{"id":527,"date":"2012-11-19T19:01:28","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T00:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/?p=527"},"modified":"2022-06-28T10:31:40","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T14:31:40","slug":"your-first-30-days-as-a-nonprofit-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/your-first-30-days-as-a-nonprofit-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Your First 30 Days as a Nonprofit Executive Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

Regardless of the size or age of your nonprofit, the first 30 days as a nonprofit executive director have similar trajectories. Think a cross between a rodeo (just holding on seems like an achievement) and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (when the bottom falls out as you learn all the things the Board search committee neglected to tell you).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about threading the needle between giving the impression that you\u2019ve \u201cgot this\u201d to your board and new key stakeholders, while secretly feeling that in the next meeting you will be completely unmasked, not as Oz, but as that bald little man behind the curtain.<\/p>\n

Take control of the first 30 days. Here are some tips I believe you will find useful.<\/p>\n

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DON\u2019T BE PRESSURED INTO QUICK DECISIONS<\/h2>\n

On my first day at work, my Deputy bounded into my office with relief. \u201cFinally, someone here to make some decisions. First things first, we need to fire this young development staff member. He is outrageously insubordinate.” He showed me a memo this young man had written \u2013 filled with an equal measure of arrogance and unbridled passion for the organization. It also outlined (ever so bluntly) specific changes that needed to be made.  Oh and did I mention he wanted a raise and a promotion?<\/p>\n

Secretly I couldn\u2019t wait to meet him.<\/p>\n

So I took time (not a lot, but some) and met with his boss (not the Deputy).  She encouraged me to meet him before making any decision.  She said he was smart, passionate and came complete with the naivete and arrogance of a 23-year-old.  I met him. I loved him. He stayed with us for a decade. He was a rock star.  Still is.<\/p>\n

BRING IN AN OUTSIDE AUDITOR ASAP<\/h2>\n

Insist on it. Some board treasurers will balk; others will be insulted; some will be both.  In the first thirty days you need to understand the numbers from top to bottom from someone who has no agenda other than finance and accounting. If you are not facile with balance sheets, endowments, etc, you can pay auditors to teach you enough to be facile. Tell them to explain it as if they are explaining it to a fifth grader. If you have lots of financial background, ask questions that show the auditors that you know your stuff. Make them work for their retainer. Don\u2019t leave this meeting without a clear understanding of your cash flow projections for the next 3-6 months and a clear line by line document that lays out your monthly expense run rate.  And your biweekly payroll nut.<\/p>\n

It will be a long meeting.<\/p>\n

A SUGGESTED ROADMAP FOR YOUR FIRST 30 DAYS<\/h2>\n

The following roadmap will demand strict time management and discipline. You will need to work with your assistant, outline these activities and have her\/him partner with you to achieve them.<\/p>\n

Your primary goal in the first 30 days is to touch as many people as possible, to make them feel special, to capture the true financial picture of the organization and to begin to try out a \u2018vision elevator pitch.\u2019 You also need to understand from board and staff what the \u2018red light\u2019 issues are \u2013 the ones that have been awaiting your arrival that are now brighter and redder because they have been in a holding pattern.<\/p>\n

Here are three important pieces:<\/p>\n

1) Think about what you want to hear during your first executive committee meeting:<\/p>\n