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"It can take a good year (or two) for a new executive to learn everything about the nonprofit, from operations to processes to donor relationshipsespecially if they hire 'from away.' And discerning donors may take a 'wait and see' attitude before making new contributions, cheering for the organization but wanting to see how the new leadership fits in."
That's the advice of a Maine nonprofit's outgoing executive director, who writes in the Kennebec Journal of the importance of having a "strategic plan" in place before an executive's departure.
"Based on my three decades of service in the nonprofit sector, I would like to offer three tips for maximizing the good parts of transitions while minimizing the riskier parts," writes Susan Rovzar.
Among them: "Build a strategic plan for the organization's long-term sustainability."
A strategic plan "embodies the organization's vision, priorities, goals, as well as the activities, metrics, and resources required to accomplish its mission," writes Rovzar.
"Will there be time for a search process and overlap so knowledge sharing can occur and gaps can be minimized?...
If the organization need to hire an interim executive director to cover any gaps in professional leadership? If so, how do
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A customized collection of news from foundations from around the Web.
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When Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah started Studio One Eighty Nine in 2013, they hoped to use fashion to change the lives of people in Africa. Instead, the social enterprise founded by the...more
"Every morning, women trek miles to gather firewood; some, in the process, get raped or, worse, even killed," Damilola Aminat Adeyemi writes on her website. "This is similar to other rural...more
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Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Social Entrepreneurs to Get Free WiFi Access
iPass, a telecommunications provider, will give free internet access to 100 non-government organizations (NGOs) for a year as they work in dangerous countries to help its poor and underserved populations.