The Well-Rounded Executive
To be a well-rounded executive, it is important to understand all of the various aspects of
running an organization. This month, Cathedral provides a simplified roadmap of what every
nonprofit Executive Director (ED) should focus on for the running of the organization.
A well-rounded executive can use the model below as a template to understand the areas that
require attention. The areas that will be covered are the board of directors, operations,
fundraising, and the program. The executive is usually hired for the program, but a wellrounded executive is someone that can manage the board of directors and the operations in
addition to the usual focus on the program. What this model urges the Executive Director to do
is to embrace the other areas beside the program, and manage each efficiently.
Board of Directors
Strategy
Oversight
Fundraising
Executive
Director
Operations
Fundraising
Program
Board of Directors
When approaching the board of directors, it is necessary to recognize that this is a
complementary relationship. The entire organization is dependent on the Board and the
Executive Director, so it is imperative that they are both strong and they work together. It is not
uncommon to have a weak board of directors with a strong Executive Director, or vice versa.
The overall goal is to make both strong and so they positively impact each other.
Often, the board members are executives with for-profit companies and have a fundamental
focus that is geared toward the for-profit business world. This can be a benefit to the Executive
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Director because it provides expertise in unfamiliar areas – usually the operations. These
complimentary skills enhance the learning opportunities for you and bring complementary skills
to the table.
The underlying challenge with managing the board is that most of the professionals on your
board don’t really know as much as you do about running a nonprofit, though they may feel that
they do. While business people will be the first to say that running a nonprofit is nothing like
running a business, they often proceed to act as if running a business somehow qualifies them
to know everything about running a nonprofit. The board members bring skills that are
complementary to yours, but not necessarily overlapping.
Humility and confidence are essential for an Executive Director’s proper treatment of a board
that is strong on business acumen but light on nonprofit experience. . Be self-confident, and
utilize your board whenever possible. Realize that you have much to learn from them, and they
also have much to learn from you.
Constantly offer opportunities for your board to learn how to do their job better. Board retreats,
training days, seminars and conferences are all ways to help your board members increase
their nonprofit expertise.
On the other hand, if you are an Executive Director who is the founder and the major donor of
the organization, then your relationship with the board may have a different tone. When one
person is the major donor, the Executive Director and the Chairman of the board, of course, this
changes the board dynamics dramatically. The goal for the Founder in this case is to build a
true board of directors who have a meaningful impact on the organization and are not merely
“yes men.’
Operations
Under operations are the areas required for the smooth execution of all the various tasks of the
organization. Operations include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Finance and Accounting
Human Resources
Marketing
General Administration
There is nothing wrong with being the ‘jack of all trades’ and a ‘master of none’ when it comes to
operations. The point is that the Executive Director has to reach a minimum level of
competency in each area for which they are responsible. Because the ED is hired for passion
and experience around a certain program they often outsource or even simply ignore the
operations side of the organization. This is a major pitfall. The ED must fully understand the
depths of their organization, which includes the day to day operations and administration.
1. Finance & Accounting
Financial statements are the pulse of the organization. A well-rounded ED should not only be
able to read financial statements, but must understand what they mean and how to base future
actions on them. It should be your goal to improve your understanding every month. This is
where the Executive Director’s career is made. If the nonprofit ED comes from a humanities
background, it’s imperative that the executive learns this facet of the operation.
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Some of the key areas of competence in financials for a nonprofit Executive Director would
include:
•
•
•
•
•
The difference between cash and accrual accounting.
Producing monthly financial statements for Management Discussion & Analysis.
The proper preparation of budget to actual reports.
Making spending decisions based upon the budget.
Making quarterly adjustments to the budget.
A good place to start is to read the Cathedral Consulting paper on Financial Statements for
Nonprofits which can be found on our website at www.cathedralconsulting.com/resources.
2. Human Resources
People are an organization’s most important asset. The board and the ED need to be focused
on hiring, training, and managing talent. There are three ideas to build off of for an
organization’s human resources to be successful:
1.) Study the art of managing people. We often think the skill of managing people is as
natural as making friends, when in fact it is much more complicated. The ED probably
knows less than she thinks she does about managing people. There are many books
and articles on management of people.
2.) Know the law. For over 100 years, law has governed and protected the employee. Be
ethical, and be cognizant of employment laws and you will be respected by your staff
and as an organization.
3.) Love your people. You have to want to make their development and growth your own
personal goal. You must believe that if they fail, you fail, and that their success is your
success.
3. Marketing
In the nonprofit world, marketing more specifically refers to Public Relations, increased name
recognition, and reporting. Perhaps the main issue here is the publishing of an Annual Report,
see Cathedral Consulting’s paper on Nonprofit Annual Reports which can be found at
www.cathedralconsulting.com/resources. But many of the traditional marketing skills apply to a
nonprofit as well, such as advertising and integrated media strategies. It pays to learn as much
as you can from the business world about good marketing. Of course, that goes without saying
if you have a fee-for-services program such as membership fees or performances.
