Why Your Community Foundation Needs an Executive Search Partner

At The Moran Company, we partner with Community Foundations to hire CEOs and other leadership positions. This is a high-stakes endeavor because the individual has a big impact on assets under management and donor relationships. Effective Community Foundation leaders must relate to stakeholders ranging from farmers to retired CEOs while managing staff, working with a board, and understanding the nuances of assets under management. It’s a job that requires a special person, and finding the right leader is no easy task.

There are three specific reasons to engage an executive search firm when looking for your Community Foundation’s next leader:

1. Candidate Recruitment

   An essential part of the search process is candidate recruitment. The candidate pool for a Community Foundation is nuanced, and the search benefits from a strong recruiting consultant to look beyond active job candidates to find passive job candidates – people who aren’t necessarily looking at job postings.

   Community Foundation assets are held in a variety of funds, but many are “donor-advised” funds. Individuals establish these funds to support philanthropy in perpetuity through their family. These funds are, in essence, family endowments. So, candidates who can work with the financial and legal issues of older adults are often sought. This may include attorneys and other financially savvy individuals. But simply being an attorney is not enough.

   The ideal Community Foundation leader needs to be able to:

   • Fundraise (increase the number of donor-advised and other funds)
   • Build trusting relationships with donors
   • Manage a volunteer board
   • Lead staff
   • Collaborate with civic leaders and nonprofits to recognize community needs
   • Oversee asset management
   • Understand donor financial and legal issues
   • Serve as the Foundation’s public face to the community

So viable candidates might also include local nonprofit leaders, United Way or private foundation leaders, leaders of family foundations or corporate foundations, or private sector professionals with a strong civic presence.

1. The last three CEOs I have recruited for Community Foundations include a hospital CFO, a university fundraiser, and a nonprofit Executive Director. Each of these individuals rounded out their portfolio of qualifications with prior roles, as well as representation in civic circles. For example, the hospital CFO I recruited had a finance background but also experience as a local elected official and active volunteer at the local prison. A skillful recruiter only uncovers well-rounded candidates like these through active and persistent outreach.

2. Candidate Evaluation

   The process of evaluating candidates requires a trained and experienced eye. The traits described above can make it difficult for a volunteer board to define and evaluate. A search firm brings expertise in assessing leadership competencies and distinguishing between someone who looks good on paper and someone who is genuinely capable of leading the Foundation.

3. A Structured Process for Stakeholder Engagement

   A successful search builds a position profile describing needed attributes through input from key stakeholders. Their combined perspectives enrich and inform the position profile. For example, an executive search recruiter may seek feedback on necessary candidate attributes from donor-advised fund holders, community professionals (attorneys, CPAs, financial planners), grantee nonprofits, and local civic leaders. This feedback ensures the position profile truly reflects the skills and attributes needed for the job.

Finding the right leader for your Community Foundation isn’t just about filling a vacancy—it is about securing the long-term stewardship of your community’s assets and trust. Partnering with an executive search firm ensures that the search will include tenacious outreach, objective candidate evaluation, stakeholder engagement and structured project management. All these aspects are needed to make a successful hire.

At The Moran Company, we bring decades of expertise to help your foundation find the leader your community deserves. Members of our team have direct experience partnering with similar organizations as nonprofit leaders and recruiters. Contact us for a free consultation to learn more about how we can help.

By Mike English, M.P.P.
CEO & Senior Search Consultant
The Moran Company
“We Find Great Nonprofit Leaders”

About the Author: With more than two decades of nonprofit leadership experience, Mike English serves as CEO and Senior Search Consultant for The Moran Company. Drawing on his background as a former nonprofit executive, Mike guides organizations nationwide through successful recruitment efforts for C-suite positions. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Network of Nonprofit Search Consultants (NNSC). Read more about our team.