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Building Leaderful Organizations: Succession Planning for Nonprofits

The first section contains extended explanations of three approaches to succession planning: strategic leader development, emergency succession planning, and departure-defined succession planning. The second looks closely at tough issues organizations may face when planning for succession. The last…

Emergency Succession Planning

An emergency succession plan, or plan for contingencies, is developed and maintained to address circumstances related to an organization facing an unplanned event –most often the disability, death or sudden departure of key staff or board leadership. It provides needed stability and calm in a time …

Nonprofit Executive Succession-Planning Toolkit

This toolkit is a resource for nonprofit board of directors and executive leaders. It provides tools to effectively implement succession planning and overcome barriers. It includes an outline of key planning roles, readiness questions, an overview of the succession-planning process, and supplement…

Staying Engaged, Stepping Up: Succession Planning and Executive Transition Management for Nonprofit Boards of Directors

Appropriate for most nonprofits, but particularly useful for small to mid-size agencies, this publication will provide you with a set of practical tools and resources to help you engage your leadership transition issues and prepare for one of the most important decisions your board will be required…

Model Emergency Succession Plan

In this model, special emphasis is given to identifying the key leadership functions carried by the executive, identifying the agency managers best qualified to step into the executive role in an emergency, and prescribing the cross-training necessary to prepare the back-up managers to cover the le…

Model Succession Plan

Organizations can modify this sample succession plan to fit their needs, or use it to inform the creation of their own succession plans.

Model Succession Plan Policy

Model succession plan that can be modified by nonprofits to fit their needs.

Succession Planning for Nonprofits

The unexpected departure of a nonprofit’s leader can cause organizational chaos. A nonprofit may establish policies and procedures to guide leadership transitions—unplanned and planned—to prevent damage to the organization and its work.

Acknowledgements

WeConservePA produced this guide with support from the William Penn Foundation, the Colcom Foundation, and the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, under the administration of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.

Disclaimer

Nothing contained in this document is intended to be relied upon as legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship. The material presented is generally provided in the context of Pennsylvania law and, depending on the subject, may have more or less applicability elsewhere. There is no guarantee that it is up to date or error free.

Copyright

Text may be excerpted and reproduced with acknowledgement of WeConservePA.

Introduction

Succession planning—putting in place policies and procedures to ensure smooth and orderly leadership transitions—helps nonprofits prevent organizational chaos and harm to programs and projects if crucial staff or officers depart unexpectedly. Succession plans may also detail the procedures for handling routine or expected leadership changes (e.g., a plan might call for the formation of a search committee to find a new executive director and specify the composition of the committee) and shape efforts to develop staff so that they are ready to step into leadership roles within an organization.

This guide provides links to guides, articles, and model succession plans to help organizations optimize their succession planning. See the Succession Planning library topic at the WeConservePA Library for these and other resources.