![]() 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.
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![]() 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. How to Form a Search Committee for your Executive Director Search – an Interview with Ed Rogan10/23/2024
![]() 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. 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! ![]() Previously, we published an article about what nonprofit leadership can learn from frustrating nonprofit boards. In it we highlighted five common problems that boards experience and how an Executive Director, nonprofit CEO, or Board President can work to overcome them. If you haven’t checked that out yet, you definitely should! We highly recommend all nonprofit leaders familiarize themselves with the ways that boards can (and do) fail so that they can take a proactive approach to board management. Afterwards, we noticed the people we talked to were beginning to ask deeper questions like, “How do you know if a nonprofit board is doing a good job?” It seems that article helped nonprofit leaders, board members, and major donors to start thinking more critically about what they should look for in determining if the board they are connected to is being run effectively and accomplishing the organization’s mission. They wanted more information about what they should be on the lookout for – what kinds of red flags might signal an underlying culture problem or what kinds of signs indicate that the board is going off track. ![]() Last month we published a resource on executive onboarding for nonprofits that aimed to help boards set their Executive Directors (EDs) up for success. Our team of nonprofit consultants worked together, leveraging their many years of experience, to create a clear roadmap for onboarding an ED with activities that spanned from day one to the end of their first year. And while we got feedback from many of you that it was highly informative and helpful, we also got a lot of follow-up questions about performance reviews. We heard from Board Presidents who asked things like, “How can we tell how well our ED is doing?” and “What exactly should we be looking at in an Executive Director’s performance review?” It was clear that this is an area where boards sometimes need additional guidance, which is why we decided to create a follow-up resource. This article is meant to pick up where the first one left off to answer your questions about what should be included in an Executive Director’s performance review to set your leadership (and the organization as a whole) up for lasting success. ![]() Imagine the following scenarios:
In the nonprofit space, like all spaces, things go wrong. This can happen regardless of your level of preparation, financial capacity, and good intentions. Organizational leaders at the board and staff level need to know what has gone wrong and why so that they can make informed course corrections. Usually, the sooner they know, the better. But often, bad news doesn’t reach key decision makers in a timely way and sometimes it doesn't reach them at all! Nonprofit Executive Onboarding: How to Ensure an Executive Director’s Success in the First Year5/13/2024
![]() Congrats, you have a new Executive Director! Now it’s time to set them up for success! Successfully navigating an executive leadership transition is one of the board’s most important jobs. It’s a big lift to find the organization’s next inspiring leader, and it’s important to celebrate the hiring milestone. But, as much as we may wish the job was finished when the offer letter is signed, one of the most critical phases of the leadership transition has just begun. ![]() Previously, our colleague Deniz Satir put together a resource to help organizations understand an Executive Director's role in fundraising and allowed us to share it with our readers. In it she explained that the best nonprofit leaders will take steps such as developing a fundraising strategy, cultivating donor relationships, engaging with the board, practicing financial stewardship, and aligning the team around fundraising efforts. Those responsibilities are critical components to developing and executing a successful fundraising strategy, and they beg the next question: “What should a Board’s role be in fundraising?” Should a Board just allow the ED to own the organization’s fundraising strategy unilaterally, rubber stamping plans and loosely reviewing results? Or should they take a more active role? And how does the Board’s responsibility change when the organization is undergoing significant change like a mission shift or leadership transition? |
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