One Grant Maker's View on Succession Planning

June 14, 2009

One Grant Maker's View on Succession Planning

While foundations like to see that their grantees have planned for the departure of an executive director, many nonprofit boards make the mistake of putting in place a deputy to eventually succeed as leader, says Amy Houston, director of management assistance at the Robin Hood Foundation.

All organizations should have in place an emergency plan to cover “what happens if someone flies to Tahiti or gets put in the hospital for three months” Ms. Houston told attendees at a session of the 30th annual Fundraising Day in New York, a conference sponsored by the Greater New York Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

But beyond that, she said, cultivating a “deep bench” of staff members with the skills and support to take on a range of leadership roles will do far more to ensure an organization’s future than making sure a string of deputies are ready to take over.

“I urge you to resist that conversation of ‘You need to have five successors in line,’” said Ms. Houston. “Our groups truly can’t afford them, and those folks won’t stay around waiting for so-and-so to leave.”

The time to start looking for a replacement is once an executive has announced his or her intention to leave, said Ms. Houston.

“That’s the time to really start thinking about succession and putting in really strong search and really strong transition efforts.”

— Paula Wasley

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