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.
When the Village Shows Up: Rethinking How Philanthropy Supports Transitions
When a baby is on the way, families and friends don’t wait and see. They show up early with support, casseroles, and care. Funders know how to support programs, but not organizational and leadership transitions. And right now, movements are full of them.
Periods of Solidarity and Renewal: When Funders Invest in the Full Arc of Leadership Transitions
Executive transitions don't begin and end with a leadership search. In this installment of our “Partnering to Support Leadership Transitions” series, Linda Nguyen of Movement Talent outlines practical ways foundations can step in as vital partners. Discover how funding the full transition arc and leading with flexibility helps community-based organizations protect their long-term sustainability.
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.
Change Happens: Make It Matter
Quickly into my time here at NPAG, I observed that the nonprofit organizations who were most in need of transition support didn’t have the resources to partner with us or any external consultants. We would often hear from a nonprofit in desperation after they have attempted to conduct an executive search on their own, using a tremendous amount of internal staff time and resources. I started to wonder what tools and resources are available to nonprofits in times of leadership transition. Outside of search firms, who else is in this ecosystem of leadership transition work? Who is funding nonprofit organizations who are most in need of transition support? This led me to reach out to Bipasha Ray at Leading Forward, a funder community whose work is dedicated to shifting practices in philanthropy and nonprofits to more effectively support leadership transitions and succession planning for nonprofits. Here’s a bit of my recent conversation with Bipasha:
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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