Christian Leadership Alliance

Rediscovering the Joy of Ministry

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Don't Replace, Merge

If this column has found its way into your hands, it may be because your organization no longer has a CEO. If so, as you think about who should write the job description, how you should recruit candidates, and who should be on the interview committee, please take this simple step:

STOP!

Put the telephone down. Close out of that computer file, and don't send any more email messages. Instead, take a few minutes to think about this opening not as a problem to solve but an opportunity to seize. Think about the opportunity you and your colleagues have to take a bold step, to demonstrate true leadership as volunteers who care deeply about your organization's mission.

Think about the alternatives to replacing the departing CEO. Think about a merger.

You're probably thinking the for-profit company where you work went through a merger a few years ago, or maybe your spouse was part of one. Certainly your bank has changed its name and corporate headquarters lately, maybe multiple times. None of these situations were exactly desirable, but they happened, you got through them, and in the end it was OK.

You know that there are forces at work in that sector that dictate major change, and you feel that it is always better to find ways to adapt to those changes rather than being run over by them.

Ask yourself, if you have come to expect this kind of change in your employer, your bank, or your grocery store, why should it be any different in the nonprofit sector?

Here is something you may not know. The nonprofit public charity sector, the one your organization is a part of, is growing rapidly. The numbers of these organizations are increasing every year, with no end in sight. To the extent that that represents innovation and local initiative and community involvement, it's a good thing.

But each one of those nonprofits competes with every other one for funding, clients, staff, and even good board members like you. And each one of those organizations requires a board of directors, a CEO, a business staff, a fundraising plan, and so on. Those are all fixed costs—overhead, if you will—and we all know how expensive fixed costs are today. Who doesn't have to justify every nickel they spend on overhead?

Here is something else you may not know. If you were to ask the head of your local United Way or the CEO of a local foundation or the leader of most major national nonprofit federations about the numbers of nonprofits they see, they would almost certainly tell you the same thing. They'd say "There are too many of you. I get funding requests for duplicate programs from you guys every week, that leader would say quietly. Sometimes I can barely even keep track of you." They'd also tell you that they know better than to say this in public. You can guess why.

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