How to find top charity executive recruitment agencies
The job of an executive search firm is to find, contact, and evaluate candidates for top positions in charities, such as chief executive, director of fundraising, finance director, director of services, and interim supervisors, who are hired for a specific term. Since the firm you select determines which candidates your board will ever meet, this choice is worth more careful consideration than it typically receives.
The majority of boards appoint a chief executive every five or six years, and this frequency is insufficient to develop a sound instinct for making such appointments. The following section describes the work involved in conducting executive searches in the charity sector, the tasks a sector specialist will undertake that a generalist agency will not, and the questions that distinguish the two.
What a charity executive search is, and how it differs from ordinary recruitment
Executive search is an active method. The consultant maps the market for a role, identifies the people doing that job now or sitting one level below it, and approaches them directly. Contingency recruitment is reactive: the agency advertises, works its existing database and sends you the CVs of people who apply. You pay a contingency agency when someone starts. You pay a search firm in stages, whether or not an appointment happens.
In the case of a chief executive position with a charity, searches are generally the way to go since the most suitable candidates are already employed and therefore do not look at job boards. For a fundraising manager or an executive assistant, however, contingency arrangements usually suffice at a lower cost.
A small number of agencies apply a search method to roles that would normally go out on contingency terms. The Maine Group is one of them. Its consultants meet every client at their own workplace before a search begins, and the firm uses the same method, which it calls The Maine Method, across all five of its divisions, including Maine Charity. The practical effect is that a mid-level charity role gets mapped and approached rather than advertised and filtered.
Why sector specialism changes who reaches your shortlist
Pay is the best example of this. The ACEVO Pay and Equalities Survey 2025 gathered responses from 703 chief executives of charities and found the median CEO salary to be £59,850. Charity Finance’s 2025 survey of the 100 largest charities in the UK showed the median salary for a chief executive to be £192,000, up from £175,000 in 2023 and £155,000 in 2019. These figures refer to the same job title within the same sector. A recruitment agency that does not understand where your organisation falls between these two sets of figures will give poor guidance to candidates, leading them to reject the offer.
The same ACEVO survey found a gender pay gap of 10.6% among charity chief executives, with men earning a median of £64,067 and women £57,250. A search firm that tracks its own diversity data at the longlist, shortlist, and appointment stage can show your panel where candidates are dropping out. A firm that does not track it will present the shortlist as though it fell out of the sky.
Sector knowledge is also evident in smaller judgments. A consultant who has appointed fundraising directors can tell the difference between one person who has built up unrestricted income from scratch and another who has managed a single large statutory grant. A generalist, on the other hand, sees both situations as involving £4m raised funds.
The compliance work that sits behind a charity appointment
Since 1 August 2018, the rules concerning automatic disqualification have also been extended to senior charity managers as well as to trustees; these rules apply to the most senior manager who reports directly to the board, typically the chief executive, and to the most senior person who has control of money, usually the finance director. It is the role that determines this rather than the job title. The reasons for disqualification are convictions for dishonesty or deception that have not been spent, certain offences relating to terrorism, bribery, and money laundering, contempt of court, and being listed on the sex offenders register.
In practice, the charity has to obtain a signed declaration before it makes the appointment, not after; the Charity Commission provides model declarations for both trustees and senior managers, and a disqualified person can apply to the Commission for a waiver.
Inquire with an agency that has that step in its procedures. A search consultant familiar with the sector will say that they gather the declaration as part of the offer process and check the Individual Insolvency Register, the Companies House list of disqualified directors, and the Commission’s list of removed trustees. A less capable agency will merely state that it is your legal obligation, which is correct, and will leave it at that.
Two more points should be included in the same discussion. In cases where a posting involves work with children or adults at risk, the appointment must have the appropriate level of DBS check, and the organisation should know in advance which level is required rather than automatically choosing the basic one. Moreover, every agency carrying on business in the UK is subject to the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, which set out the rules concerning fees, candidate data and the terms of business. Being a member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation is a reasonable indication that an agency takes these regulations seriously, although it by itself does not guarantee compliance.
Seven questions to ask before you sign
Apply this to each agency on your list, then compare the responses side by side.
- How many chief executive or director positions have you filled in the past 2 years, and may I speak with 2 of those clients?
- Who carries out this search day to day, and will that individual be present at the briefing, the longlist review, and the final panel?
- What is the source of the longlist? If a firm states that it intends to map several organisations, it is searching for them. If a firm says it has an extensive network, it is conducting a database recall.
