Nonprofit Leadership Roles Explained: Who Does What, From the Board to Program Leads

Nonprofit leadership roles make more sense mapped by who decides what than by title. The same top staff job is called executive director, president or CEO, and some bylaws call the board chair the president. The line that matters runs between governing the organization and managing it.

In a small nonprofit, that line moves: the executive director covers several staff jobs, and board members pick up staff work.

What Are the Main Leadership Roles in a Nonprofit?

A nonprofit has two leadership groups. The board of directors, led by its chair and officers, governs: it sets the mission, hires and evaluates the executive director and protects the assets. The staff, led by the executive director, runs programs, people and money day to day. Volunteer leaders and committee chairs work on both sides.

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits puts the split as a rule of thumb: “the board of directors primarily governs and staff primarily manages the organization.” Titles vary more than roles do. The IRS instructions for Form 990 say a nonprofit’s officers are set by its “organizing document, bylaws, or resolutions of its governing body.”

For how people on both sides grow into these roles, see our guide to nonprofit leadership development.

Which Nonprofit Leadership Roles Decide What?

Each of the nonprofit leadership roles is defined by what it decides. The board decides direction, the budget and who leads the staff. Officers run the board’s own work. The executive director decides how the plan gets done and who does it, and senior staff decide within the programs, funds and teams they are given.

Most of that overlap is normal in a small organization.

What Do the Board and Its Officers Do?

The board holds final responsibility for the organization and acts as a group. Its officers run the board’s own work: the chair leads meetings and partners with the executive director, the vice chair stands in for the chair, the secretary keeps the minutes and records, and the treasurer oversees the finances and the budget.

BoardSource describes the chair as “the day-to-day supervisor and partner of the chief executive,” and the full job is under board chair responsibilities. The treasurer, in BoardSource’s description, usually chairs the finance committee and presents the annual budget to the board.

BoardSource lists three legal duties for every board member, officer or not: care, loyalty and obedience. Good governance practices turn them into habits. Another line on its list for members is easy to break in a small organization: “Refrain from making special requests of the staff.” Teach it on day one when onboarding new board members.

Who Leads the Staff Side of a Nonprofit?

The executive director leads the staff side and answers to the full board. Larger organizations add a deputy director or chief operating officer below the executive director, plus leads for programs, development and finance. Each lead answers to the executive director and decides within the area and budget the executive director gives them.

The IRS calls this position the top management official, whatever the title. For the title question, see executive director or CEO; for the duties, see executive director responsibilities.

Program managers are the likely successors: most first-time executive directors who apply to us for coaching were promoted from program management, fundraising or operations, so middle manager development pays off before a vacancy opens. Volunteer leaders run events and committees, and volunteer leadership works best with a written scope.

Where Do Roles Blur in Small Nonprofits?

Roles blur most in small organizations, and most nonprofits are small: 88 percent spend less than $500,000 a year, according to the National Council of Nonprofits (2019). With two or three staff, the executive director holds several staff roles at once, and board members take on management work.

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits notes that in “smaller, younger nonprofits,” board duties “may include more tasks typically associated with management,” while directors still “do not have power or authority individually.”

Coaching applications show the staff side. First-time executive directors name the board relationship among their top three concerns, and one asked for help with “how to interact with the board and collaborate with other staff members.” That is a roles question: which decisions go up to the board, which stay with the executive director and which move to staff.

When a founder still holds most of those decisions years later, the pattern has a name: founder syndrome.

In a strong board executive director relationship, our coaches see a board that reviews its own work as well as the executive director’s. Blurred roles fail in both directions: a board that second-guesses every hire, and a board that meets once a quarter and approves whatever it is handed.

A role chart still fails if no one has said who decides.

How Do You Clarify Roles When They Overlap?

Clarify overlapping roles by writing down who decides what. List the decisions that keep coming up, name one person or body that makes each one, attach the list to the role descriptions, and review it every year and whenever a new board chair or executive director starts. We call this the Who-Decides List.

1. List the decisions. Hiring staff, spending outside the budget, starting a program, signing contracts, talking to the press.
2. Name one decider for each, plus who is consulted and who is told. Check your bylaws first.
3. Attach it to the role descriptions, including the executive director job description.
4. Review it yearly and whenever a new chair or executive director starts.

Take spending outside the budget: below a limit the board sets, the executive director decides and reports it; above it, the board decides after hearing from the treasurer.

A pattern our coaches see: an executive director frustrated with a board member who keeps stepping into operations finds that no one ever drew the line between governance and management. The next step is a short proposal to the board that draws it.

Questions to ask yourself

• Which decision this year stalled because no one knew who owned it?
• If the executive director were out for six weeks, who would sign, approve spending and speak for the organization?

What Is the First Step for Each Side?

Each side has one first step. If you chair the board, put the Who-Decides List on the next agenda and ask the board to confirm which decisions it keeps. If you are the executive director, draft the staff half before that meeting, starting with the decisions that stalled this year.

When the overlap sits inside the leadership team, coaching for the whole leadership team works on how the group decides together: six sessions with a volunteer coach for $500, $700 or $1,100, by operating expenses under $250K, under $500K or over $500K. One-to-one executive coaching for the executive director is $300, $400 or $600. Our coaches donate their time, which is why fees run 85%+ below market rate.

Coaching works on how each leader acts inside the roles; changes to the bylaws and any governance dispute stay with the board. Start an application, or download the free leadership guide first.

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