Nonprofit Executive Search Process Explained (Step-by-Step)

The executive search carried out by a nonprofit organisation consists of ten stages, starting with the board agreeing on the mandate and ending with the new appointee’s first 100 days; the period from the initial briefing to the making of the offer lasts between six and twelve weeks before the notice period begins. Since the majority of the risk is concentrated in the first three stages, the board spends the least amount of time on these.

It is common for top positions in the sector to be vacant, which is why it is important to get this right. The Chief Executive Survey carried out by Charity Finance in 2025 showed that seven of the largest hundred UK charities had no chief executive acting in the role at the time of the survey, and that 30% of the executives whose data could be obtained had only been in the post for a year or less. The following section outlines what occurs at each stage, who is responsible for it, and why searches fail.

The nonprofit executive search process at a glance

Stage by stage

The board agrees on the mandate.

Before any attempts are made to recruit, the board decides on the type of person it wants. This involves determining the salary range, the reporting relationship, the two or three outcomes that the new appointee is expected to achieve in the first year, and whether the organisation would like a like-for-like replacement or a different kind of leader. Since a departing chief executive’s job description only lists what the previous person did, it is not a good basis for the next appointment.

At this stage, assign a name to the appointment panel, stating who will have the last say and what the chairperson should do if the panel is divided. During the same meeting, enter the panel’s dates into diaries. Searches tend to lose strong candidates during the two or three weeks it takes to reconvene a panel that had never been scheduled.

2. The selection of a search partner

Retained search services are billed in stages, typically at the time of appointment, when the shortlist is delivered and on the start date. With contingency recruitment, payment is only made upon placement. It is important to put in writing at this stage both the fee schedule and the terms relating to failure, since agencies use the term guarantee to describe three different arrangements: a free replacement search, a rebate on a sliding scale, or a genuine refund. The Maine Group does not charge any fees in advance, takes its fee once placement has been made and provides a 100-day, 100 per cent financial guarantee for the appointment.

3. The briefing meeting

The consultant visits you; this is the occasion on which a reputable search firm receives its fee, since it is the brief produced as a result of the visit that is presented to the candidates. The Maine Group insists upon meeting each of its clients at their own place of work before a search begins, in all of its divisions including Maine Charity, and this applies equally to appointments to charity leadership positions.

From the briefing two documents are produced. The person specification distinguishes between the truly essential requirements and those which have been carried over from an earlier advertisement. The candidate pack is the document which convinces an existing chief executive to consider a call regarding your organisation; if it sounds like a job advertisement with a logo on the cover, you can expect a short and thin longlist.

4. Research and market mapping

During the research phase, a list of organisations and specifically named individuals is compiled, starting with the sector in question, the income range and the specialisms mentioned in the brief. In the case of a position for a chief executive of a charity, the list typically includes sixty or more names, these being taken from charities of a similar size, from adjacent subsectors, and also from leaders in the commercial or public sectors who have relevant可转移 experience.

Request to see the map rather than a summary of it. When a firm lists the organisations it plans to contact, it is carrying out a search. When a firm speaks of having an extensive network, it is simply reading its own database.

5. The approach and the initial screening

The consultant deals directly with the candidates, typically by phone, and conducts an initial interview with all those who respond. The purpose of this screening is to assess both their motivation and their capabilities. A typical type of candidate is a commercial director who wishes to enter the sector, and the straightforward question in this case is whether or not they have understood a governance structure in which the board acts as the employer and earnings are restricted.

This is where pay discussions take place, prior to anyone spending weeks on the process. The ACEVO Pay and Equalities Survey 2025, based on data from 703 charity chief executives, shows the median CEO salary to be £59,850, whereas Charity Finance reports that pay at the top 100 charities was £192,000, an increase from £175,000 in its 2023 survey. These figures refer to the same job title. A consultant who is unable to let a candidate know where your organisation stands in relation to them will lose that candidate at the offer stage.

Review of the longlist by the panel

Since the panel has access to the longlist together with the mapping that led to its creation, the trustees will be able to see not only those who are still in the process but also those who were approached and then declined. It is normal for a search for a charity’s chief executive to result in between twelve and fifteen candidates being selected for the longlist. Moreover, this meeting is also the final stage at which the brief can be altered without having to restart the search.

7. Assessment

Assessment typically involves a structured competency interview based on the person specification, a task or presentation related to a real organisational problem, and in the case of larger charities a psychometric or leadership assessment. You should evaluate each candidate using the same criteria and record the scores. The fact that the criteria are documented and consistently applied is important for the quality of the decision, and this point is also relevant at stage nine if anyone challenges the decision.

Get involved people other than those on the panel. Holding sessions with the senior management team, and where appropriate with people who use the charity’s services, reveals issues that a panel interview alone will not. Make these sessions advisory and state this clearly in advance, because otherwise you would have unintentionally set up a second decision-making body.

