Hiring an executive director: running the search

This guide is for boards hiring an executive director, whether it's the charity's first paid leader or a replacement for someone who is leaving. Hiring the director is one of the most important decisions a board makes, and many small boards do it only once or twice. After reading, you'll know how to organize the search, set fair pay, run a process that is fair to every candidate, check references properly, and support the new director through the first year.

If this is your first paid employee of any kind, also read hiring your first employee for the payroll and tax paperwork. If your director is leaving, start with succession planning.

Before you start

• Agree what the charity needs next. Look at your plan for the next three years. Do you need a builder, a fundraiser, a steady manager, someone to fix the finances? The answer shapes the whole search.
• Decide on interim cover. If the post is empty, name an interim director, a board member or a part-time consultant, and set a time limit.
• Check the budget. Pay, benefits, payroll taxes, recruitment costs and, ideally, a few months of overlap or handover.
• Talk to staff. Tell them what's happening and how they'll be involved. Uncertainty is hard for a small team.

Form a search committee

The full board makes the final decision, but a small search committee does the work.

• Three to five people: board members with time and good judgment, perhaps one trusted outside person, such as a director from another charity. Staff can give input, but shouldn't choose their own boss.
• A clear charge: what the committee does, by when, and what it brings back to the board, usually two or three finalists or one recommendation.
• Confidentiality: candidates often haven't told their current employer. Keep names and discussions inside the committee.
• Conflicts of interest: anyone with a personal or business tie to a candidate declares it and steps out of decisions about that person. See our conflict of interest policy template.

Write the job and set the pay

• Write a job description with the purpose of the role, the main responsibilities, what success looks like in the first year, and the skills and experience that truly matter. Our job description template helps, including the federal overtime rules and equal-opportunity wording.
• Set the pay range before you advertise, using data on what similar charities pay similar roles. The Form 990 instructions ask, on Part VI, line 15a, whether the process for setting the top management official's pay included review and approval by independent people, use of comparability data, and contemporaneous documentation of the deliberation and decision. Our guide to paying people fairly explains why that matters.
• Check your state's rules. California, for example, requires the board, or an authorized committee, to review and approve the pay of the president or chief executive officer and the treasurer or chief financial officer when they're hired, when their term is renewed or extended, and when their pay changes, according to the Attorney General's Guide for Charities. Other states have their own rules.

Find candidates

• Advertise widely, not just through board members' networks: local nonprofit job boards, community groups, professional associations, and networks that reach people of different backgrounds.
• Use fair wording. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says it's illegal to publish a job ad that shows a preference for, or discourages, someone from applying because of a protected characteristic, such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. Describe the work, not the person.
• Say the pay range and how to apply, and give a closing date.
• Consider internal candidates fairly, with the same process as everyone else.

A fair, consistent process

1. Screen applications against the criteria you set before you saw any names.
2. First interviews, often by video, with the same core questions for everyone.
3. Finalist interviews with the committee, a chance to meet staff and, if suitable, a few key partners.
4. The work exercise, the same for all finalists.
5. Debrief against the criteria, not on gut feeling alone. Write down why each finalist did or didn't meet each one.

Ask about experience and behavior: "Tell us about a time you had to cut a budget," not personal questions about family, health, religion or age. Offer adjustments for any candidate who needs them to take part.

References and checks

• Check references for your top candidate before an offer, or make the offer conditional on them. Ask the candidate's permission, and speak to people who have supervised them, worked for them and worked with them.
• Verify key facts: past roles, and any degree or license the job requires.
• Background checks: if you use a screening company, federal law sets rules, including giving the candidate written notice in a stand-alone document and getting their written permission. Our volunteer application template explains the basics; check your state's rules too.
• Search the public record sensibly: news coverage, and their public statements, for anything that would affect the charity's reputation.

The offer

• The board approves the hire and the pay at a meeting, with conflicted members stepping out, and records the decision, the pay and the data used in the minutes. Our compensation approval minute shows how.
• Put the offer in writing: title, start date, pay, benefits, who the director reports to (the board, usually through the chair), how and when they'll be reviewed, and any conditions such as references.
• Tell the other finalists promptly and kindly once the offer is accepted.

After the hire

• Plan the first 90 days with the new director: who to meet, what to learn, and early goals. See onboarding new staff.
• Name one board contact, usually the chair, for regular check-ins.
• Update the paperwork. Bank signers, state filings and, if the new director becomes the charity's IRS "responsible party," Form 8822-B. The IRS says changes in responsible parties must be reported within 60 days.
• Agree goals and a review date. Our executive director review template gives the board a fair way to review the director each year.
• Thank the people who helped, including the interim leader and the search committee.

Search checklist

• The board agreed what the charity needs from its next director
• Interim leadership is in place, with a time limit
• A search committee has a written charge and a timeline
• The pay range was set using comparability data before advertising
• The job ad uses fair wording and was shared beyond our own networks
• Every finalist had the same interview questions and work exercise
• References were checked with the candidate's permission
• The board approved the hire and pay at a meeting and recorded it in the minutes
• Bank signers, state filings and the IRS responsible party are updated