succession planing

Preparing for the change ahead; Effective leadership is essential for the sustainability of a nonprofit organization. Many nonprofits have been led by a long-term executive director who may also be the organization's founder. These long-term leaders are nearing the age of retirement. In 2004, The Annie E. Casey Foundation conducted a survey of 2,200 nonprofit organizations and found that 72 percent of executive leaders are representatives of the baby boom generation with 55 of the leaders over the age of 50. Additionally, they found that 65 to 78 percent of the organizations will go through an executive leadership transition in the next five years.

As baby boomers retire, competition from other sectors become more intense, and the workforce shrinks, we can expect the leadership outlook for the nonprofit sector to become more precarious. The question is how can we plan and support transitions so that we strengthen and improve the organization while passing the baton to a new leader who has the tools he or she needs to succeed.

Organizations can mitigate the impact of executive transitions by developing a succession plan, creating a transition committee, providing for interim leadership and hiring the right successor.