Finding a COO Who Can Operationalize Your Mission

One of the key tenets of a sustainable nonprofit organization is its ability to operate efficiently and effectively despite uncertain times and conditions. Adding a Chief Operating Officer can be key to a nonprofit’s success. While the CEO or Executive Director acts as the face of the organization, focusing on the external mission/vision and fundraising, the COO is the one who ensures the internal reality can support that vision. The COO builds the infrastructure with people, systems, policies and procedures, keeps it operating smoothly, and adjusts it to meet changing needs.

This is a challenging yet critical role requiring an experienced professional with not only education but the following skills:

• The ‘Vision to Action’ Bridge – The CEO often lives at 30,000 feet, dreaming of expansion and impact, and bringing stakeholders along for the ride. The COO lives on the ground. They must be able to take a high-level strategic plan and break it down into quarterly milestones, staffing plans, and workflows, and then implement those plans. The COO is focused on creating systems with repeatable processes to create measurable impact. They must also have an eye towards the environment and the future to anticipate and adjust to change before or as it occurs, versus reacting to it after the fact.
• Guarding the Organizational Culture – The COO is often the primary steward of the internal culture. They act as a buffer between the high-pressure demands of the board/donors and the capacity of the staff. As a result, a high EQ (Emotional Intelligence) is critical. This person must be able to implement performance metrics and accountability without causing anxiety or stripping away the ‘heart’ that brought the staff to the mission in the first place. They implement HR and IT systems that allow staff to focus on their work rather than their tools. They make the organization a place where people want to stay.
• Scaling ‘Scarcity’ into ‘Efficiency’ – For-profit COOs often solve problems by allocating significant financial resources to them. Nonprofit COOs do not have that luxury. They must solve problems through process optimization by “doing more with the same”. They must find efficiencies in cross-departmental collaboration, maximize staffing resources through training and development, and by utilizing technology. Interestingly, for-profit COOs who are trained in Lean or Six Sigma would be strong candidates for the nonprofit COO role.
• Managing the ‘Inside-Out’ Relationship – The COO is the backbone of the organization, often an unseen partner to the CEO. The most successful CEO-COO partnerships are built on a foundation of ‘complementary friction’. A great COO isn’t a ‘yes person’. They are the partner who can provide loyal opposition – challenging the CEO’s ideas in the safety of the office to ensure they are bulletproof by the time they reach the public or the Board. This relationship requires an ego-less leader or someone who is comfortable being the unsung hero, finding their satisfaction in the seamless functioning of the organization.
• Multi-Program Orchestration – A nonprofit COO often manages the operational aspects of a diverse portfolio of programs, for example, a homeless shelter, a job training program, and a youth mentorship program. These programs often have different funding sources, different compliance rules, and different ‘customers.’ The COO must be a multi-tasking generalist who can pivot easily between disparate program needs. They must prioritize systems thinking to understand how a change in one area will ripple throughout the organization. Finally, the level of organization required to manage multiple programs and their outcomes cannot be overstated.
• Risk Mitigation in the Public Eye – For a nonprofit, reputation is everything. A single operational failure (think a data breach of donor information) could end an organization. The COO acts as the nonprofit’s Chief Risk Officer, building guard rails (policies, IT, security, HR compliance) that allow the program teams to take risks safely. This requires a proactive approach regarding compliance and crisis management. They must plan ahead and react urgently when a situation arises.

Finding the right COO is about matching a personality to a partnership. You are looking for an operational strategist who possesses high emotional intelligence, a systems-thinking brain, and a servant-leader’s heart. Identifying a strong second-in-command is one of the most important investments an ED or Board can make.

If your nonprofit is looking to recruit a Chief Operating Officer, let The Moran Company help. Our firm has led numerous executive searches for key leadership roles, including COO positions. Contact us today to learn more.

By Jamie Berry, MBA
Senior Search Consultant
The Moran Company
“We Find Great Nonprofit Leaders”

About the Author: Jamie Berry is an executive leadership and finance professional with over 30 years of experience in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. She previously served as the CEO of a national museum, where she led a multi-million-dollar renovation, and has held roles as a Chief Finance and Compliance Officer and adjunct professor. Jamie is a Senior Search Consultant for The Moran Company. Read more about our team.