8. Final panel interviews

The number of candidates taking part in the final panel is usually three or four. If possible, the panel conducts the interviews on the same day, using the same questions in the same order, and makes its decision before the people leave. In cases where the panel is unable to reach an agreement, the chair resorts to the decision rule that was agreed upon at stage one, which is why stage one is important.

9. Pre-appointment checks

Charity appointment checks include those that are not required for commercial appointments. Since 1 August 2018, the automatic disqualification rules have covered senior charity managers as well as trustees, extending to the most senior manager who reports directly to the board and the most senior person who has control over money. It is the role that determines this rather than the job title. The reasons that lead to disqualification are unspent convictions for dishonesty or deception, certain offences relating to terrorism, bribery and money laundering, contempt of court, and being on the sex offenders register.

The declaration has to be received before the appointment is made, not after it. The Charity Commission provides model declarations and a person who is disqualified may apply for a waiver. You should also check the Individual Insolvency Register, the Companies House register of disqualified directors and the Commission’s register of removed trustees. In cases where the position involves regulated activity with children or adults at risk, you must determine which level of DBS check is appropriate rather than automatically choosing the basic one. Right to work checks are carried out in the same way as they are in any appointment.

10. The offer, the notice period and onboarding

Since charity chief executives usually give three months’ notice, a search which ends in the eleventh week will generally have a start date in the next quarter. Make use of that gap by agreeing with the person being appointed about the first 100 days before they begin, specifying which trustees they will meet in the first week and what the board expects to see at their first board meeting. Likewise, agree on the performance measures for the first year at the same time, while both parties still remember what was promised during the interview.

Where diverse shortlists are won and lost

The gender pay gap among charity chief executives found in the 2025 ACEVO survey was 10.6 per cent, the median income for men being £64,067 and that for women £57,250. The sector-wide figures are the result of the various individual appointment decisions, and it is during the recruitment process that a board can affect these decisions.

The useful work mainly takes place at the fourth and fifth stages. The Equality Act 2010, specifically section 158, enables an employer to take action in order to encourage applications from groups who are under-represented or at a disadvantage; this includes carrying out targeted outreach, carrying out wider mapping and reviewing the language of the candidate pack. It is at this stage that a diverse longlist is obtained.

Section 159, which has been in effect since 6 April 2011, is more limited and is frequently misinterpreted. It allows an employer to give preference to a candidate having a protected characteristic only in the case where that candidate is just as qualified as the other, only if the employer reasonably believes that the group in question is under-represented or disadvantaged, and never as part of a general policy. In the case of Furlong v Chief Constable of Cheshire Police, the employment tribunal ruled against a force that had applied a tie-breaker without first establishing that the candidates had been genuinely equally qualified. For a board that wishes to rely on section 159, the scoring from stage seven must be able to back it up.

What derails a nonprofit executive search

• The agreement was reached by email not in person, and it is only at the shortlist stage that the panel realizes that they had wanted different things.
• The dates for the panel are set after the search has begun, which results in a delay of several weeks between the longlist and the offer and thus imposes a cost on the candidates.
• The salary band was determined on the basis of last year’s payroll figures rather than current sector benchmarks, this being discovered at the time the offer was made.
• The assessment scores were recorded in individual notebooks, with no reasons given for the decisions or any basis for a tie-break.
• The declarations of disqualification have been sent after the offer has been issued.
• As there is no onboarding plan, a leader who has been recruited to make some change takes three months merely deciding whom to ask.

Where a specialist agency changes the outcome

For more than 25 years the Maine Group has provided services to not-for-profit organisations via its Maine Charity division, carrying out tasks such as arranging fundraising and philanthropy appointments as well as supplying executive assistants and people for senior leadership positions. The firm has been carrying out recruitment for companies in London since 1987 and uses what it refers to as The Maine Method in every position it fills rather than reserving it for appointments at the board level.

When a appointment as chief executive or director is planned for within the next two quarters, the useful first move is to draw up a one-page summary which includes the salary range, the reporting relationship, the selection panel and the outcomes for the first year. You should call 020 7734 7341 to go over it before the position becomes vacant.

Frequently asked questions

How long will an executive search carried out by a nonprofit organization take?

It takes between six and twelve weeks to go from the briefing to making an offer for a chief executive position with a charity, together with the appointee’s notice period, which is usually three months; additionally, one or two weeks should be allowed at the beginning for the board to agree the mandate and to appoint the search firm.

What is the difference between executive search and recruitment?

Executive search is proactive: the consultant maps the market and approaches people who are not applying for anything. Recruitment on contingency terms advertises the role and works an existing database. Search costs more and reaches candidates who are already employed.

Who should sit on the appointment panel?

The chair, two or three other trustees, and where the structure allows a senior staff representative. Keep the panel small enough to schedule quickly. Wider stakeholder sessions can inform the panel without becoming a second decision-making body.

What checks are legally required before appointing a charity chief executive?

A signed declaration that the appointee is not disqualified under the automatic disqualification rules, obtained before the appointment is made, plus right to work checks and references. Where the post involves regulated activity with children or adults at risk, the appropriate level of DBS check applies.