Before you Post the Job
Planning the Transition
Your executive director is leaving, and the instinct is to pull up the old job description, update a few lines, and start the search. Planning the Transition is the step before that: a structured assessment of what your organization needs in its next leader, and whether your board is prepared to support that leader when they arrive.
the idea behind the work
The Organization First, Then the Job Description
The old job description tells you what the last executive director did. It can't tell you what the next one needs to do, because the organization that wrote it no longer exists. Programs have matured or drifted. Revenue has either grown or gone flat, and the community you serve has changed. The job description should be written for the organization you are now and the one you plan to become, and most boards have never stopped to define either.
Some executive directors are wired for stability: systems and financial discipline. Some are wired for growth: new programs and new revenue. Neither is wrong, but hiring the wrong one for where your organization is today creates frustration on both sides, and you may find yourself back in a search sooner than you expected.
questions?
Facing a leadership transition and not sure where to start?
What We Assess
Three Questions Before the Search
1. Where is the organization? Every nonprofit moves through a lifecycle: startup, growth, maturity, and then either renewal or stagnation. We take an honest read on where yours is, using your financial trends, program evaluation, community needs, and strategic position.
2. What kind of leader fits this moment? From that read, we build a leadership profile: whether this chapter calls for a stability-focused executive who deepens what's working, a growth-focused executive who builds what's next, or a specific blend of the two.
3. Is the board ready for that leader? A growth-focused ED needs a board comfortable with calculated risk. A stability-focused ED needs a board that won't mistake steadiness for stagnation. The match between the executive and the board matters as much as the match between the executive and the organization, so we assess the board's readiness honestly and tell you what we find.
Who This Is For
- Boards with a departing executive director and a search ahead of them: Before anyone posts that old job description, it's worth understanding where the organization is, where it's heading, and what kind of leader it needs to get there.
- 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: When you know a transition is coming, you have time to prepare for it. Doing this work early means your outgoing executive can be part of it, and the search starts from a plan rather than with a vacancy.
- Boards intending to work with a search firm who want to provide a clear, honest perspective on what the organization needs: The Transition Brief gives your board an honest picture of the organization and clear criteria to recruit against.
What's Included
The engagement runs four to six weeks, from an intake conversation to a findings session with your board. During that time, we produce the Transition Brief to help your search committee build an updated job description, job posting, and interview questions.
Intake Conversation
We start by talking with your board chair, and with your outgoing executive director when the timing allows. Those conversations help shape what we look for in the rest of the work.
Board Readiness Assessment
A structured assessment completed by the full board. It shows how prepared the board is to support the kind of leader the organization needs, and identifies where the gaps are.
Document Review
We review your strategic plan, recent financials, organizational chart, and current job description to understand how the organization runs today.
Transition Brief
The written deliverable, made up of an organizational snapshot of where you are in the lifecycle, a leadership profile of what this moment requires, and search criteria your committee can build the posting and interview questions from.
Findings Session
We spend up to 90 minutes with your board or search committee, walking through the Transition Brief and answering any questions.
Who This Isn't For
- Boards looking for an executive search firm: We prepare you for the search; we don't source, screen, or place candidates. The Transition Brief is written to help guide your search committee through developing a thorough job description and job posting, and relevant interview questions.
- Boards that have already selected an internal successor: With the hire decided, this assessment won't tell you much you can act on. Your investment is better placed in supporting that leader's first year through The Inherited Board™.
- Boards that need someone in the seat right away: If your executive has already left and the organization needs leadership now, start with Interim Executive Leadership. This planning work is included in that engagement.
- Boards without a transition on the horizon: This work is built around a real search. If you're thinking about board development more broadly, the Board Health Check is a better starting point.
Investment Details
Flat-Priced at $2,500
Invoiced at booking. Typical timeline is four to six weeks from the intake conversation to the findings session.
If you engage us for Interim Executive Leadership, Planning the Transition is included in that engagement at no additional cost.
We are governance consultants, and this engagement is a governance tool. We assess the organization, profile the leadership it needs, and prepare the board to search well. Recruiting, screening, and negotiating with candidates belongs to your search committee or a search firm. If you need a referral to one, we'll point you to firms we trust.
Not ready for a full assessment?
Start With the Guide
Our free guide, Hiring a New Executive Director? A Guide for Board Conversations, gives your board a side-by-side look at stability-focused and growth-focused leaders: when each one thrives, what board readiness looks like for each, and the warning signs of a mismatch. It's built on the same thinking as this engagement, and it's a solid first step for a board that knows a transition is coming but isn't yet ready to bring in help.