Nonprofit Executive Transitions

"Nonprofits in the four-county Milwaukee area are likely to face an increase in the number of executive transitions over the next several years. Based on [a recent] survey, 66% of nonprofit organizations are likely to experience an executive transition within the next five years in comparison with 56% over the past 10 years.

Responding organizations with smaller operating budgets--under $500,000--are more likely to lose their executive directors over the next five years than are large organizations with budgets over $2 million. Further, 43% of community development and neighborhood revitalization nonprofits are likely to lose their executives in the next two years."--Paige Hull Teegarden

Research Summary

In the fall of 2004, 1,080 nonprofit executive directors in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties were surveyed in order to gather information about the potential scope and impact of executive leadership turnover over the next five to ten years, and to inform the further development of strategies to address the pending shift in leaders. Over 350 executive directors responded to the survey.

As part of the first national study of leadership transition in the nonprofit sector, the Milwaukee survey was one of 24 conducted nationwide. The local study was sponsored by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Donors Forum of Wisconsin and the Center for Urban Initiatives and Research and the Helen Bader Institute for Nonprofit Management at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

SURVEY REPORTS

Fugenschuh, D., Smith, J. P. and Teegarden, P.H., "Leadership Change in Nonprofit Milwaukee: Making Transitions Work." [PDF] Research and Opinion, Volume 18, Number 1, April 2005. [HTML version]

Teegarden, P.H., "Nonprofit Executive Leadership and Transitions Survey 2004: Milwaukee." Managance Consulting, 2005.

Teegarden, P.H., "Change Ahead: Nonprofit Leadership and Executive Transitions Survey 2004." Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2005. [Executive Summary]

Suggested Resources

Publications

Adams, T. "Capturing the Power of Leadership Change: Using Executive Transition Management to Strengthen Organizational Capacity." [PDF] Volume 1, Executive Transitions Monograph Series. Baltimore: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2004.

Axelrod, N.R. 2002. Chief Executive Succession Planning: The Board's Role in Securing Your Organization's Future. BoardSource.

Bridges, W. Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change. Boston: Perseus Publishing, 1991.

Gilmore, T. Making a Leadership Change: How Organizations and Leaders Can Handle Leadership Transition Successfully. Author's Choice Press, 2003.

Howe, F. 2003. The Nonprofit Leadership Team: Building the Board-Executive Director Partnership. Jossey-Bass.

Lubar Price, M. "Emergency Succession Planning for Nonprofit Organizations." Wisconsin Philanthropy News, Volume V Issue 3, 2005.

Lubar Price, M. "Succession Planning and Sustainability of Nonprofit Organizations." Wisconsin Philanthropy News, Volume VI, Issue 1, 2006.

"Managing Executive Transitions: A Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations." Washington, D.C.: Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, 1999.

"Leadership Transitions: Critical Thresholds." The Nonprofit Quarterly, Winter, 2002.

Peters, J. and Wolfred, T. Daring to Lead: Nonprofit Executive Directors and Their Work Experience. San Francisco: CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, 2001.

Pidgeon, W.P. 2004. The Not-For-Profit CEO: How to Attain and Retain the Corner Office. John Wiley & Sons.

Readington, E. and Vickers, E. "Following the Leader: A Guide for Planning Founder Director Transition." Leadership Report No. 1. Columbus: The Academy for Leadership and Governance, 2001.

Sessa, V.I. and Taylor, J.J. 2000. Executive Selection: Strategies for Success. Jossey-Bass.

Weisman, Carol and Goldbaum, R.I. 2004. Losing Your Executive Director Without Losing Your Way: The Nonprofit's Guide to Executive Turnover. Jossey-Bass.

Web Sites

Compass Point Nonprofit Services provides access to research and articles on executive transitions, as well as templates for emergency succession plans and interim executive director job descriptions.

TransitionGuides offers "transition tips" for departing executives, boards and arriving executives, along with a quarterly on-line newsletter offering step-by-step guidance on nonprofit executive transitions.