The Care and Feeding of a Non-Profit Executive Director: Thriving on Chaos!

By Willi Baer

The Care and Feeding of a Non-Profit Exec. is the companion piece to the author's first book The Care and Feeding of a Non-Profit Board. Together these two books will help guide staff and board alike of any sized non-profit agency from very small to very large. This book will help the non-profit staffer through the process of climbing the ladder to the top spot in your organization from your first interview with the board to knowing when it's time to move on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491843079

Willi Baer

This is author Willi Baer’s third book but first novel. “It’s much more fun writing a novel,” states Baer, “because you are only limited by your imagination. How-to books are basically just facts.” The author has lived in several countries and in the tropics and draws from life experiences of friends and acquaintances. She has two more novels in the works.

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© 2013 Willi Baer. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/14/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-4306-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-4307-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013922930

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1

The First Step

The Interview

Chapter 2

First Day on the Job

Budgeting Process

Enterprises

Chapter 3

Meetings

Pre-Work

Chapter 4

Special Events

Chapter 5

Staffing

Resumes/Hiring

Interviewing

Orientation

Staff Manual/Handbook

Training

Performance Standards

Performance Appraisals

Salary Increases

Staff Development

Terminating Staff

Bad Employees

Conflict Resolution

Chapter 6

Board Relations

Board Retreats

Chapter 7

Knowing When To Leave

Foreword

Willi Baer is the consummate association professional: Intelligent, experienced and insightful. Her book The Care and Feeding of an Executive Director is an excellent example of her attributes.

I encourage any staff member with aspirations of becoming the chief staff executive to read this book. Even if you do not have such a career goal, it would be wise to read this book to better understand what your boss must address on a daily basis.

Michael J. Nizankiewicz, PhD, CAE

President, Association Transition Management

Author of: I Did It My Way

Contributing author of: You and Your Nonprofit

An organization can only thrive through adverse times and chaos if run by a team of dedicated and committed individuals. You either fully commit… .

or you don’t.

Chapter 1

The First Step

Okay so now you’ve been in the non-profit world for a few years and are contemplating your next step. Do you want to stay within the same organization? And if so, are you willing to relocate to another branch or state… . or perhaps even to national headquarters?

If you are interested in heading up an agency, what’s the first thing you should do? Research. What organizations are currently conducting an executive search and is their mission something you believe in. That is a must. You cannot sell a mission if you do not thoroughly believe in and support the mission of the agency yourself.

Next you need to make sure that your resume is current and accurate.

(See sample attachment A1) Stress your qualifications and keep it down to an absolute maximum of two pages. You need not go back any further than ten years as that info will probably come out in an interview.