By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA
Author, The Nonprofit Fundraising Solution | Former Faculty, NYU Heyman Center for Philanthropy, School of Professional Studies
A three-minute read.
Small nonprofits often don’t address succession until they’re forced to. A founder announces a retirement, or a beloved executive director burns out, or a family situation suddenly pulls someone away. The organization scrambles, the board panics, and the staff tries to keep the wheels on. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Only 34% of nonprofits have a written executive succession plan, and only 27% have a written board succession plan. (BoardSource, Leading With Intent, 2024 — leadingwithintent.org)
Succession planning — especially in founder-driven organizations — is less about anticipating an ending and more about stewarding a mission for its next act.
At the end of this post you will find a link to a free BoardSource guide on executive succession planning that goes into the subject in full.
I’ve watched founders navigate this transition for decades, and the pattern is remarkably consistent: they love the organization deeply, they want it to thrive, and they underestimate how intertwined their identity has become with the work. That’s not a flaw, but it is the natural consequence of building something from scratch. Yet, it’s also why succession planning is the higher road. It’s a way of protecting relationships, honoring legacy, and giving the next leader a fair shot.
Succession Isn’t Just About Retirement
Founders and executive directors leave for all sorts of reasons: burnout, health issues, caregiving responsibilities, relocation, organizational conflict, funding instability, or simply because they’ve taken the organization as far as they can. In small nonprofits, where the leader often wears six hats, the departure can feel like losing the engine, the steering wheel, and the GPS all at once.
More than half of nonprofit leaders expect to leave their roles within five years. Burnout among nonprofit executives jumped from 29% to 46% in a single year. (Bridgespan Group; Nonprofit HR, 2023 — nonprofithr.com)
That’s why succession planning is a resilience strategy. It is not an end-of-career ritual — it’s how you keep the mission intact and thriving as you move on, or transition to another role. Of note, nonprofit voluntary turnover already is at 19% — above the U.S. average of 17.3% for the same period (Nonprofit HR, 2023; Mercer Workforce Turnover Survey, 2023) — which means boards that wait for a crisis to think about succession are often already behind.
Three Proactive Moves
In my experience working with founder-driven organizations over many years, succession struggles tend to concentrate in the same three ways. These are not abstract governance failures but specific moments where good intentions and genuine affection for the organization undermines the transition.
I offer them here as the “three moves” to make before the pressure is on. Getting them right does more practical good than any succession planning document you will ever produce.
Move #1: Define the Founder’s Future Role — Including What They Will Not Do
This is the most loving step a founder can take. Write down, in plain language, what the founder will continue to do, and what they will not do. The will-not list is the real gift: not supervising staff, not revisiting decisions, not slipping back into operations, not overruling the new ED. Further, add a timeline with observable milestones so that everyone knows when the handoff is truly underway.
Ambiguity makes smooth transitions harder, and the absence of a written role definition is a common reason incoming leaders struggle in their first year. When the founder’s boundaries are clear from the start, the new ED can lead with confidence rather than spend energy managing an unclear relationship.
Move #2: Shift the Transition to Board Leadership
Boards often assume founders will manage their own succession. That’s how small nonprofits get into difficulty. The board should own the hiring, the timeline, and the accountability—specifically led by one designated board member, usually the board chair. It protects the founder from being pulled back into problem-solving simply because people are used to coming to them. It also gives the incoming leader a single center of gravity.
A board-led transition is one of the stronger predictors of long-term stability. It also sends a clear signal to staff, donors, and the community that the organization is governed by its board — not by a single person’s ongoing presence.
As part of that transition, update job descriptions, document key processes, identify which donor and community relationships need to be formally handed off, and review financial controls and access points. These small operational tasks signal that the center of gravity is shifting from a person to an institution.
Move #3: Create a Visible, Symbolic Handoff
Transitions benefit from rituals. A public acknowledgment, a celebration, a board resolution, a literal passing of the baton — these moments matter more than they might seem. They give the founder closure and give the new leader legitimacy from day one. Without them, people default to the way the founder used to do it, and the new leader spends their first year managing that inheritance rather than leading the organization forward.
Fewer than 20% of EDs at under -$1M organizations have access to coaching. (TSNE MissionWorks — tsne.org/executive-transitions)
Plan a public acknowledgment. Create a welcome moment for the new ED that is clearly theirs. Archive the founder’s history in a way that honors it without making it the dominant frame for every decision the new leader faces. And wherever possible, arrange coaching for the incoming ED — especially in organizations where they are walking into a founder’s shadow. The first 90 days set more of the tone than the entire first year that follows.
A defined cooling-off period for the founder, stated in writing, and agreed to by all parties, is not a rejection of the founder’s ongoing love for the organization. It is a gift to the person they chose to carry the important work forward.
Small Operational Habits Matter More Than You Think
One founder I know still had donor checks arriving at his house. It was innocent — a habit from the early days — but symbolically it kept the organization tethered to him. Moving the mailing address to a PO box near the bookkeeper was a small change with outsized impact. It signaled that the center of gravity was shifting from the founder’s home to the institution itself.
Every small nonprofit has these symbolic habits. Identifying and changing them is part of the transition, a genuine act of institutional maturation.
The Higher Road
Founders sometimes worry that succession planning will make them seem less committed. In reality, it’s the opposite. It’s the most generous act of leadership: preparing the organization to thrive without you.
When succession planning goes well, founders describe a feeling they did not expect: relief. Not the relief of being done, but the relief of knowing the work will continue. Staff also experience similar: a steadiness that comes from knowing the organization has been thought through, not just handed off.
These three moves allows the new leader to come on board with a clear mandate, a board that owns the transition, and a founder who has already decided what they will not do.
That is the higher road. Not a retreat from the work, but a final act of stewardship toward it. Succession planning isn’t about stepping away, but about stepping up to the responsibility of leaving a lasting legacy.
Free National Resource
The national nonprofit BoardSource, established in 1988, offers a free guide on executive leadership succession planning that goes even deeper. You will find it at boardsource.org/fundamental-topics-of-nonprofit-board-service/executive-leadership-succession-planning/. It is a solid read before you begin your formal process.
→ Also, my white paper will be a valuable resource. Read it at laurencepagnoni.com: Board Recruitment: How to Build the Board Your Mission Deserves
Has your organization navigated a founder transition — and what did you learn from it? Share your experience in the comments section of the website.
This post is offered freely for educational purposes. Please share it with executive directors, board members, and development staff who may find it useful — provided the author’s byline remains intact: By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA. For more on nonprofit fundraising, governance, and strategy, visit laurencepagnoni.com.
