The Value of Recruiting for Nonprofit CEO Searches
Hiring a Recruiter for Your Nonprofit's Executive Director or CEO Search
As a nonprofit board member, you want to find the best possible candidate for your CEO search. But where do you begin? If your nonprofit is in the process of searching for a new CEO, you may be considering whether to hire a recruiter.
Recruiters can provide tons of value to nonprofits during a CEO search, from helping to determine the ideal candidate profile to managing the entire search process. In addition, recruiters are expert salespeople who can sell your organization to top candidates.
A recruiter or nonprofit executive recruiting agency is an expert in finding passive candidates, partnering with search committees to navigate a complex process, and helping a nonprofit find the leader they truly need.
Here are six reasons why recruiting is a valuable resource for nonprofits and how a recruiter can help you find the best leader to move your organization forward.
Recruiters take an outside, objective approach to understanding not only what your organization wants, but what it needs.
Recruiters know what a compensation range should be to attract the right candidate.
Good recruiters will find amazing passive candidates who aren’t even looking for a new opportunity and otherwise wouldn't see your job ad or respond to it.
Recruiters are experts in managing the entire search process.
Recruiters are the best salespeople for your organization.
Recruiters give you back your time.
1 - Recruiters take an outside, objective approach to understanding not only what your organization wants, but what it needs.
One of the key benefits of working with a recruiter is that they can take an outside, objective approach to understand your organization's needs. A good recruiter will take the time to learn about your organization's culture, values, and mission before beginning the search process. This allows them to identify the ideal candidate profile and find candidates who are not only qualified for the job but also a good fit for your organization.
At Talbott Talent, when we work with nonprofit and association clients during an executive transition, we spend time and energy on the front end to make sure we know what the organization is looking for.
Before we launch a nonprofit’s CEO search, we figure out the profile of your future leader. We do this through conducting extensive interviews (board, staff, and other stakeholders), looking at the organization’s strategic plan and other organizational documents, reviewing any succession planning, and assessing the strengths and opportunities of the organization.
A good recruiter takes the time to learn about the organization to ensure everyone involved in the search has a clear understanding of the profile of the next leader. These attributes might include the next leader's strengths, experiences, skills, and competencies.
2 - Recruiters know what a compensation range should be to attract the right candidate.
Another benefit of working with a recruiter is that they will have a good understanding of what a competitive compensation package looks like. This is important because you want to make sure that you are offering a salary that will attract top candidates without overpaying for someone who is not a good fit for your organization. A recruiter can help to determine an appropriate salary range based on their experience and knowledge of the market. We are in the marketplace every day and have up to date information about what candidates are looking for!
3 - Good recruiters will find amazing passive candidates who aren’t even looking for a new opportunity and otherwise wouldn't see your job ad or respond to it.
In the HR world, we talk a lot about “passive candidates”. But, what exactly is a passive candidate?
Passive candidates are individuals who are not actively looking for a new job.
Most likely, they are content and/or successful in their current role, so they are not looking. A good recruiter will know how to identify and reach out to these individuals in order to get them interested in your organization's CEO opening. If a passive candidate is approached with strategy and skill, the person would be open to hearing about an opportunity that is a good fit for their skills and experience.
When nonprofits don’t use a recruiter for the executive search, they are dependent on either (1) individuals who are currently looking for a job and are actively applying or (2) their own (sometimes limited) network. Not only is this candidate pool a lot smaller, but it also rules out people that are happy, successful, and NOT LOOKING for a change. Often, these people can be your strongest candidates when it comes to skills and experience for nonprofit leadership roles!
4 - Recruiters are experts in managing the entire search process.
A good nonprofit executive search firm or recruiter is seasoned at managing and guiding others through the entire search process. This includes everything from identifying potential candidates and conducting initial screening interviews to extending job offers and negotiating salaries.
This is especially beneficial if you do not have any previous experience conducting a CEO search or if you do not have any search committee members who are familiar with the process. A good recruiter will work closely with you every step of the way, ensuring that the process goes smoothly and meeting all deadlines along the way.
5 - Recruiters are the best salespeople for your organization.
In the current market, it’s important that organizations realize that they will need to sell the organization (and the opportunities that come with the position) to the candidate.
Top leadership candidates often have a variety of options and opportunities, and a recruiter is skilled at selling the best option and opportunity (hopefully your open nonprofit CEO position) to the candidate!
6 - Recruiters give you back your time by doing the work!
“We handled our organization’s Executive Director Search ourselves. We ended up finding the right candidate after 100s of hours of work and time. We lucked out, but I’d never handle it myself again!”
- a friend and Nonprofit Board President
Searches are time-consuming - managing and coordinating the search committee, recruiting candidates, researching compensation, interviewing candidates, coordinating schedules, and more. There are so many tasks that need to be done as part of a nonprofit CEO search. When a search slows down, you lose good candidates.
Working with a recruiter frees up your time so that you can focus on running your organization. It also helps to ensure your search isn’t slowed down by the limited time or availability of your search committee chair. A recruiter can handle all aspects of the search so that you can get back your time.
Nonprofits can benefit from working with recruiters in many ways during a CEO search, from finding passive candidates to knowing what salary range to offer top candidates. In addition, recruiters are experts at managing the entire search process, freeing up your time so that you can focus on running your nonprofit organization. If you are considering hiring a CEO for your nonprofit, be sure to consider working with a recruiter!
