Ingrid Kirst Consulting
Nonprofit Leadership Transition Consultant
The question of who will lead an organization into the future is a pivotal one. Should you hire a known quantity from within, or conduct an external search? If you have a potential internal successor, navigating the process requires careful consideration of several key factors. In my experience with ED searches, I have seen that regardless of which path you follow, step one is vital.
[Read more…] about Beyond the Heir Apparent: Nonprofit Leadership Searches
Imagine knowing exactly what keeps your best employees engaged and motivated. Not guessing but truly understanding their needs and aspirations. While exit interviews reveal why people leave, stay interviews unlock the secrets to why they stay—and how to help them stay even longer. It’s a proactive approach, a chance to address small frustrations before they become major roadblocks, and a powerful tool for building a culture where everyone thrives.
Stay Interview: a focused conversation between an employee and their manager to illuminate what strengthens their commitment to the organization and identify areas for improvement.
[Read more…] about The Retention Tool You’re Missing: Stay Interviews
On this episode of the Agency for Change podcast, I chatted with host Lyn Wineman about changes in nonprofits and how we can navigate them better.
We talk about interim EDs, surprise board chair changes, staff turnover, and much more.
Take a listen here or anywhere you get your podcasts.
My original quote that I shared with Lyn on this episode: “Change brings both opportunities and challenges. Use the power of transition to transform your organization.”
Engaging a professional executive search consultant can offer substantial cost benefits. This was borne out in a recent collaboration with a nonprofit board that had initially attempted to find a new executive director on their own. After months of stress, no candidates were found who were right for the position, prompting the board to enlist my expertise. I helped them find multiple highly-qualified candidates and they hired their top choice.
[Read more…] about Sometimes It’s Cheaper to Hire a Search ConsultantAs your organization grows, you will develop the best ways to carry out every aspect of your work. Sometimes these are nonprofit best practices. Other times, they are simply the methods your bookkeeper or funder wants you to use. The more of these procedures you develop, the more important it is to document them.
In addition, as your nonprofit grows, more staff will be taking care of different duties, and no single staff person will know how to do everything. Everyone needs to document their work.
This documentation has a wide range of uses. First, when you take a vacation, it makes it much easier for others to cover for you. Imagine how much easier it would be to prepare to leave for a two-week trip if you have all your day-to-day tasks already documented. Second, when you leave your position, it will be much easier to hand things off and know that the organization will be in good hands moving forward. Third, documenting this information will allow you to see where you can delegate tasks. If you can train someone on a task now, why not have them take it on permanently? Finally, having this documentation will help you to be more efficient. In creating the manual, you’ll be able to think through your regular tasks and find ways to do your job more efficiently and effectively. You’ll also have all the information you need documented in one place. For example, you’ll have instructions on how to fill out that complicated form you have to fill out only once a year. [Read more…] about Crafting an Operating Manual for Your Organization
You’ve started your nonprofit organization and it has grown with the help of an amazing team of volunteers. But now it is getting too successful. You and your fellow volunteers have full-time jobs and can’t devote the time to the nonprofit that it needs. What’s the next step? Hiring someone is a big decision and has the possibility of growing the organization significantly. But it also comes with a lot of challenges as the current board and volunteers are used to doing things their way and need to be ready to let someone else take over.
Hiring that first staff person can make a tremendous difference for your organization. It levels up your work in a way that is hard to imagine in advance. Having paid staff means you have someone with the time to devote to the work and to building relationships in the community. It also means someone who has professional experience in nonprofits or who has the time to dedicate to learning about how nonprofits best work. And finally, having paid staff often leads to more stability in your organization as compared to an all-volunteer group. Funders and potential partners will take your organization more seriously if you have paid staff – they know you are going to be around and doing the work long-term. [Read more…] about Hiring the First Executive Director for Your Organization
