Dirty Work
How do we make the job of executive director more desirable? Instead of serious efforts, we offer the standard line about the position of executive director being the work of three for the salary of (less than) one. The position of executive director shouldn’t be a punchline, but it will stay that way until we do something to change it.
We are in that period in the sector’s lifespan that we knew was coming for more than a dozen years: the exodus of baby boomer executive directors. Read more
Working Without a Net
The job of executive director, particularly of the “typical” nonprofit — budget under $500,000, which is nearly ¾ of all nonprofits; to 6 employees; a board of between 12 and 19 – is a constant balancing act with no safety net. It is amazing that anyone wants this job at all!
While there are many elements to this balancing act, three seem central to job retention and, therefore, worth pointing out. Any one of them handled improperly or poorly could mean the death knoll for an Read more
