Recruit Today to Build Your Nonprofit’s 15-Year Future
The environmental nonprofit sector is about to change in a big way.
E&E News shared a recent article that 100% reflects what I’ve noted: “High-profile conservation groups and environmental nonprofits are hunting for new leaders after their current heads resigned or announced their plans to exit.” In addition to Resources for the Future, Defenders of Wildlife, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, National Park Foundation, and Union of Concerned Scientists who are all named in the article, National Forest Foundation and the Trust for Public Land recently announced they’re seeking new CEOs.
Leaving the past behind
Fifteen years ago, nonprofits needed to rebuild their financial resources after 2008’s Great Recession. So, boards looked for visionary executives with deep skills in fundraising and relationship building.
Now, the landscape of the environmental nonprofit world is changing, and so are the challenges that organizations need to address. And while some leaders are able to pivot with the times, others may lean on one particular strength for years and years. Which means that the organizations they’re stewarding run the risk of being left behind as the environmental nonprofit world—and donors, partners and peers—continue to change and evolve.
looking toward the future
Today, what nonprofit leaders are faced with is the changing demographics of their teams, partners, and the communities they serve. And they know that stakeholders across identities are watching how racial equity efforts are showing up within nonprofit organizations.
That means boards have to be strategic about finding new leadership who are both attuned to the organization’s needs AND the audiences they’re trying to reach today (vs. fifteen years ago).
The thing is, most environmental nonprofit boards are predominantly white … yet they’re the ones making the hiring decisions. Bias creeps into the hiring process as we unintentionally seek out leaders who look like us, think like us, speak like us, or even went to the same school as us.
steps to take today
This is why, to proactively plan for the next 15 years, board leaders should consider partnering with a nonprofit executive recruitment firm like Bonsai Leadership Group. We not only have proven experience in sourcing diverse candidate pools, our recruiters are really intentional about supporting organizations through the hiring process and their initial responses to a diverse candidate slate. In other words, we’ll say the hard things that need to be said. If someone believes a white candidate is a better fit than a Black candidate, we’re going to ask why – especially if the candidates are equally matched.
We’ve heard responses like, “Well, ‘Candidate #1’ talked about nature more in the interview. And he used to work at a similar organization to ours, so I know he’ll have a shorter learning curve.”
But loving nature and conservation experience were not requirements for the position! It’s an example of unconscious bias – when you have something in common, it’s normal to feel a deeper affinity for those candidates.
This is what leads nonprofits to hire the same kinds of team members over and over and over again. But maybe you don’t need a CEO with a PhD in Environmental Science, or someone with thirty years of leadership experience in conservation. Instead, maybe you can find a new leader who:
inspires donors, community members, and employees
can set the strategy, align direction, and create impact
can build a high-performing rockstar team
is totally passionate about reaching and serving historically excluded and underrepresented audiences
has a vision that will address what you’ll be facing in the NEXT fifteen years—and beyond.
And it’s our job to clearly call this out, so your team can recruit (AND RETAIN) Black, Indigenous and people of color with new, fresh, and bold points of view that will bring your nonprofit culture to the next level.