Executive Leadership
The CEO/ED seat: board partnership, executive communications, dashboards, executive search, and 30/60/90-day transitions.
CEO Board Partnership
The CEO/executive-director side of the US nonprofit CEO-board partnership: CEO board report and dashboard narrative, exec-session prep, board-chair 1:1 agendas, annual CEO evaluation from the CEO seat (self-eval memo, 360 request, response to eval), managing up to the board, packet narrative discipline, consent-agenda coaching for the chair, and CEO-initiated generative-mode board conversations. Use when a nonprofit CEO/ED (or chief of staff, or advisor) says 'write my board report,' 'prep me for exec session,' 'agenda for my chair 1:1,' 'draft my CEO self-eval,' or 'CEO review with no written criteria.' Does not cover board-side work — running the board, committees, self-assessment, member job descriptions, bylaws, recruitment, Form 990 governance disclosure — use nonprofit-board-governance, nonprofit-board-recruitment, nonprofit-bylaws-policy, or nonprofit-form-990; for CEO transition use nonprofit-executive-transitions; for all-staff or funder CEO messages use nonprofit-executive-communications.
Executive Communications
Drafts first-person nonprofit CEO/ED communications to staff, board, funders, and close stakeholders: all-staff and monthly notes, crisis and layoff/RIF/restructure announcements (with manager talking points and internal FAQ), funder and partner letters, town-hall scripts and Q&A, 'from the ED' newsletter columns, culture-setting notes, and public statements paired with a 'should we speak?' decision memo. Use when writing, revising, or gut-checking a message going out under the ED/CEO's own name — hard-news announcements, layoff letters, tone-setting notes, or personal statements on public issues affecting the org. Does not cover organizational brand voice or marketing (use nonprofit-brand-messaging), press releases and reporter relationships (use nonprofit-media-relations), donor appeals, annual reports, or donation pages (use nonprofit-annual-report, nonprofit-annual-appeals, or nonprofit-donation-page-copy), or CEO-to-board work like board reports and 1:1 agendas (use nonprofit-ceo-board-partnership).
Executive Dashboard
Designs the nonprofit ED/COO one-page executive dashboard and matching quarterly board scorecard: picking 8–15 cross-functional KPIs across finance, fundraising, programs, people/culture, and mission delivery; separating leading from lagging indicators; setting SMART targets and yellow/red thresholds; assigning owners and data sources; wiring the monthly leadership-team and quarterly board review rhythms; tying it to the strategic plan. Use when asked to build or fix an executive dashboard, KPI scorecard, leadership team scorecard, monthly ops review, or the board scorecard/metrics section of a board packet. Does not cover preparing the underlying financial statements (use nonprofit-financial-statements), program outcome and evaluation design (use nonprofit-outcomes-measurement), installing EOS org-wide (use nonprofit-eos-traction), writing the strategic plan (use nonprofit-strategic-planning), or the CEO's narrative board report that uses this dashboard (use nonprofit-ceo-board-partnership).
Executive Search
Runs a nonprofit ED/CEO or C-suite executive search led by a board search committee (with or without an outside firm): charters the committee, sets board-vs-committee decision rights, writes an opportunity-framed position profile, benchmarks pay via Form 990 Schedule J and sector comp surveys, manages sourcing and a structured slate with a calibrated rubric and structured interviews (behavioral, case, scenario), runs references and background checks, and handles offer and announcement. Use when asked to launch an ED/CEO search, staff a search committee, write a position profile, set or defend an ED salary range, interview finalists, run references, negotiate an offer, or draft the hire announcement. Does not cover non-executive staff hiring (use nonprofit-hr, nonprofit-staff-retention), board recruitment (use nonprofit-board-recruitment), leadership pipeline or emergency succession (use nonprofit-succession-planning), or the incoming executive's first-90-days plan (use nonprofit-executive-transitions).
Executive Transitions
Designs the transitioning nonprofit executive's own transition work: incoming ED/CEO/COO 30/60/90-day plan, listening-tour design and synthesis (board/staff/funders/partners/participants), first-board-meeting brief, interim/acting-ED workplan with mandate constraints, outgoing-ED handoff memo, and founder-to-professional-CEO or long-tenure-successor transitions. Use when asked to plan a new ED's first 90 days, design a listening tour, draft an interim/acting-ED mandate, write an outgoing ED's transition memo, prep the first board meeting, negotiate success with the board chair, run a STARS diagnosis, or manage a founder or long-tenure succession from the executive's own seat. Does not cover building an internal leadership pipeline or emergency-succession plan (use nonprofit-succession-planning); the board-run search that picks the next executive (use nonprofit-executive-search); or ongoing CEO-board partnership work past the transition (use nonprofit-ceo-board-partnership).