Leadership Succession Planning = Stronger Nonprofit Board

Does your nonprofit board struggle to find strong leaders ready to step into open positions or roles?
Has the departure of a board member caused turbulence on your board?
Is your board overly dependent on one or two board members?

Sounds like you need a board leadership succession plan.

Board succession is necessary for stronger governance and leadership, as well as board sustainability. Yet boards too often create risk and vulnerability because they don’t have an intentional strategy for leadership succession.

Intentional succession planning avoids this by readying nonprofits and their boards to:

• Respond nimbly to strategic changes that have created new leadership needs
• Prepare for and navigate transitions as they happen (rather than as an afterthought)
• Recruit more effectively (thanks to a deeper understanding of roles that need to be filled and skills associated with those roles)
• Identify members interested in leadership roles
• Move those interested members into more active leadership through a progressive process

All of this speaks to why board leadership development needs to be a core organizational activity, rather than an ad hoc process — and why leadership succession planning done well is a continuum of activities, not a one-and-done.

Here are five steps for forming a board leadership succession plan and process:

#1 Engage Your Governance Committee. Task the governance committee with recommending criteria for board composition, gaining an understanding of members’ skills and capabilities and leading the search for candidates.

#2 Assess Potential Vacancies. Annually review upcoming and potential vacancies. Planned vacancies are easy to stay on top of, but emergency planning (on top of an existing board leadership succession plan) can be a lifesaver when faced with an unplanned vacancy.

#3 Create Job Descriptions for Board Leadership Roles. Doing so will make it easier to identify the right candidates and will also speed the process without having to make compromises. In other words, your board should never have to scramble to figure out its needs.

#4 Recruit Talented Individuals. Look at your board members to determine who has the skills needed to lead the organization. Additionally, task the governance committee with outlining a process for internal leadership cultivation.

#5 Start with Onboarding. Create an onboarding plan for leadership roles to help new board leaders perform at a higher level sooner. Clearly outline the responsibilities and expectations. Make sure your plan includes assessing each new leader’s progress closely so you can step in with additional support if needed. The last thing you want is for gaps between performance and expectations to chip away at the strength of your board.