Plan the transition
Consider the options available when an ED leaves and the questions the board should settle before beginning its search.
A practical course for not-for-profit boards
Hiring an Executive Director
There is no perfect hiring method. But your board can use a thoughtful, reasonable process—one it understands, can explain and can adapt to the organization in front of it.
Explore the course
A big decision
Your board may be capable—and still be new to this.
Board members bring experience, judgement and good intentions to the table. They may also bring different ideas about what matters most: leadership experience, administrative skill, personality, familiarity or a confident interview.
The challenge is not finding a magic formula. It is deciding what the organization needs, creating a fair way to assess it and keeping the board’s judgement grounded in evidence.
The goal is not to guarantee the outcome. It is to make a hiring decision your board can approach with greater clarity and care.
Inside the course
Learn by following a board through the decision.
Watch a process unfold
Join a fictional board at key moments, assess candidate responses and notice what influences your own judgement.
Build a reasonable process
Connect strategy, criteria, interview questions, scoring and impartiality in an approach suited to your organization.
Who it’s for
Board members preparing to hire an ED.
Especially useful for small and mid-sized not-for-profits whose board members do not hire senior staff every day—and do not want to pretend they are HR specialists.
What you’ll explore
- How strategy shapes what the organization needs next
- How to establish and prioritize selection criteria
- How structured questions and rubrics support consistency
- How independent scoring can preserve different perspectives
- How to use judgement without surrendering to first impressions
Practical, not prescriptive
A good starting point—not a one-size-fits-all rulebook.
A small board hiring one part-time employee may use a simpler process than a large organization conducting a national search. The principles remain useful; the process should fit the task.
Make the process more deliberate
Hiring an Executive Director
A focused, self-paced course with realistic scenarios and interactive exercises for the board members responsible for the decision.