprofit organizations operating in today’s day and age? At each juncture our consultants have given their advice on how nonprofits should respond during these unprecedented times. We gave early advice on how to act quickly, mid-point advice on how to rethink strategic planning, and now it feels right to give a final summary of what the nonprofit world looks like to close out the discussion and equip organizations to understand how to navigate the road ahead. Are you ready to unlock your nonprofit’s potential and preserve its future? If so, you need to create a formal succession plan to guide its future regardless of who is at the helm! When you need to improve your planning or want to be better prepared for a leadership transition, use our Guide to Nonprofit Succession Planning! Remember, the most successful nonprofits that have a longstanding impact on their communities are the ones that address the elephant in the room – your leadership won’t be around forever! The sooner your organization comes to terms with that, the better prepared you will be when that someday becomes today. Picture this scenario: Your paid leader is suddenly no longer at the helm. As the Chair of the Board of Directors, what do you do? The boat is heading in what appears to be a decent direction, and you think you can probably find another leader “pretty quickly.” Let’s play that strategy out: Are you assuming the organization will continue on its course unaffected while you organize a Search Committee, look over your strategic plan and vision, find and refresh the job description, advertise and post on social media, wait for applications, sort through resumes, and go through several rounds of interviews? And in this assumption what happens if the “right one” isn’t in that first pile? Perhaps you have a Board member with extra time on their hands to keep the operation bobbing along, but have they run a nonprofit in this sector before? Maybe you believe the second-in-command can do double-duty, but do they have the bandwidth and are they interested in applying for the position? A reality check: The average search for a nonprofit leader is now 9-12 months. Even if you hire a search firm to manage this process, the gap between leaders might be at least 6 months! Serving on the board of directors for a nonprofit organization offers opportunities to support the community through focused, mission-driven work. It also brings the opportunity to help guide the organization in how it does that both now and in the future. While the staff is charged with delivering on the plans and goals previously set, the board of directors is responsible for looking to the future. That responsibility includes the question of whether the organization’s mission will be delivered in the future to be of the most benefit to the community and, if so, what form that will take operationally. The prevailing wisdom in the nonprofit sector is that there are way more nonprofit organizations than there are resources to go around to support their missions. Many of us have had the experience of tripping over each other as our mission delivery strategies overlap. But who wants to be the one to suggest consolidation, merging, or simply closing a struggling organization? On the other side of the coin, who wants to raise the idea of a thriving organization taking on an aligned organization’s “baggage”? Merging and aligning are touchy subjects! As a nonprofit director or manager, how do you know when you’re ready to step into an executive leadership role? Our team of nonprofit leaders regularly uses their experience to help nonprofit career professionals answer this question as part of our board advisory work and interim executive leadership engagements. We act as mentors during nonprofit leadership transitions when the board needs help identifying their next leader and equipping them for success. These are the types of conversations we have day in and day out as we assist organizations in handing over the organization to new leadership. Ultimately, the question of whether you’re ready to move up to the next level comes down to two things: whether you have what it takes to succeed from a personality standpoint and whether you have enough experience to lead not only a team but the entire organization effectively. Let’s look at each of those areas separately because they are complementary, yet distinctly different, aspects of what makes someone qualified to lead a nonprofit organization. Fundraising is vital to the success of any organization, which means that nonprofit leadership must be constantly focused on not only managing existing donor relationships but also attracting new donors to fill the funding pipeline. But knowing how to expand your donor base is a tricky topic for a variety of reasons. |
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