Why Should You Hire a Nonprofit Interim Executive Director?

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?
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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! 

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​And during this time while you do your search, what happens to the major project that your leader was about to launch and the communication with partners and funders who are all lined up? Will the grant application that is due in a few weeks be ready to submit? Are the open jobs going to be filled by your HR Director without a leader having input? And what about that staff person who the Executive Director was about to terminate because they botched the last big event? What about the program that was draining resources and never had a chance to be properly evaluated in terms of its value towards your mission? Do all these things get put on the back burner, potentially leaving gaps, ending partnerships, reducing revenue, or stalling mission delivery?

The truth: There is a much better way to handle a leadership transition!

Recognizing The Opportunity at Hand
​The Board of Directors at a nonprofit organization can suddenly be thrust into a situation in which their long-time leader is no longer available. This can happen due to health issues, being recruited away, being fired, or even retiring. In any of these situations an opportunity is handed to your organization – one that is rare and allows for a healthy self-inspection, the repairing of newly discovered faults, and perhaps even a new level of functioning!

Your organization is incredibly vulnerable during this time, but it is also in a unique stage for you to learn and benefit by having someone from the outside looking in to improve the organization and strengthen it for the future.

Though the quick patchwork of leaning on an “Acting ED/CEO” (a Board member or a current employee) might seem the easiest and “safest” way to deal with the loss of your current leader, it comes with a significant opportunity cost. Why? Because it does not offer the chance to have a professional interim ED/CEO come in from the outside to work for you during this transition. Metaphorically speaking, it does not allow your organization to swap out your rudder while continuing to navigate the rapids that are the life of nonprofits.

The Benefits of Bringing in an Interim Executive Director
An Interim ED/CEO has experience running nonprofits and the opportunity to focus within your organization. They have tools to assess its performance and the needs of the Board, they can help define the profile of what the ideal candidate might be, and they are able to prepare the organization for your new leader to step in and take the wheel. 

An Interim nonprofit leader from Valtas also has a storehouse of other consultants with expertise that can be applied to help the organization around areas like board governance, strategic planning, and nonprofit executive search capabilities.

Find Out More Today!

Unlike an employee who is “acting” in the role temporarily and may or may not be applying for the position, the Interim is not there to impress the Search Committee. The Interim has the time to dig deep into the organization, interview employees and the Board, talk with constituents and partners, evaluate the stability of revenue sources including donors, and pull out the dirty laundry. These are all activities that a Board member who is “acting” in the role would likely not have time to do.

While your Board or your hired Search Firm is busy organizing the process, the Interim is bridging the gap between the past leader and the new one and making this transition as smooth as possible. This bridging activity can also result in less turnover of staff who were loyal to the past ED.

Additionally, they are not just making sure the organization continues to perform, they are giving you and your Board members a new view of the organization. Their regular and insightful communication with you will give a better idea of what type of person your organization needs at the helm and will give you the comfort of knowing that the boat is not only holding together but is assembling the parts to give it more speed and agility when the new captain comes aboard!

A Real-World Example
As someone who has played the roles of both “Acting CEO” as an employee and “Interim CEO” as a Board member, I have real-world experience that has solidified my belief that a professional serving in the role of the Interim CEO is the best way to go.

As the Assistant Administrator put into the role of “Acting CEO” in a hospital while we were in a complete replacement building project, the experience for me was invaluable. But the six-month process was grueling! And as a candidate for the full-time job, I was not successful and had to redefine my relationships with co-workers during both the interim and for the longer term after the new CEO was onboarded. Some people who dedicate this amount of time to the leadership seat and are not chosen may decide to leave the organization sooner than later, causing the organization to lose talent that might have otherwise stayed.

As a Board member of a small wildlife conservation organization, I was hired as the Interim Executive Director because I was between full-time gigs in my career and had several months available to help in their transition to a new Executive Director. I gained a new appreciation for this gift to our organization and had the time to dig deep into the operations, revealing some very important gaps that the Board was not aware of previously. My experience as a non-profit leader was essential in equipping the organization for future success, and it was very fruitful for the Board to hear what I learned by taking the time to understand what most Board members did not have the opportunity to see.

Next Steps
According to recent studies, more than a quarter of nonprofit organizations have job vacancy rates of 20-29%. And while this cannot be attributed solely to the loss of executives, the executive turnover rate at nonprofits is reportedly 18-22% annually.

When you need nonprofit interim leadership, please reach out to us! Our team of nonprofit leaders has the experience needed to come alongside your organization and lead it well until you can hire a new Executive Director. We place interim Executive Directors at organizations in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and beyond that are undergoing leadership transitions. We also have nonprofit executive recruiters on staff, so we can help you find your next leader as well!

About the Author
Jim Goddard – Senior Associate, Valtas​

​As a nonprofit Executive Director in the fields of health, education, and housing, Jim has been a standout in the nonprofit sector in Colorado for over 40 years. He is a life-long learner and appreciates the nonprofit missions he has served, connecting to his own personal mission of “always working to improve human and planetary wellness.”
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As a member of the leadership team at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, he guided new science education program development as the organization grew to become one of the leading museums in the country. In collaboration with 9News and Univision, and as President/CEO of 9Health Fair for ten years, he initiated programs reaching new diverse audiences throughout Colorado. Most recently as CEO of Senior Housing Options he guided investment and development of new apartments for low-income seniors in Denver and Longmont.

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