Nonprofit Executive Onboarding: How to Ensure an Executive Director’s Success in the First Year

Congrats, you have a new Executive Director! Now it’s time to set them up for success!
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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.  

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As Liz Swanson summarizes when discussing how to do nonprofit leadership transition well, 

You’ve hired your next Executive Director. It’s been a whirlwind from the time your outgoing ED announced their departure 6 months ago to the signed acceptance letter from the new ED. There’s no doubt you feel you can now breathe easier and step back since the new leader starts soon, right? Well, yes and no… Hiring the new ED is just the first step of the transition journey. The next important move for the Board is to ensure your new leader settles confidently into the role for a long tenure.

When hiring a new executive director, the board’s goal isn’t merely to have someone assume the ED title. Instead, it is to bring on a new leader who quickly becomes an integral part of the team and driver of organizational success. Yet, according to one survey of nonprofit executives, 46% reported “little to no onboarding support” from board members. This is a mistake because, as Matthew Reeves explains in his guide to executive onboarding for nonprofits, 

At the executive level, a few months' worth of delays or missteps can equate to significant lost opportunities, financial setbacks, or reputational risks. By streamlining the leader's integration into the company, organizations stand to gain quicker decision-making, strategic alignments, and achieving business objectives.

​At Valtas, we can’t help wondering if stronger board engagement during the important transition phase, from offer acceptance to the end of the ED’s first year, might also reduce the number of short-tenure EDs we’ve been seeing in recent years. 
So, what does strong board engagement in the transition period look like? Here are three ways boards, working in partnership with senior staff, can help the incoming ED swiftly move from newcomer to highly effective leader in their first year:

1. Following an Onboarding Roadmap
Day 1: Working with staff to ensure the ED receives a warm welcome. 

• Have their workstation and technology tools (computer, phone, email, Slack) ready to go before they arrive.
• Ensure that there is an engaging first day planned to make them feel part of the team right away. 
• Build out their first week’s schedule. Be sure to include time to sit down with board leadership and add key meetings to their calendar that should take place in the first month. 
• Provide them with pre-reading related to the team, the work, and any issues requiring immediate attention to give important context to the role before they start. Remember, it’s helpful to give them the lay of the land before they arrive, but you don’t want to bury them in a mountain of pre-reading. It’s better to provide just the essential background materials and then give them an opportunity to go deeper later. 

Quarter 1: Facilitating relationship-building with the internal team and external community. 

• Help navigate organizational culture and forge strong relationships with key stakeholders.
• Identify the relationships that will be important to develop in the first 90 days and think about the timing of those introductions. Who should they meet with and in what order?  Consider taking an “inside out” approach, getting to know staff, the board, and key donors first and then community members and organizational partners after. Pace these introductions so they build on one another.
• Make important introductions directly. Many relationships can be facilitated by staff, but key relationships, especially with donors, community members, or organizational partners can often get off on a stronger foot with a board member introduction. A board-facilitated introduction conveys the board’s faith in its new leader and provides an opportunity to share your excitement about the new ED and where the organization is headed.
• Host a community celebration of their arrival. What this entails will look different depending on the organization. It could be a welcome reception, open house, volunteer event, or donor engagement event, but the purpose will be the same regardless. A live event promoted on the organization's social media channel(s) provides an efficient way to introduce the new leader to a wider audience and a concrete opportunity to connect with key stakeholders.

Year 1: Being an active partner in the ED’s early success.

• Set a clear direction on all goals and expectations including a 90-day work plan, 1-year goals, and board/organizational priorities.
• Provide frequent opportunities for two-way communication and feedback. 
  • Conduct weekly check-ins for the first month, bi-weekly check-ins for the remainder of the first quarter, and then establish a regular cadence thereafter that fits everyone’s needs.
  • Do 6-month and 12-month performance reviews. Think about how you can leverage the organization's performance review process and enhance it to gather feedback from the board and other community stakeholders to assist in this effort.

2. Forming a Leadership Transition Committee
Many of our clients have found that creating a Leadership Transition Committee has significantly enhanced board engagement, leadership alignment, and ED performance by creating a clear structure for ED-board partnership to lean on. The committee can serve several purposes, including:

• Working with staff to ensure the organization is ready for the ED’s arrival and onboarding goes well.
• Managing the process to develop 90-day work plan and 1-year goals and priorities.
• Providing structured opportunities for Board-ED communication and feedback.
• Serving as a sounding board and kitchen cabinet to help the new leader quickly find their footing. 

The committee should include board members who have the capacity and expertise to support the ED during the entire first year.

3. Using Leadership Coaching
Investing in leadership support is a crucial component of helping your ED succeed. Leading mission-driven organizations is fulfilling work, but surveys of nonprofit executives report that it can also be very lonely. This is especially true in the first year when the ED is still developing relationships and finding their footing in the organization’s work and culture.

Providing resources for a leadership coach is one of the best things boards can do to ensure the new ED has a confidential outlet for thought partnership and mentoring. Our clients have found that finding someone who has served as a nonprofit ED and knows the unique challenges of the job has been especially beneficial in helping new leaders get off to a strong start. 

When your organization needs help navigating a leadership transition, we can help! Here at Valtas we work with nonprofits every day that are undergoing significant changes, including bringing in a new leader. We not only offer interim nonprofit leadership to help organizations bridge the gap until they can bring in a new leader but also board advisory services to work with boards to support this kind of transition. When we work in partnership together, we can help ensure that your organization will be best poised for future success. Contact us to find out more today!