Guides · For boards

How to hire an executive director

Updated October 3, 2026

Hiring an executive director is the biggest decision most boards make. It's also one most board members have never done. This guide walks through it in order, from the day you learn your ED is leaving to the end of the new ED's first 90 days.

It's written for small and mid-sized nonprofits, where the board runs the search with no HR team and often no search firm.

The short version

Plan for the gap.
Form a search committee.
Listen before you write.
Write an honest profile and job post.
Decide if you need a search firm.
Get the word out widely.
Screen against criteria you wrote down first.
Interview everyone the same way.
Check references with stories, not ratings.
Make the offer, and tell everyone who applied.
Plan the first 90 days together.

Most searches take four to six months from start to first day. Budget for that, and be glad if it goes faster.

1. Plan for the gap

Before you write a job post, decide how the org will run without an ED. Name who makes daily decisions, who signs checks, and who talks to funders. Write it down and share it with staff.

If the gap will be more than a couple of months, consider an interim ED. A good interim keeps the work steady and gives the board room to search without rushing. Some interims also help fix problems the next ED shouldn't inherit.

Tell your major funders early and plainly. A short call saying "our ED is leaving, here's our plan" builds trust. Silence makes people worry.

2. Form a search committee

Pick four to seven people. Most should be board members. Choose a chair who has time for this and can keep things moving.

Think about who else should have a voice. A staff member on the committee, or a staff advisory group, helps candidates see the org as it is. Someone who knows the community you serve helps you see what the org needs.

Agree on a few things before you start:

Who makes the final decision. Usually the full board votes on the committee's recommendation.
What stays confidential. Candidate names and what's said in interviews stay in the room.
How you'll make decisions. Consensus, majority vote, or something else.
What each person will do and how much time it takes.

Anyone with a conflict of interest, like a friend or family member who plans to apply, should say so now and step back.

3. Listen before you write

Don't start with the last ED's job description. Start by asking what the org needs next.

Send a few short questions to staff, close partners, people you serve, and a few funders. Keep it to three or four questions. For example:

What should the next ED keep doing?
What should change?
What's the hardest thing the next ED will face in their first year?
What kind of person would you want to work with?

Read the answers as a committee. Look for what comes up again and again. That's the core of your profile.

4. Write an honest profile and job post

A leadership profile describes the org, the moment it's in, and what the ED will do. The job post is the shorter version people see first. Both should be plain and specific.

Say what the job really is. Name the two or three things the next ED must do in their first two years. Grow revenue past a certain point. Lead staff through a hard change. Rebuild trust with a community. Be honest about the hard parts. The right candidates want to know.

List real requirements only. Every requirement cuts people out. Ask of each one: would we really turn down a great candidate without it? A degree is often not needed. Neither is a set number of years. Describe what the person needs to be able to do instead.

Post the pay range. Many states and cities now require it. Post it even where it isn't required. It saves everyone time, and it's fairer. People who don't know to ask are often the ones who get underpaid.

To set the range, look at what similar orgs pay. Every nonprofit's IRS Form 990 lists pay for its top staff. Compare orgs with a budget and cause like yours, in your region.

Describe how you'll hire. Say what the steps are, roughly how long they take, and when people will hear back. Then keep that promise.

5. Decide if you need a search firm

A search firm brings a network, a process, and someone whose job is to run the search. Retained firms often charge a share of the new ED's first-year pay, commonly a quarter to a third, plus costs. That's out of reach for many small orgs.

A firm is worth considering when:

The board doesn't have time to run a search well.
The role is hard to fill or the field is small.
The org is in a crisis and needs an outside voice.

If you use a firm, ask how they find candidates beyond their usual network, how they'll keep your committee informed, and what happens if the hire doesn't work out.

If you run the search yourselves, that's normal. Most small nonprofits do. The rest of this guide assumes you are.

6. Get the word out widely

Where you post decides who applies. If you post only where your board already looks, you'll hear from people like your board.

Post on general nonprofit boards and on boards for senior roles. See where executive director jobs get posted.
Post on boards for your cause and your region.
Send it to affinity networks and associations. Some community spaces have their own norms about who posts and how. Read them first. See job spaces for specific communities.
Ask your staff, partners, and funders to share it.
Reach out to people directly. A personal note saying "I thought of you" brings in people who weren't looking.

Leave the post open for at least three to four weeks.

7. Screen against criteria you wrote down first

Before you read a single application, agree on what you're looking for. Use the profile. Turn it into five or six criteria, and write what strong, okay, and weak look like for each.

Then:

Have at least two people read each application.
Score against the criteria, not against each other.
Talk about evidence. "She led a merger" is evidence. "He seems like a fit" is not.
Watch for stand-ins for things that shouldn't count, like where someone went to school, gaps in work history, or a name.

Skip "culture fit." It usually means "like us." If you care about how someone works, name the specific things, like "shares credit" or "tells the board bad news early," and look for evidence of them.

Every applicant hears back. Send a short, kind note to people who aren't moving forward. Do it within a week or two of your decision. It costs you little and it matters a lot to them. Many of them are your donors, partners, and neighbors.

8. Interview everyone the same way

Plan two or three rounds. A common pattern:

A short first call with 8 to 12 people.
A longer committee interview with 4 to 6.
Finalist visits with 2 or 3. They meet staff, a few partners, and the full board.

Write your questions ahead of time and ask every candidate the same ones. Ask about real situations: "Tell us about a time you had to cut a budget. What did you do, and how did you tell staff?" Write a short scoring guide for each question so everyone rates answers the same way.

Give candidates a chance to ask their own questions. Their questions tell you a lot.

If you want to see someone's work, keep the exercise short and related to the real job. If it takes more than an hour or two, pay them for it.

Tell finalists about the org's real state, including the finances and the hard parts. A hire who's surprised in month two is a hire who leaves in year two.

9. Check references with stories, not ratings

Most reference checks ask, "Would you hire them again?" and get a yes. Ask for stories instead:

Tell me about a time they had to deliver hard news.
What's something they changed their mind about?
How did they handle a staff member who wasn't doing well?
What should their next board know to support them?

Talk to a former board chair, a peer, and someone who reported to them. Ask the candidate before you contact anyone they didn't list.

10. Make the offer and close the loop

Have the board chair make the offer by phone, then in writing. Be ready to discuss pay within the range you posted, start date, and anything the candidate needs to make the move.

Once it's accepted:

Tell the other finalists personally before the news is public.
Send a note to everyone else who applied.
Thank the committee and everyone who gave input.
Announce it to staff first, then partners and funders, then the public.

11. Plan the first 90 days together

The search isn't over on the first day. A lot of new EDs struggle not because they were the wrong hire, but because no one helped them start.

Before day one, agree on:

Who they'll meet in the first month, with intros from the board.
What the board expects in the first year, in writing.
How often the ED and board chair will meet. Weekly at first is common.
How and when the board will review their work.

Check in at 30, 60, and 90 days. Ask what's harder than expected and what they need from the board. Then do it.

When to get help

Call in outside help if the board is split on what the org needs, if there's conflict between staff and board, or if the org's money is in trouble. An interim ED, a transition consultant, or a search firm can help in each case. Your state's association of nonprofits can often point you to people.

Want a guide through each step? The ED Transition Kit walks your board through the search, from the day your ED says they're leaving to the new ED's first 90 days.