What Do Nonprofit Executive Search Firms Do?
Nonprofit executive search firms are increasingly becoming the connective tissue between organizations and future executive directors/CEOs and other leaders. But how search firms work behind the scenes can often feel like a mystery to both organizations and candidates.
It’s time to pull back the curtain on this growing sector!
I have had the good fortune of knowing and working with Michelle Kristel, Managing Partner at McCormack + Kristel, a deeply respected nonprofit executive search firm.
Back in 2014, Michelle helped place me at the Tyler Clementi Foundation. I asked Michelle to give The Nonprofit Fixer the inside scoop on working with nonprofit search firms.
What does a nonprofit search firm do?
Michelle Kristel, Managing Partner at McCormack + Kristel
Michelle Kristel: Distilled to its essence, nonprofit search firms identify and recruit talent to mission-driven organizations.
How firms work – the process, approach, and pricing – varies broadly across the growing nonprofit search sector.
McCormack + Kristel is a retained executive search firm operating on a professional services consulting model.
Our process begins with a deep dive to understand an organization's programs, financial position, strategic goals, culture, challenges, and aspirations.
During this period, we meet with the board, staff, community partners, and stakeholders. The discovery period is essential to define the ideal candidate profile and effectively market the opportunity.
“The discovery period is essential to define the ideal candidate profile and effectively market the opportunity.”
Once the position description, research strategy, and marketing plan are set, we begin sourcing, recruiting, and evaluating candidates. After 6-8 weeks of candidate development and assessment, we introduce the top candidates to our clients and facilitate their selection of the candidates they would like to interview.
In advance of the candidate review, we provide tools and coaching to mitigate bias in the selection process. For each round of client interviews, we provide questions and scoring tools to ensure an equitable evaluation process.
When the time comes, we conduct reference checks, extend and negotiate the offer, verify degrees and prior employment, and, if necessary, conduct background checks.
Beyond the accepted offer, we provide onboarding support and regular check-ins during the placement’s first year.
What positions does a nonprofit executive search firm recruit for?
We fill executive and senior leadership positions. About half of our searches are for Executive Director/CEO roles. The balance is for C-suite positions, with a recent preponderance of transitions in CFO and COO roles.
How do you recruit a nonprofit CEO?
The process I described earlier is typical for a CEO search, particularly including board members, partners, and stakeholders in the discovery phase briefings.
The key difference between a CEO and a senior leader search is the role of a Search Committee. For a CEO search, the Board of Directors appoints a committee to lead the search process. Unlike a hiring manager for a C-Suite search, who is experienced in recruiting and evaluating candidates, members of a Search Committee may be new to executive search and are often unfamiliar with candidate assessment best practices.
Throughout the search we work closely with the Search Committee, meeting biweekly to review prospects and candidates and discuss process details. We also provide coaching for behavioral and performance-based interviewing techniques and tools for equitable candidate selection.
“We also provide coaching for behavioral and performance-based interviewing techniques and tools for equitable candidate selection. ”
Beyond the appointment of a new leader, our relationship continues with regular check-ins to ensure the placement’s successful transition and tenure. During the months that the search unfolds and in the years that follow, we serve as trusted advisors to our clients.
What should nonprofits look for when choosing a search firm?
The firm and the team working on your search will represent you and your organization to hundreds of sources and potential candidates. Choose a firm that shares your values and will reflect you positively.
“The firm and the team working on your search will represent you and your organization to hundreds of sources and potential candidates. Choose a firm that shares your values and will reflect you positively.”
Look for firms that are members of the Network of Nonprofit Search Consultants. NNSC members are committed to the profession’s highest ethical standards and have access to ongoing training to effect best and cutting-edge practices.
Within the firm, choose a consultant who instills confidence and whose communication style works for you. Ideally, this will be the beginning of a long relationship. An individual search typically runs 4–6 months.
The work of building and expanding a leadership team can take years. Finding a consultant with whom you have a personal connection will make for an enjoyable and productive partnership.
Most importantly, effective search consultant-client relationships are built on foundations of transparency and trust.
Finding the right candidate requires consultants to have a complete, unvarnished understanding of the organization—its culture, values, financials, board, strategic goals, the top priorities for the position, and the peers and reporting colleagues’ strengths and challenges. Look for a consultant who you can trust with the tough stuff.
