Nonprofit leadership transitions
Interim Leadership
Nonprofit leadership transitions – outgoing CEO and executive directors leaving vacancies in the top position – can be a challenging time where the organization is placed on hold. If the transition is unplanned, it can be a time of upheaval.
However, this transition can provide opportunity if a skilled Interim leader is at the helm.
Bill Hoffman and Associates (BH&A) founder Bill Hoffman understands how to fill the leadership vacancy and prepare the organization to be taken to the next level by its next leader.
There are three components to this work:
- Serving in the interim leadership position
Bill has successful experience serving as interim president for national and state nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. His leadership involves working with the board to not only maintain the status quo, but to advance the organization during its transition. - Improving systems and processes
BH&A conducts an assessment of the organization, which includes a comprehensive review of the systems and processes. The goals is to make improvements to systems and processes that can generate better outcomes. - Executive coaching and leader development
BH&A uses leadership assessments, appreciative inquiry, and organizational assessments to provide short-term guidance for the new leader to face the new challenges of the organization.
National Schools Foundation Association (NSFA) – After losing its founding Executive Director, NSFA was at a crossroads in its evolution as the nation’s largest trade association for the K-12 education foundation industry. Bill’s top priority was to prepare the organization for its next Executive Director, which included developing new systems and formalizing key processes, as well as facilitating strategic planning with the board to chart a fresh direction. The result was an NSFA primed to become a true national organization. Bill’s outcomes included substantial increases in membership and revenues.
Florida Philanthropic Network (FPN) – Bill became the Interim CEO role after the loss of FPN’s long term CEO, who left to work with their national affiliate. This was during a challenging period that included Bill addressing the following: preparing for its large annual Summit, closing the fiscal year, applying for its largest grants ever, and completing the spin-off of the Florida Policy Institute that FPN incubated.
Real leadership emanates from individuals who embrace their role to cultivate and mentor new leaders. It is through this philosophy that Bill demonstrates his capacity for true leadership. Bill served as a valuable coach and mentor to me as I grew as a new executive director to a seasoned non-profit leader. He helped me put into practice skills and knowledge that expanded my capacity as a leader to take on existing and new opportunities to strengthen my organization.
I have had the great pleasure to work with Bill closely over the past four months as he served as the interim CEO for the Florida Philanthropic Network. As board chair, I worked with Bill to understand the immediate needs of the organization and oversee the group while we were hiring our next President/CEO. Bill is amazing — he is smart, strategic, thoughtful, caring, professional, visionary and just a pleasure to work with. He is a servant leader who helped manage and support the team during this transition, and stepped in when we were right at the end of producing our largest event — our annual summit. He knew the right balance of tweaking programs and policies without changing major direction during a transition. He provided me counsel of how to handle specific issues. I have great confidence in Bill’s ability to consult with any group or entity. Thank you Bill for making the CEO transition smooth and comfortable for me, our board, our team and our members!