Independent guidance for nonprofit boards managing the recruitment of their next chief executive.
Not every organization needs to retain an executive search firm to recruit its next chief executive. But every board undertaking this consequential responsibility deserves a thoughtful, disciplined process and a clear understanding of the leadership its organization needs.
Ford Webb Associates offers Search Advisory services to nonprofit organizations, foundations, and other mission-driven institutions that intend to manage candidate recruitment themselves while benefiting from the experience and independent judgment of a seasoned executive search consultant.
Drawing on more than three decades of recruiting chief executives across the nonprofit, philanthropic, and public sectors, we help boards assess their organization's circumstances, define their leadership requirements, structure an effective selection process, and make informed decisions about candidates.
A successful leadership transition depends on more than finding an exceptional executive. It requires creating the circumstances in which that executive can succeed.
Search Advisory allows organizations with the capacity to manage their own recruitment to benefit from experienced, independent counsel through an engagement tailored to their particular needs.
Boards conducting their own searches often have access to strong professional networks, knowledgeable staff, and the administrative resources to identify and engage prospective candidates. What they may lack is experience managing a chief executive transition.
Selecting a CEO is not simply a matter of evaluating qualifications. It involves examining the organization's priorities, understanding its challenges, reconciling differing expectations among stakeholders, and determining what kind of leadership will best advance its mission.
These questions are particularly important during periods of organizational change, financial uncertainty, or evolving governance relationships.
Search Advisory provides an experienced, independent perspective on these decisions while leaving responsibility for candidate recruitment and search administration with the organization.
Our Search Advisory work ordinarily begins with a focused, separately defined engagement to assess the organization's circumstances, leadership requirements, and readiness to undertake a chief executive search.
Through confidential conversations with board members, senior staff, and selected stakeholders, we identify the opportunities, challenges, and expectations that should inform the selection of the next leader.
This initial assessment may also reveal governance, organizational, or strategic issues that should be addressed before recruitment proceeds. When such circumstances arise, we advise the board on the changes necessary to establish a sound foundation for a successful leadership transition.
At the conclusion of this initial engagement, we discuss our findings and recommendations with the board. Together, we can determine whether to proceed with board-led recruitment, address important organizational issues first, consider a comprehensive search, or arrange additional Search Advisory assistance under a separate agreement.
The objective is not simply to help a board conduct a search. It is to help ensure that the organization is ready to make an effective appointment—and to support the leader it selects.
Following the initial assessment, additional advisory assistance may be arranged by mutual agreement. Depending on the organization’s needs, that work may include:
We begin by engaging board members, senior staff, and selected stakeholders in confidential conversations about the organization's strengths, challenges, aspirations, and leadership needs. The objective is to develop a shared understanding of the institution the next executive will inherit and the mandate that will guide the appointment.
We help the board translate its assessment into a substantive position profile, identifying the experience, competencies, judgment, and personal qualities most relevant to the organization's circumstances. We also advise on the structure of the search, the responsibilities of the search committee, compensation considerations, recruitment strategies, and the process for evaluating candidates.
Throughout the recruitment process, we serve as an independent resource to the board and search committee. Our assistance may include developing screening criteria, designing interviews, establishing evaluation methods, addressing differences in committee perspectives, and helping members reach informed judgments.
Finalist interviews should be substantive conversations about the organization's future, not simply reviews of professional accomplishments. We help boards engage candidates in discussions about the circumstances they would inherit, the strategies they would pursue, and the opportunities and risks associated with their approaches. We may also advise on reference inquiries, candidate comparisons, and the final selection decision.
The appointment of a new CEO is the beginning of a leadership transition, not its conclusion. We help boards clarify expectations, establish the incoming executive's mandate, define early priorities, and consider the governance and organizational relationships necessary for a successful transition.
Search Advisory is distinct from a comprehensive retained executive search.
The organization assumes responsibility for identifying and contacting prospective candidates, managing applications, scheduling interviews, administering the recruitment process, and maintaining communications with applicants.
Ford Webb provides strategic guidance, independent assessment, and counsel at important decision points, without assuming responsibility for managing the search itself.
This division of responsibilities allows organizations with the necessary internal capacity to conduct their own recruitment while drawing on professional expertise where it can make the greatest difference.
Search Advisory may be especially appropriate for organizations that:
A comprehensive search may be more appropriate when an organization needs extensive national candidate development, confidential recruitment, independent outreach to prospective candidates, or professional management of the entire selection process.
We help boards consider which approach best meets their circumstances and resources.
The initial organizational assessment is a defined engagement in its own right. It produces findings and recommendations that have value whether or not Ford Webb is retained for further assistance.
If both parties decide to continue, a separate advisory engagement can cover development of a position profile and search strategy, scheduled consultation with the search committee, finalist evaluation, or transition planning.
For each engagement, we establish the scope, deliverables, responsibilities, and fixed professional fee at the outset. No further work is presumed or required.
The advisory scope is designed around the organization’s capacity and the assistance it needs, rather than the management of a complete executive search.
Ford Webb Associates has recruited hundreds of chief executives and senior leaders for nonprofit organizations, foundations, universities, advocacy organizations, and government institutions across the country.
Our experience encompasses organizations of widely differing missions, sizes, and circumstances—from local human services providers to national advocacy institutions and complex public agencies.
Across these engagements, we have learned that the quality of a leadership appointment depends as much on the clarity of the organization's expectations and its readiness for change as on the qualifications of the individual selected.
Search Advisory extends that experience to boards that choose to manage their own recruitment.
Whether you are preparing for a retirement, responding to an unexpected departure, or considering how best to recruit your next chief executive, we welcome a conversation.
We can help determine whether Search Advisory or a comprehensive executive search is the more appropriate approach for your organization.
Contact Ford Webb Associates