How to Create a Nonprofit Co-Executive Director Job Description
Co-Directors
In the past decade, there has been a growing interest in the model of co-executive directors – where multiple people share a nonprofit’s top executive role.
Although some organizations started out with co-executive directors, shifting from one top decision-maker to two can be fraught and complicated if not done thoughtfully.
The main things to consider in choosing your co-directorship model are division of labor and accountability.
These two sides of the top executive role are essential to success.
What is a nonprofit executive director?
Most for-profit and nonprofit entities have a single staff member at the top of the corporation who answers to the board. In nonprofit organizations, that person is often called the executive director or CEO.
This individual reports directly to the board and has broad latitude in decision-making about the organization’s day-to-day operations. However, the larger the organization, the harder it is to make big decisions that are implemented quickly while also satisfying stakeholders and possibly regulators and attorneys.
Read more about the primary responsibilities of a nonprofit executive director.
Traditional Organizational chart
The typical structure for most nonprofits with operating budgets under $5 million is to have one executive director supported by directors of different functional areas with broad authority over their functions.
The functional directors may then manage a team of staff and contractors who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of implementation.
For some (smaller) organizations, the only staff person is the executive director. As organizations grow, the leadership team may include a deputy director or chief of staff.
What are nonprofit co-executive directors?
Co-Director Organizational chart (example)
A co-directorship model is when two or more people are given nearly similar authority to make decisions and they all report directly to the board of directors.
In my opinion, if there are more than three or four co-directors, these decision-makers function less like executives and more like councils or committees.
There are three main scenarios for how co-directorship models typically work:
1) Equal Co-Executive Directors Model
In this situation, two or three people share the same scope of responsibilities and powers of the top executive function. An example would be Co-Executive Director X and Co-Executive Director Y both serving with the identical title of “Co-Executive Director.” In this model, the co-directors have equal say, power, and accountability to stakeholders (usually the board, staff, donors, and service population.)
The biggest challenge for co-executive directors is to stay in constant communication with each other about updates, workflows, challenges, and opportunities. You will want to consider building in deliberate redundancies or multiple reporting streams or using shared collaboration software so the left hand (Co-Executive Director X) knows what the right hand (Co-Executive Director Y) is doing and vice versa.
Employees, board members, and donors may think that notifying one director of a situation is the same as notifying both (which, of course, it is not!).
These challenges are more obvious in times of decision-making. “Do we let Person B on staff go to that conference?” “Can Person C have Friday off because they worked late every night?” and so forth. Collaborative decision-making may result in better decisions, but not always. Collaborative decision-making is notoriously slower and less efficient.
My advice: If you have a co-directorship model, be thoughtful and transparent about trust, accountability, judgment, and how to handle conflict and disputes. The sooner and more frequently you address this, the smoother your management will be.
2) Unequal Co-Executive Directors Model
In reality, many co-director relationships are lopsided. There is someone who has more experience, is more comfortable making decisions, and has more skill at navigating leadership tasks. This stratification is usually clear within six months of the co-director relationship.
Many people are fine with it. To prevent hurt feelings or worries about unequal workload, it should be a topic of regular conversations between the co-directors and may need to be written down for clarity.
This can happen when a younger and an older director are brought together to lead, or when one person rises in the ranks and the other is hired from outside, or even just because one is not a high-performing executive. It could be that they are burned out, untrained, unprepared for the role (confused), lazy, or a bad fit.
Sometimes there are co-directors just for a brief window, like an outgoing executive director who is helping to train their replacement.
In the Unequal Co-Executive Director model, you might see a difference in salaries or other benefits. Be careful with any situation where two people with similar responsibilities are treated differently by the organization. Document the rationale, if any, and consider talking with an attorney, HR expert, or both.
My advice: Have honest conversations about whether it’s OK to have two Co-directors at different skill and experience levels and discuss salary openly among the board and co-executive directors.
3) Split Responsibility Co-Executive Directors Model
In this model, two or more individuals may share the co-executive director title or different titles may be used, such as deputy director or chief of staff.
This model is especially useful for organizations where the co-directors have different interest areas. For example, one director may love and want to focus on fundraising and administrative tasks and the other may love and want to focus on human resources and programs.
This is very common in arts organizations where you have an “Executive Director” and an “Artistic Director.” Both people may have been told they are co-leading the organization but in practice, this often causes confusion.
For example, the board and the co-directors may see the two directors as peers. Still, in reality, the Artistic Director may feel like their role is the most important since it is the public-facing work that people love. The Executive Director may think their work is more important because they keep the whole organization solvent, compliant, and functioning and see themselves as the “true” CEO/Executive Director.
This tension can lead to confusion, hurt feelings, and conflict because all the parties are not aligned about their roles and authority.
