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While most nonprofits are founded by volunteers and can be maintained by volunteers for years, I’ve concluded that eventually, if a nonprofit is to survive the transition away from its founder, the board must hire staff to maintain momentum. The first staff to be hired is typically the CEO, and it is the only staff person the board hires.
At The Foraker Group we have witnessed many situations where organizations that have been in business for decades fall apart. One of the common characteristics is the departure of the founder with no professional staff to continue momentum. The founder’s zeal may have masked the nonprofit’s capacity.
When determining if an organization’s staff consists of the right people, this question must be asked: Is the organization being supported because of its mission or its leader? If it’s just the leader, what’s going to happen when that person is gone? What work is being done behind the scenes to continue beyond the leader’s charismatic personality? When a nonprofit has a mission that meets a critical community need, then its leaders must ensure that it lasts past their tenure.
Even the most enthusiastic group of volunteers is challenged to keep an organization healthy over time. Boards have natural attrition, and board members can suffer burnout trying to take care of all the details necessary to run an organization. Staffing is not the secret to avoiding board burnout, but a good staff allows the board to focus on governance, which is their work, without getting mired in daily operations.
Without staff, continuity and consistency are lost. A staff maintains the institutional knowledge and structure of the organization. An organization without a staff most likely has no permanent office. Important documents may drift from one board member to another – getting lost along the way.
When an organization hires professional staff, the challenge then comes in developing and maintaining a balanced partnership between what the staff and board do. There must be clear boundaries. Although this isn’t easy and can take time and practice to accomplish, it is well worth the effort.
–Dennis
Dennis McMillian is President of The Foraker Group, a nonprofit capacity building organization based in Alaska, and the author of Focus on Sustainability: A Nonprofit’s Journey.