Lincoln Bike Kitchen (LBK) was an organization in need of a major transition. With no staff members previously, the functioning of the nonprofit relied heavily on the dedication of its board members for all administrative and operational tasks. The Lincoln Bike Kitchen’s mission to repair donated bicycles and provide them to the community was supported by a strong volunteer base that preferred to wrench on bikes rather than manage spreadsheets. Recognizing the limitations this model presented, the board concluded that hiring staff was the essential next step towards organizational growth. At the same time, they were embarking on a capital campaign as part of an upcoming move to a larger location and needed staff support to manage the campaign details. LBK hired me as their interim executive director to help them reach their goals.
Upon joining, I met with board members to assess the needs at LBK. My agenda prioritized not only tangible improvements such as software implementation but also a cultural shift within the board to adapt to a staff-led management approach.
I set up the Bike Kitchen’s first donor database and populated it with donor information from the previous three years, after extensively cleaning the data. This enabled the Capital Campaign Committee to identify and communicate with their top donors. I also developed procedures to track and recognize donations throughout the campaign.
Another important change was switching to using QuickBooks from spreadsheets for financial management. With construction and adding staff, a spreadsheet was no longer sufficient to track all transactions and they were ready to make the change. Together with a volunteer, we set up a chart of accounts appropriate for a small organization and began tracking all income and expenses.
These were two of the concrete steps I took to prepare the organization to grow. In addition, I focused my work on helping the board transition its role from directly managing all aspects of the nonprofit to a governance-based model overseeing an executive director who would be in charge. I also implemented various changes to smooth the way for the new executive director as I anticipated that this person wouldn’t have prior ED experience.
Some of the steps I took included:
- Establishing regular board meetings, board packets, and board agendas
- Updating bylaws and ensuring compliance with existing term limits
- Trainings at board meetings about the upcoming changes with a permanent ED and how the board and an ED could work together successfully
- Drafting fiscal policies and personnel policies
After I led the board through the hiring process, I encouraged the board and ED to work together on setting mutual goals and an evaluation process for the new ED.
Along the way, I was reminded of many lessons I’ve learned. As always, it takes longer than you think. I was in the position for about seven months. I made great progress on many fronts and helped the Bike Kitchen complete its capital campaign but wished I had more time to help build consensus about what the new ED’s role would be. Toward the end of my time, we were focused on wrapping up the capital campaign, planning for the move and selecting the new ED, and there was little time for anything else.
I had hoped to help LBK implement improved bike tracking and communication systems but that proved to be a bigger task than we anticipated. There weren’t solutions in place that we could implement right away.
Nevertheless, my contributions, particularly in financial acumen, non-profit governance expertise, and administrative management, were well-received by the board members. While my tenure may have been brief, the groundwork laid has paved the way for the Lincoln Bike Kitchen’s continued growth.
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Are you looking to transition your organization to having its first staff member? Or do you need to focus on a different kind of transition? Contact me to discuss ideas.
Partnering with an outside search consultant to hire the next executive director allows the board to focus on leading the organization, and on choosing the best candidate, rather than getting bogged down in the details of the search. Too often, boards try to do everything themselves, not realizing until it is too late how much time a search takes, and how different it is from a corporate hire. The executive director is the most important position in the organization and putting in the necessary time to get it right will save everyone time and frustration later on.
