Perspectives
Leading Forward’s perspectives platform shares stories from the field to support and encourage more investment in equitable leadership transitions and nonprofit succession planning. If you would like to submit a blog post for consideration, please refer to the Perspective Blog Submission Guidelines.
Building Trust Before the Transition: What Funders Can Do Differently
Why are funders often the last to know about a nonprofit leadership transition? Out of fear of losing funding, grantees often hide their succession plans until the clock is ticking. In this post, CRE President & CEO Tiloma Jayasinghe challenges philanthropy to shift from oversight to partnership. Discover 4 practical ways funders can build the trust needed to turn a potential organizational crisis into an opportunity for growth.
Four Practices To Support Grantees During Leadership Transitions
Leadership change is part of every nonprofit’s life, but it can be especially challenging in today’s climate and even more so for women of color stepping into top roles in the reproductive equity field. In a new blog on our site, Jessica Williams-Szenes of Schusterman Family Philanthropies highlights four practices their Gender and Reproductive Equity team uses to stand with grantees through transitions:
Sustaining Impact: Supporting Nonprofits to Thrive During Leadership Transitions
Nonprofit organizations are the lifeblood of essential social services and positive community change, and executive leadership transitions are critical periods for them – especially during times of political, social, and economic uncertainty.
Embracing Transitions: How Funders Can Foster Stability and Growth
The Ford Foundation’s BUILD program, a 12-year, $2 billion investment focused on helping social justice organizations become stronger and more resilient, has seen and supported an unprecedented number of leadership transitions. In the last six years, about 50% of our BUILD grantee organizations have experienced a transition—some of them more than once.
While leadership transitions are often viewed by funders as destabilizing, we know that they do not have to be.
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