Leadership transitions are moments of great opportunity—opportunity for an organization’s leaders to assess strategic priorities, and to ensure they are serving their missions most effectively. Transitions are also moments of uncertainty. Whether an organization is experiencing a planned transition or a more sudden one, they can all benefit from an executive search that aligns stakeholders around a shared vision.
Benefactor Group’s Executive Search and Talent team can help your organization not only survive—but thrive—during your next leadership transition.
Our first step is to understand your organization’s vision for your incoming leader, and from that, create the profile of your ideal candidate. Together, we answer three fundamental questions:
Engaging your stakeholders in this process creates deep alignment to your vision and goals. It also allows us to provide candidates with a realistic preview of your organization. Our process prevents surprises during onboarding and supports long-term retention.
Your candidate pool should reflect the diversity of your organization and the individuals you serve. We identify exceptional candidates by conducting labor market research, building a comprehensive market map, employing online research, and leveraging our national nonprofit and business networks.
We treat your candidates with the highest care and attention—just as you steward your donors. We assess candidates through a series of in-depth behavioral interviews: the first focusing on experience and interest in the role, and the second focusing on alignment with the core competencies for success.
We present a slate of exemplary candidates with the skills, interests, and experience necessary for success. Our team will support you at every step—interview scheduling and candidate stewardship, questionnaire creation, interview training, and decision coaching—through a transparent, equitable process that mitigates the impact of implicit bias. When your finalist has been identified, we complete final reference checks and assist with offer negotiation.
Day one is only the beginning. We will remain a resource to you and your incoming leader, drawing on the strategic planning, governance, and fundraising expertise of our full firm to support your organization’s continued success.
The work and end product produced by our Benefactor team provided substantial savings in time and resource allocation. Their work will enable us to follow a solid plan which will create a stronger Foundation in terms of funds raised and relationships built. Most importantly, the new plan will increase the number of people served who are in need of care and assistance.
When Music Columbus needed a new Executive Director, they turned to Benefactor Group. See how a structured, transparent nonprofit executive search process delivered the right leader for their mission in this lively interview.
A great executive search does more than find the right person. It sets them up to succeed. Learn how radical transparency in nonprofit executive search prevents costly surprises and builds lasting leadership.
Will multiple transitions and financial uncertainty jeopardize a search process, or will they become an asset to allow an incoming leader to make their mark? The answer depends on the situation. Success is much more likely with clarity about roles and accountability, a data-driven plan with flexibility to account for financial and political uncertainty, and a realistic preview for prospective candidates. When having conversations with clients in these situations, we ask a few key questions. Click here to find out what they are.
