Interim Executive Director: A Nonprofit Guide for Boards and Interims

Two people search for this: a board chair whose executive director just resigned, and the interim executive director three weeks into the seat, wondering whether to hold still or change things. Both need a clear idea of what the role is for, and it is one of the least planned moments in nonprofit leadership.

What Does an Interim Executive Director Do?

An interim executive director does three jobs at once: keeps operations steady, finds out what the last tenure left unfinished, and prepares staff and board for the next executive director. The interim is usually a former executive director, works part-time and stays for a matter of months.

The 2005 monograph Interim Executive Directors: The Power in the Middle, written by Tim Wolfred for the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, describes an interim who must lead anxious staff, reassure wary funders and keep finances and fundraising on track. It also says the assignment “is not an executive training opportunity.” The seat calls for a seasoned leader, because the interim carries every one of the executive director responsibilities plus the transition itself.

Interim vs Acting Executive Director: Which Fits?

An interim executive director is usually an experienced leader from outside, hired for a defined term. An acting executive director is usually a staff member or board member who steps up, often while keeping their old duties. A permanent executive director is the board’s long-term hire after a search.

The Casey monograph draws the line itself: interims “are not simply board members or staff who sit in the executive director’s seat for a few weeks or months.” A 2016 Bridgespan article notes that organizations tap internal people because the transition is faster and easier, and that some end up losing good managers as a result.

When Should a Board Hire an Interim?

The Casey monograph makes the case for an interim executive director after a sudden departure, in a founder transition, which it calls notoriously thorny, and when the organization needs repair before a new leader arrives. For a short, planned gap, an acting executive director is often enough.

Sudden departures can come in clusters. A board president of a small organization in Colorado wrote in a coaching application to us: “Within the last two weeks, our Director of Operations gave notice, and then both our Treasurer and current President resigned effectively immediately. As one of the newest members, I suddenly find myself leading the organization at a time of significant transition.”

Without an interim, the Casey monograph warns, anxious boards rush the hiring process, skip recruitment steps and too often end up with a failed tenure. A succession plan written while things are calm takes much of the panic out.

Founder departures are the other strong case: staff and board need time to let go of one way of working, and an interim can deal with problems such as founder syndrome so the successor does not inherit them. Our guide to the founder executive director transition covers the handover.

How Long Does an Interim Stay, and at What Cost?

The Annie E. Casey Foundation monograph puts the average interim term at four to eight months: shorter when the interim only covers the end of a search, longer when the organization needs major repair. The departing executive director’s salary line, plus taxes and benefits, can fund the interim.

Outside repair work, the monograph warns that interim periods longer than six months can become unhealthy, as funders grow anxious for a permanent leader. Wolfred’s rule of thumb in the Bridgespan article is about six months for an executive director.

By the hour, an interim costs more than the departing executive director did, because the board is buying a veteran who can start at once. The monograph found interims working 24 to 30 hours a week on average, usually without agency benefits, so the total need not run much above the salary already budgeted. Its dollar rates date from 2005 and are too old to quote. Ask each candidate for a written proposal with hours, term and fee.

What Does the Board Owe the Interim?

The board owes the interim a written mandate, clear decision rights, one person to report to and a search timeline. In return, the interim owes the board an honest picture of the organization. Settle these before the first day, and revisit the objectives together after the first month.

If you chair the board, put four items on paper:

1. The mandate. A short list of objectives. BoardSource’s Chief Executive Transitions includes a sample agreement and work plan for an interim chief executive.
2. Decision rights. What the interim can sign, hire, fire and spend without a board vote.
3. One contact. The board chair or a small transition committee, so direction comes from one place.
4. The search timeline. When the search opens, who runs it and when the board expects to decide.

Decide one more thing at the start: whether the interim may apply for the permanent job. Bridgespan advises boards to think twice, because an interim campaigning for the job may shy away from unpopular decisions. If the interim period is meant to bring change, keep the two roles apart.

Settle the mandate before the first day, or the interim spends the term guessing.

The most useful thing an interim leaves behind is often a board that knows what it wants next. The Casey monograph credits the interim’s conversations about the future with sharpening the board’s profile of the next executive. For the posting itself, see our guide to writing the job description.

What Should an Interim Do in the First 90 Days?

Put steadiness before strategy. The Steady Ninety, our suggested plan, has three stages: answer the staff’s first question in weeks one and two, learn the money, contracts and funders by day 45, and hand the board a clear picture of what the next executive director will inherit by day 90.

Much of this resembles the first ninety days of a first-time executive director, on a shorter horizon: an interim builds enough trust to tell the truth, then leaves.

Weeks 1 and 2: Answer the question staff are asking

Staff spend the first weeks watching for one thing: whether the place is going to be okay. The Casey monograph counts hearing those fears among the interim’s key tasks. Meet each manager one to one and ask what they are proud of, what they need help with and how they like to be supervised.

Picture a composite interim leader, call him Marcus, in his third week. Staff have started asking whether their grant-funded positions survive. He answers that first, at the next staff meeting, before he says a word about strategy.

Days 15 to 45: Learn the money, the contracts and the funders

Interims in CompassPoint’s network, the monograph reports, named unexpected financial trouble as their most common stumbling block, such as “unrestricted” reserves that turn out to be restricted. Read the balance sheet with the treasurer, list every contract with its deliverables and due dates, and call each funder before they call you. If you find a cash shortfall or a legal risk, tell the board chair the same day. At one month, adjust the mandate with the board chair.

The surprise an interim is most likely to inherit sits in the books.

Days 46 to 90: Prepare the handover

Give staff and board room to say what they valued in the last executive director and what they would change. Then write the board a short memo: what is stable, what is still broken and what the next executive director will walk into.

What Support Does an Interim Need?

An interim needs someone outside the organization to think with. The role is short and isolated, with no peer on staff and a board focused on the search. Training for an interim executive director covers the skills of the role. Coaching helps with the specific situation, in confidence, while the interim is in it.

A leader in transition is rarely fully candid with the board, which evaluates them, with staff, who report to them, or with local peers, who may compete for the same grants. A coach is one of the few relationships with no organizational agenda. That is the case for coaching through an executive transition, interim or permanent. Coaching has limits. It works on the interim’s own choices, and it cannot make a divided board decide.

Center for Nonprofit Coaching volunteer coaches donate their time, which is why six confidential one-to-one sessions cost $300, $400 or $600 depending on your operating budget, 85%+ below market rate. Some applications we receive come from board members on behalf of their executive director, and a board chair can do the same for an interim. See how coaching for interim leaders works, from matching to the last session.

A quick win for this week: if you are the interim, write two sentences that answer the staff’s question and say them at the next staff meeting. If you chair the board, put the mandate on one page. When you are ready, start an application and tell us what the first ninety days look like.

Frequently Asked Questions