- What is your procedure for the disqualification declaration, references, and the right to work?
- What diversity data do you collect at each stage, and will you disclose it with our panel?
- What are your fee stages, and what happens if the person appointed leaves within 6 months?
- Who puts together the candidate pack, and may we have one that you prepared for a similar position?
The final question is more significant than it appears. The candidate pack is the document that convinces an existing chief executive to consider your organisation; if it sounds like just a job advertisement with a logo printed on it, the search will fail, no matter what the credentials deck had promised.
Fees, guarantees and what happens when it goes wrong
Retention search billing generally takes place in three stages: when the firm is engaged, when the shortlist is delivered, and when the candidate starts work. The fees are usually expressed as a percentage of the candidate’s first-year salary, ranging from 20% to 30%, although charity rates are generally lower than commercial rates. Contingency agencies charge only when a placement has been made,at a lower rate. rate
Get the failure terms in writing before you appoint anyone, because agencies use the word guarantee for three quite different things. A free replacement means the firm searches again at no fee, which is worth little if you have lost trust in the firm. A rebate returns part of the fee on a sliding scale, so a departure in week ten might return 30% of it. A refund returns the money.
The Maine Group provides a financial guarantee covering 100 days at 100 per cent, does not charge any fees in advance, and takes its fee only once a placement has been made. This practice goes beyond what is usual in the sector and therefore provides a fair standard by which to evaluate other agencies when comparing their terms.
Keep the board close to the process.
The Charity Governance Code includes board effectiveness and equality, diversity and inclusion as one of its principles, and a chief executive appointment provides a test of both. You should decide in advance who will be on the appointment panel, who will have the last say, and what action the chair will take if the panel is divided. Search consultants often notice that strong candidates vanish during the two or three weeks needed to assemble a panel that was not scheduled in advance.
Arrange the timetable at the briefing meeting and enter the panel dates into your diaries in the same week. It is realistic to take between six and twelve weeks from the time of the briefing to making an offer in the case of a search for a charity’s chief executive, allowing for the appointee’s notice period, which is often three months at that level. If a firm is promising to produce a shortlist much faster than this, it usually means they already have someone in mind, which is worth asking about directly.
Signs to walk away
CVs sent in within 48 hours of the first contact, before any member of the agency has met your team or has seen the place where they would be working; a consultant who refuses to state the name of the person carrying out the work; no charity client who is willing to take a reference call; the terms of business only appearing after your panel has interviewed the candidates; and a firm that responds to every request by suggesting an interim worker on a day rate.
A practical first step
Prepare a one-page summary that includes the salary range, reporting relationship, panel members, schedule, and the outcomes the person appointed is required to achieve during the first year. Send this summary to two or three agencies and request in writing from each of them details of their search procedure, their fee structure, and their criteria for failure. The quality of the written responses you receive will tell you more than anything in the way of credentials.
The Maine Group has worked with not-for-profit organisations for more than 25 years through its Maine Charity division, covering fundraising and philanthropy roles, executive assistants, HR and senior leadership positions. To talk through a current or forthcoming appointment, call 020 7734 7341 or visit the Maine Charity division page.
Frequently asked questions
What does a charity executive search entail?
Charity executive search is an active recruitment method for senior roles in the charity sector. The consultant maps the market, approaches candidates directly, and assesses them against a brief agreed with the board, rather than advertising the role and waiting for applications.
What do charity executive recruitment agencies charge?
Search fees, retained, are typically quoted at 20%-30% of the candidate’s first-year salary and billed in instalments. Charity rates are generally lower than commercial rates. Contingency agencies charge only when a placement is made. The Maine Group does not charge anything up front and takes its fee once the candidate begins.
What is the length of the search for a chief executive officer in a charity?
It is usual for the period between the briefing and the offer to last from six to twelve weeks, together with the appointee’s notice period, which at the level of chief executive is usually three months.
Do charity recruitment agencies deal with the recruitment of trustees as well as that of staff?
Yes, they have. Since trustee positions are generally unpaid and require a different method and a different pool of candidates, it is necessary to specifically enquire with the firm whether it has conducted trustee searches, rather than simply assuming it does so as part of its executive work.
Must the agency be based in London?
On the contrary, most searches are conducted by phone and video, and knowledge of the sector is more important than having an office address. Having a base in London is an advantage in cases where the position requires frequent face-to-face meetings or when the candidate pool in that speciality is concentrated in the capital.