My advice: get clear ASAP on who is the “lead” decision-maker on what topics. Outline potential situations where you might experience conflict and how you’ll resolve that conflict.
How to avoid conflict and challenges in a co-directorship model
I’ll never forget the response I received from a friend six months after she and her partner had a baby when I asked what surprised her most about being a new mother. She said, “The most challenging thing after the baby came was negotiating the division of labor with my partner. Like…who will sacrifice their goals, schedule, or lifestyle when the baby is sick or needs extra attention? We hadn’t decided that, and it has led to stress at times.”
In any organization, partnership, or company, getting the division of labor sorted out is vital. That is why most contracts between parties include the exact scope of work, timeline, and price.
“Any organization working with co-executive directors must clarify, in writing, who is responsible for what. ”
This may mean that you carve up responsibilities based on geographic region (one director has decision-making authority over the West Coast, and the other has decision-making authority over everything else), demographics of your service population (one director handles the youth from 14-24 who need support and the other handles the adults), or organizational area of responsibility (one director takes fundraising, finance, HR and operations and the other takes programs, communications, and strategic partnerships), with both supporting the board.
These are just a few examples. If you use the split-responsibility model or any other, the board and the co-executive directors must know exactly what their responsibilities and powers are and what they are not. You should also know when you need to huddle and make decisions jointly instead of just sharing information regularly.
What are some examples of organizations using co-executive director leadership?
There are thousands of organizations using the co-directorship model. Bridgespan spoke with three organizations and you can read those interviews here. The organization I used to lead, Climate Advocacy Lab, has shifted to a co-directorship model and the Climate Justice Alliance has done this for years. Read more at the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
As you create or modify your leadership into a co-executive directorship model, you will want to consider:
Which model and titles to use: Will you have two or more Co-Executive Directors who are equals with fully shared decision-making? Will you divide areas of responsibility and decision-making, and use separate titles, such as an Executive Director and a CEO?
Job descriptions: In any form of co-directorship, get crystal clear on the job description for each leadership role. This must be in writing for each individual and updated annually or as needed.
Responsibilities: Decide whether you are carving up responsibilities or sharing them. If you’re uncertain about responsibilities, check out my infographic of the 10 top areas of responsibility for nonprofit executives and my training on the key responsibilities of an executive director.
Nitty gritty details: Discuss salary, responsibility, staff supervision, annual co-director evaluations, and how to engage with the board.
Information-sharing: Be careful that you don’t fall into the trap of silos. Constant information sharing will be needed to make sure each co-executive director has the relevant and valuable information they need to lead. Regular check-ins between the co-directors are vital. This should be weekly, in my opinion.
Number of co-directors: My advice is not to have more than three co-directors. Any more than three or four directors and it feels more like a team, committee, council, working group, or even governing group. This can be flat and top-heavy and lead to not “directing” at all. Of course, some people will disagree with this.
If you’re looking for a headstart on managing these pieces, check out my “Get in Your Lane” division of labor infographic in the free Executive Director Toolkit.
Sample job description for co-executive directors
The vast majority of co-director job descriptions I have seen fit into model one above: “Equal Co-Executive Directors.” To create a co-executive director job description for this model, you can grab my Sample Executive Director Job Description here.
All you have to do is give the same job description to each director and add a section that says, “Collaborate with the Co-Executive Director on a division of labor for joint leadership of the organization.” That’s it.
In model two, Unequal Co-Executive Directors, you would still use the sample job description for a solo executive director and add language in the document that lays out agreed-upon understandings. You don’t need to address salary or benefits in the job description document but you should address who is doing what so board and staff have clarity.
In model three, you can take the sample executive director job description and duplicate it so each co-director starts from the same template. Then, put initials next to each area of responsibility to indicate who will be the lead decision-maker for that area.
As co-directors, no one is officially off the hook on the fundamental responsibilities. If one co-director drops the ball, you must decide how this is addressed. The board will assume the other director will pick up the slack. If this is unsustainable or unfair, you must plan how to handle these conflicts.
Conclusion: Adopting a co-directorship model
Nonprofit co-executive directors are similar to solo executive directors, except the buck stops with multiple people.
Don’t overthink the shift to a co-director model. Solo Executive Director and Co-Executive Director models both have their pros and cons.
In creating a Co-Director job description, you can either have both co-directors share the exact same responsibilities or you can create a division of labor that is fair and equitable. If the powers and responsibilities of the co-directors are out of balance, it may lead to tension, hard feelings, and conflict.
Regardless of the model you choose, always you get clarity and alignment, usually in writing, about the division of labor and accountability in advance. Ensure key stakeholders are in regular communication so leaders don’t miss important information needed to lead the organization.
If you need resources to get started, such as clarifying Co-Executive Director roles, check out my Executive Director Toolkit or grab my Board Division of Labor Bundle.