4. General Administration
There are countless other tasks that fall under “general administration”, such as maintaining
relationships with vendors, securing and managing office space, attending to legal, banking,
accounting and tax issues as they arise, putting out fires and paying attention to new
opportunities. The key here is that the ED has a grasp of all of these various issues, and
creates a way to monitor each of them. “That which is monitored, tends to improve.” So
actively monitoring all of these issues help keep you on a steady growth trajectory and avoid
those unwelcomed surprises.
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One of the fundamental traits to being a well-rounded executive is that you must fully
understand that which you are charged to manage. You should maintain a minimum level of
competency in every area you are responsible for. Going back to a characteristic necessary
with the board of directors, the executive must exude confidence. This confidence will radiate
when everyone throughout the organization recognizes that their leader really knows what he is
talking about when it comes to the inner workings of the organization.
Fundraising
While the Operations section is the area that gets the least love from most Executive Directors,
fundraising can be a difficult and frustrating task for many Executive Directors as well. The ED
must embrace fundraising as a calling. Fundraisers have often been compared to salesmen
and vice versa and each are thought to be undesirable jobs. We’ve all had bad experiences
with salesmen and fundraisers, but the simple fact is that fundraisers and salespeople make the
world go round. Without someone making a sale or raising the funds, all activity would grind to a
halt. With that said a well-rounded executive sees the value of fundraising and recognizes the
need to embrace this task, study the craft of fundraising, and master it.
Be a cheerleader for the organization and inspire everyone to fundraise in their own way. If the
Board of Directors is not helping, try to figure out a way to inspire the whole organization and
the staff to get them actively involved. Check out Cathedral’s Fundraising papers on End-ofYear Fundraising and Grant Writing at www.cathedralconsulting.com/resources for more
information.
Program
More than likely, the program was the reason you were hired, the program is the reason you
wake up every morning. This is the area you have a passion for. If your organization is a
school, you love education. If your organization is a museum, you eat, sleep, and breathe art.
And if your organization is a soup kitchen, you have a passion for helping those in need of food.
For most EDs the program area is a slam dunk, so more focus will be required on the other
areas of the organization.
There is one specific case in which this may not be true. There is a movement among
nonprofits of hiring retired executives from the for-profit sector to run major nonprofits. These
executives will soar in operations, but often find their challenge in program and fundraising. For
these EDs, learning the program is most important. These transplants from the for-profit world
will learn about the program through their own staff and constituents.
A well-rounded executive will look at financials, give performance reviews, monitor marketing,
measure growth in key indicators, stay on top of administrative issues, and will maintain
capacity for the other areas of the organization as well.
Even though an Executive Director has decided to focus on being well-rounded and attacking all
of these issues, there are two temptations they must avoid: either trying to do it all themselves,
or outsourcing it all to others.
Neither approach is right because if you take on all the responsibility you will surely fail
eventually. Executive Directors that take on every role end up burning out, more times than not.
Perhaps that is the least harmful outcome, since the executive does not have the expertise to
take on every area of operations, major mistakes can occur.
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On the other hand, if you hire people to handle all the things you do not understand, it creates a
situation where a part of the organization is running blind because the executive does not
understand how that section is run. Too much outsourcing leads to unpleasant surprises and a
feeling that “it’s someone else’s responsibility”.
Regardless of where your expertise may be, a well-rounded executive is focused on delivering
in every area. She is passionate about the program, but also competent in operations. She is
proactive with the Board of Directors, and embraces fundraising.
Cathedral Consulting Group, LLC can help you become a Well-Rounded Executive. Cathedral
offers General Executive Counsel Services to work in collaboration with your organization to
provide fresh insights and objectivity. This service is an excellent method to reflect with you
every month on the current and projected financial status, donor and constituent relations, and
provide a fresh perspective on the topics that influence the key operational functions of a
nonprofit organization. By diving into specifics, the nonprofit executives are given professional
advice that may be applied throughout the entire organization to lead to a more efficient
fulfillment of the mission.
Additional Information
1. Executive Traits to Avoid: Founders Syndrome:
http://www.cathedralconsulting.com/files/TOPIC.SEPTEMBER%20NP_1.pdf
2. Other resources on the Executive Director’s role:
a. Role of the Executive Director:
http://www.abanet.org/barserv/library/h/job_descriptions/4638.pdf
b. Role of Nonprofit CEO: http://www.managementhelp.org/np_progs/ceo/ceo.htm
Peter Giersch is Managing Director and Michael Leppellere is a former Intern Associate at
Cathedral Consulting Group LLC in the Midwest Office.
For more information, please visit Cathedral Consulting Group LLC online at
www.cathedralconsulting.com or contact us at info@cathedralconsulting.com.
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