“Look for a consultant who you can trust with the tough stuff. ”
What should nonprofits know about hiring a CEO through a search firm? What about onboarding?
Know that the process of hiring a CEO doesn’t end with an accepted offer. Successful CEO transitions are the result of an intentional and personalized onboarding plan.
Understanding the new executive’s needs, where they may meet resistance or need support, and outlining a realistic timeline for the CEO to achieve objectives are critical to success.
How much do search nonprofit firms charge? Is it a flat rate, hourly, or commission?
Our fee is based on a percentage of salary, which is the pricing model for most retained search firms.
What is the difference between a nonprofit recruiter and a search firm?
Executive search consultants focus on leadership roles, working exclusively on the searches they lead and for the clients that retain them. Because of the intensive nature of the process, search consultants typically manage only a few searches at a time.
Search firms do not represent candidates and the candidates they seek are generally not actively looking for a new position.
“Search firms do not represent candidates and the candidates they seek are generally not actively looking for a new position. ”
Contingency recruiters, whose fees are contingent on the placement of candidates, typically fill more junior roles and often compete with other recruiters in a race to successfully match job seekers to open positions. Recruiters operate in a high-volume environment, soliciting thousands of resumes and filling multiple positions.
Importantly, search consultants are issue area experts serving as trusted advisors to our clients. McCormack + Kristel search consultants are former nonprofit executive directors and all members of the M+K team are engaged in nonprofit board and volunteer work.
Organizational needs assessments and candidate evaluations are grounded in experience.
How do you explain the ROI? Why outsource a nonprofit executive search instead of doing it in-house?
Most in-house “searches” consist of posting a job description, reviewing submitted applications, and hiring the best of the lot.
Consultant-led searches include:
Crafting a bespoke recruitment profile that defines the position and sells the opportunity
Developing and executing a marketing plan to reach passive candidates
Multiple forms of outreach to recruit the best-qualified candidates
Values-, performance-, and behavioral-based candidate evaluations
Facilitated interviews and selection
Trusted partnership and expert advice
And a guarantee
What are the advantages and disadvantages of hiring a nonprofit search consultant or firm?
The advantages are that you will have a strategic and professionally executed search led by experts with deep networks across mission-driven sectors and within the organizations where exceptional candidates are likely currently working.
You will be supported throughout the search by trusted partners who are invested in your organization's and the placed candidate’s success.
If you work with McCormack + Kristel, you will have the added benefit of three decades of leadership on diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is reflected in processes that mitigate bias in the search and selection process, inclusive candidate pools, and consistently diverse placements.
While some might consider the expense of hiring a firm to be a disadvantage, the cost of a bad hire far exceeds the cost of a search. I honestly can’t think of any disadvantages.
What other services do you offer that nonprofits might not be aware of? Interim services? Coaching? Training? Tools? Referrals?
McCormack + Kristel is focused exclusively on executive search for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. We were pioneers in diversity search and for more than three decades we have excelled by keeping our focus on our areas of expertise.
Spill the tea! What are some of the biggest mistakes you have seen organizations make during a search?
Discounting the internal candidate. Sometimes, the best candidate is the insider who is ready to lead in a new role.
Extending the search too long is an effective way of communicating to candidates that the board or hiring manager is disorganized or, worse, disrespectful, and a reliable way to lose good prospects.
Related: Forgetting that interviews are two-way streets and that smart candidates are evaluating you as much as you are evaluating them.
If you had one piece of advice for nonprofits doing an executive search, whether they use a consultant/firm or not, what would it be?
Done right, filling an executive leadership role requires time and expertise. While some board and staff leaders may have the expertise, few have the time to source and develop prospects, review applications, and screen and interview candidates.
Engaging a consultant or firm ensures a rigorous and professional process and exponentially expands the pool of top candidates.
I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into how executive searches work through an interview with a true expert in this field, who I also know personally. If you want to reach out to Michelle or her team, find them at https://www.mccormackkristel.com/ and contact them at search@mccormackkristel.com. Grab their free brochure.
For a full list of current nonprofit executive search firms serving US nonprofits, head here.
Grab a list of Nonprofit Executive Search Firms here.
