Panic-proof Your Nonprofit and Build Sustainability with a Leadership Succession Plan
I think most nonprofit leaders would tell you that their fondest hope is for their organization to still be doing wonderful, meaningful work a hundred years from today. However, the reality is that without intentional succession planning, many nonprofits cannot successfully weather even a long-term leave by a key leader.
The fact is, effective leadership is essential to nonprofits, and an unplanned for or poorly executed leadership transition comes with substantial risks. These include interruptions in program delivery, disengagement of volunteers, a loss of institutional knowledge and even a decrease in external funding. This is reason enough to plan for future transitions ahead of time, but succession planning is about more than emergencies. Succession and leadership development planning are worth your time and attention because they are key components of sustainability and have the potential to make your organization stronger and more vibrant now and into the future.
In a nutshell, succession planning is the process of identifying the critical positions within your organization and developing action plans for individuals to assume those positions. It is a written plan that will be implemented in the natural progression of leadership within your organization, or in the event key leaders leave your organization unexpectedly. In this post, I’m going to share three meaningful ways succession planning makes your nonprofit stronger, along with a few specific tactical examples of how succession planning achieves them. In conclusion, I will share two paths your nonprofit can choose to get your succession plan created.
Emergency Preparedness
The pandemic drove home how important it is to be prepared for the unexpected. The steps laid out in a succession plan are a reassuring roadmap for navigating any future crisis in leadership. Here are a few specific examples of how your succession plan prepares you:
It identifies critical positions within your nonprofit – not just the president, but also officers and committee chairs – and lays out by whom those positions will be covered in the case of planned, unplanned, temporary, and long-term leadership absences
It lays out expectations for transparency and communication: what will be communicated to key stakeholders and when
It details the search process if a replacement is necessary
Healthy Change
A succession plan can also facilitate healthy turnover in key positions. Often, internal factors contribute to the need to accelerate leadership changes within nonprofit organizations. What are those signals? See if any of this resonates with you.
Your leaders have been in place for five+ years
Your leadership cycles among just a few individuals
Your leaders are suffering burnout
Some of your board members are disengaged
Your committees are ineffective or lack leadership
Your volunteers are not meaningfully engaged
Most board members and founders have only the best intentions, but sometimes their focus can wane over time due to factors beyond their control. Others may feel stuck because they can see there is no one qualified to replace them. New and talented volunteers may become disengaged or move on if they don’t have opportunities to fully engage and ultimately lead. A succession plan gives everyone a healthy path forward.
Sustainability, Vibrancy and Growth
To achieve organizational sustainability, a process must exist within your nonprofit to continually identify, recruit, engage, and develop potential leaders. This doesn’t happen by chance and is a critical component of your succession and leadership development plan.
First, envision an ideal leadership team. What would it look like? Clearly delineate what capabilities your leadership will need to meet future challenges.
Secondly, seek new talent. Too often, nonprofit organizations recycle leaders. Plan to recruit strong leaders to your board of directors and to develop a pipeline of volunteer leaders. Assess the skills you have now and look for candidates who bring complimentary skillsets and new energy.
Third, develop your leaders. Invest in those with interest and potential. Determine where they may need to be developed and build in education and training to cultivate that development.
And finally, create a process that will enable you to keep the leadership identification, recruitment, and cultivations constant. Documenting this process is an essential component of your succession and leadership development plan.
Two Paths to a Succession and Leadership Development Plan
Because your board of directors is responsible for ensuring the long-term sustainability of your organization, including recruiting and maintaining effective leadership, your board should own responsibility for succession planning and leadership development. Beyond responsible governance, your board should be eager to pursue sufficient board succession planning for many reasons. For example,
It allows you to obtain top talent for the team.
It ensures diverse team composition, resulting in more inclusive thinking.
It maintains the balance of power on the board.
It reinforces trust with stakeholders.
It results in a more seamless transition between leaders.
In my experience, most nonprofits struggle to get a plan started. If you decide to give it a try on your own, you can find sample succession plans online, like this one, and use one of them as your starting point.
Another option would be to engage a consultant. Organizations like the More Than Giving Co. can guide you through the entire process of developing a succession plan. Committing resources to this process is a way of ensuring it will have your focus.
Regardless of the path you choose, by creating a strong succession plan you will be doing something of vital importance for the health of your organization.
Could your organization use guidance through the process of developing a succession plan?