Nonprofits hoping to use the retirement of a beloved leader as a fundraising springboard must step carefully.
The sensibilities of constituents, the institution, and the departing executive must be respected. Overreaching is a real danger.
“All the pieces of succession planning need to be mapped out in advance,” says JoAnn Mills, a senior consultant with Campbell & Company. “When it comes to saying goodbye to the current leader, that deserves serious reflection and planning.”
Fundraisers, consultants, and other experts offer the following advice:
- Send off a leader in a way that rings true for the individual, the organization, and its supporters. Don’t throw a surprise gala for a leader who’s uncomfortable at parties. Nonprofits facing tough fiscal times should find a way to celebrate without splurging on a pricey event.
- Include the new leader in farewell events. Last August, a few months before he took over as director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Matthew Teitelbaum joined the departing Malcolm Rogers at a Board of Trustees reception and also at a breakfast with 425 staff members. “Seeing both leaders interacting well together at an event seemed to reassure and please our community,” says deputy director, Maria Muller.
- Be ready with a plan for new donors. Retirement celebrations can bring in people not necessarily affiliated with the organization — and some of them may be prospects for future gifts.
- Tie a fund in the departing leader’s honor to something that person is passionate about or something central to the nonprofit’s mission — or, better yet, both.
- Don’t overreach. It can be embarrassing for everyone involved. Raising donations in honor of an individual is a “really personal gesture,” says Ms. Mills, so nonprofits “need to have a frank conversation internally about how many people not only really love this person but also will go ahead and make that substantial gift in their honor.”
Tom Adams, director of succession and sustainability planning at the consulting company Raffa, recalls a California nonprofit that threw a lovely affair for a departing leader — but in a space that was meant for 10 times the number of people who showed up. In their exuberance, the staff created a potentially embarrassing situation for a person they all revered.
“They didn’t get close to selling the number of tickets they expected to,” says Mr. Adams. “It wasn’t that the person wasn’t very much loved in the community, because he was.”
