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In addition to the individual client service work that Leading Transitions
performs, Mindy Lubar Price, the President & CEO is very proud to have
founded, and continues to lead, the Executive Transitions Initiative (ETI)
in Wisconsin. This project is truly groundbreaking and very rare among other
cities in the country.
Executive Transition is one issue that impacts every type of nonprofit, large
or small, and with any type of mission. One of the primary goals of ETI
is to create systemic change in nonprofits whereby executive directors, boards
of directors and funders value and support the importance of effective
executive transition management (as opposed to the more limited search and hire
approaches). There is no time more risky and uncertain than when a leader leaves
without a succession plan. In fact, when nonprofit board members are interviewed
about what they most dislike about their volunteer work, they most frequently
cite fund raising and hiring an executive director. What is often overlooked
during executive change is the unique opportunity to build donor confidence in
the organization, decrease board isolation, and transform the organization in
preparation for the future.
Foundations have a vested interest in strengthening leadership and organizational
capacity within Milwaukee ’s nonprofit community to prepare for the upcoming
wave of executive director transitions. Executive transition management will
provide for more effective transitions in the short term and more successful
organizations in the long term. The ETI will continue to be a resource and a
conduit to advance the practice of transition management into the culture of
Milwaukee nonprofits.
Key findings from a national study of nonprofit executive leadership conducted by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in 2006 indicate the following:
- Annually, 9% of executives leave their jobs.
- 75% of executives expect to leave their current job within 5 years. Those staying tend
to be in larger organizations.
- 34% of executives are eventually fired or forced out of the job.
- Only 29% of executives have discussed a succession plan with their boards.
Local data from a survey, that was funded by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation,
of nonprofit executive directors in Milwaukee , Waukesha , Washington and Ozaukee
in 2004 indicates that same trends as the national data:
- 66% of nonprofit organizations
are likely to experience an executive transition within five years in comparison
with 56% over the past 10 years.
- Responding organizations
with smaller operating budgets—under $500,000—are more likely to
lose their executive directors over the next five years than are large organizations
with budgets over $2 million.
- Only 1 – 2 % of
those responding indicated that they had some type of succession plan; 35% indicated
that the reason they did not have a plan was because they had not thought of
it.
This research helped frame and solidify our concerns regarding nonprofit leadership
development and retention and served as a wake up call to technical assistance
providers, funders, and boards of directors. The overall purpose of this
project is to increase knowledge regarding the impact of leadership transitions
in the nonprofit community and influence systemic change whereby executive directors,
boards of directors, and other funders value and support the importance of proactive
and effective executive transition management.
Three years ago the Donors Forum of Wisconsin, the Brico Fund, the Davis Family
Foundation, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and others invested in the development
of a new project designed to increase awareness of the nature of executive transitions
within nonprofits in the greater Milwaukee area. We have learned a lot
over the past four years. The Project Director, Mindy Lubar Price, worked
with national organizations as well as local nonprofit organizations to develop
and implement the project and its components. During the past six months,
ETI project staff reviewed the progress of the project to date, created a two
year plan (2007 – 2008) and transitioned itself from the Donors Forum of
Wisconsin to the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. The goal of this transition
is to increase web-based education, expand outreach to nonprofits receiving funding
from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and other foundations, and explore a permanent
home for training on executive transitions and succession planning for nonprofit
organizations.
The ETI is working to increase awareness of the need for succession planning,
to develop technical assistance workshops for executives, boards and funders
to build capacity and increase the intention of nonprofits to make changes regarding
their preparedness for future transitions. The long term outcome of ETI is to
strengthen leadership and organizational capacity within Milwaukee ’s nonprofit
community to prepare for the upcoming wave of executive director transitions.
ETI is collaborating with several individuals, organizations and foundations
to provide information and resources on issues related to executive transitions,
at low or no cost . This program is unique in the community at this point, but
we would like to encourage nonprofit organizations, funders, and consultants
to utilize the materials, research, and web-based information to start their
own executive transition process.
Mindy Lubar Price
Project Manager, Executive
Transition Initiative of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation
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