Steady Leadership between Executive Directors
Interim Executive Leadership
When an executive director departs before a successor is named, the organization still has programs and services to deliver, payroll to run, grant reports coming due, and funders watching how the board handles the moment. An interim executive keeps all of it steady. We do one thing more: report back to the board on what the role actually requires, so the next hire fits where the organization is heading.
the idea behind the engagement
What the Interim Period Reveals
Selecting the executive director is one of a nonprofit board's core responsibilities, and one of the few decisions only the board can make. The months between executive directors are the clearest view a board will ever get into the job it's hiring for. Someone sits in the seat, sees what demands the executive's time, learns which relationships hold the organization together, and finds the parts of the job that never made it into the old job description.
We structure the engagement so that what we learn stays with your board. While we lead the organization day to day, we brief your board regularly on what the seat is revealing about the role. Every briefing follows the same framework, tracking the organization's condition, the demands of the position, and what the next executive will need to succeed, so your board watches a consistent picture develop over the course of the engagement. By the time you interview finalists, your board has a documented picture of the job it's filling.
And because we are never a candidate for the permanent role, that insight comes with no agenda attached. We have no reason to shape the job around ourselves, protect a version of events, or audition. Our only interest is that your next executive director succeeds.
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how the engagement works
Running the Organization, Briefing the Board
Leading the day to day. We provide executive leadership for the duration of the transition: staff supervision and morale, program continuity, financial oversight alongside your treasurer, and hands-on attention to funder and partner relationships. Staff and stakeholders hear a consistent message: the organization is led, the mission continues, and the board is managing the transition strategically and with intention.
Briefing the board. Your executive committee regularly receives a written Board Briefing covering the organization's operational and financial condition and what the interim seat is revealing about the role. Together, the briefings give your board a running record of what the position requires.
Preparing the search. Every interim engagement includes Planning the Transition, our structured assessment of where the organization is in its lifecycle, the leadership style this moment requires, and whether the board is ready to support it.
Handing off. The engagement ends with a written Transition Handoff for your incoming executive director and thirty days of onboarding support as they take the seat, so nothing we've learned gets lost in the changeover.
Who This Is For
- Boards facing a gap of roughly three to nine months between executive directors: In our experience, this is the window where an interim makes the most sense: the organization gets a present leader, and the board gets the time to do an intentional search.
- Organizations where the departure came ahead of the search, planned or otherwise: However it happened, the search will take months, and the organization can't go unled while it runs.
- Boards where elevating an internal staff member would strain the team or complicate the search: Asking a staff member to do two jobs, or to audition for one, is hard on them and on the organization. An outside interim keeps things clean.
- Search committees that want criteria grounded in data rather than the last job description: Our assessment gives your committee something concrete to recruit against.
- Boards planning for a known transition, such as an announced retirement, who want to prepare before the search begins: An interim gives your staff a true in-between period, so the new executive arrives as a fresh start instead of an immediate comparison to the last one.
What's Included
The engagement places an experienced interim executive in the seat and produces three written deliverables: regular Board Briefings, a Transition Brief, and a Transition Handoff for the incoming executive. Days per week, the on-site and remote mix, and duration are all scoped at booking.
Executive Leadership of Day-to-Day Operations
Staff supervision, program continuity, financial oversight alongside your treasurer, and hands-on attention to funder and partner relationships. The organization has steady and visible leadership while the board searches.
Regular Board Briefings
A regular written report to your executive committee on the organization's operational and financial condition and what the seat is revealing about the role. Together, the briefings give your board a detailed look at what the position requires.
Board and Committee Meetings
We attend board and executive committee meetings throughout the engagement, reporting to the board the way any executive director would.
Planning the Transition, Included in Full
Our structured transition assessment, from the organizational snapshot through the written Transition Brief your search committee will work from. It's folded into every interim engagement, but can also be booked as a standalone service.
A Structured Handoff
The Transition Handoff is a written document for your incoming executive director. They'll also receive thirty days of onboarding support as they take the seat.
Who This Isn't For
- Boards that plan to pause the search once the seat is covered: The engagement is built to end, and we set that end date with you at booking.
- Boards hoping the interim becomes the permanent executive: We are never a candidate for the role, and we consider that a feature of the engagement.
- Gaps of a few weeks that a board chair or deputy staff member can reasonably cover: Put that budget toward Planning the Transition instead, and go into the search prepared.
Investment Details
Scoped to Your Organization
Interim engagements are priced as a monthly retainer, and the honest number depends on your organization's size and what the seat requires. We scope everything in a conversation: days per week, the on-site and remote mix, and how long the engagement runs.
Most engagements run three to nine months. Planning the Transition ($2,500 standalone) is included in every engagement.
What's Next
What Comes After the Interim Engagement
The Inherited Board™: Your incoming executive director inherits a board we've been briefing for months. The Inherited Board picks up where the Transition Handoff ends: a 90-day engagement that produces a 12-month plan for learning to work with their new board.
The Board Build™: Executive transitions have a way of surfacing governance questions the board had been living with. When they do, a full board-building engagement is the natural next step.