Leadership in nonprofit organizations is graying. And I don't mean that they are only using one crayon from the box ... Generally speaking, executive leadership of established nonprofits (those in existence 10 years or more) is reaching retirement age.
Which isn't a surprise, since the Boomer generation has hit that threshold, too.
But what it signals is the need for succession planning.
Here in Atlanta, there have been a number of recent, notable retirements (and one that is more like Brett Favre! more about that in a moment). Chronologically, some of these big changes are:
United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta's Mark O'Connell retired last year, after a very successful career guiding the organization. He was succeeded by Milton Little, a United Way exec from Pennsylvania.
Atlanta Union Mission's David Coleman announced his retirement earlier in 2008; the organization initiated a search and has just announced the hiring of a new President & CEO, Jim Reese.
Jerry Tipton of The Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta announced his pending retirement. A search will begin soon.
Patricia Showell, who has led Familes First for over 23 years, will also be retiring. Another search ...
What is interesting ... no "inside candidates" won any of these searches. And that's despite having some very good management within these organizations.
And at Junior Achievement of Georgia, longtime leader Donna Buchanan retired ... only to take on a new role as Chief Operating Officer of United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta! Yes, this is the Brett Favre look-alike that I mentioned earlier.
But Donna's retirement, er, career change, occurred because JA's management and the board had looked at their situation and planned ahead. They hired Jack Harris with the intent that he would be groomed to take the leadership position upon Donna's retirement. After three years, Donna and the board knew that they had the right person in place, making Donna's decision an easy one.
Most corporations do some form of succession planning as part of the annual employee review process. Some are more rigorous about this - GE being a prominent example - and others view it as a task to complete when key executives move in/out of the company.
In the nonprofit world, the Board should lead this effort - and insist upon reviewing at least the top 5 positions or roles to ensure that each position has a plan for turnover. For example, the roles that should have a succession plan include
Executive Director or President/CEO Chief Financial Officer Chief Development Officer Chief Operations Officer (program management and service delivery) Human Resources
That's not to say that other positions aren't key ... such as Information Technology, but to recognize that an organization needs to find people for these roles who are enthusiastic about the mission and goals of the organization.
The plan can be as simple as an org chart, listing potential internal candidates for each position; it can be as complex as having outside consultants manage the process and make recommendations.
For a funder, this is an important issue and ought to be high on the criteria for funding an organization. Knowing that an organization has a plan for turnover and changes in executive leadership gives confidence when making donations or sponsoring the organization.
So, do tell ... does your organization have a succession plan? Are you going to put it on the to-do list this year?
Funders - does it make a difference in your decision-making process?
