Many nonprofits let the CEO decide for themselves what their priorities are and how they should spend their time. This is a risky situation and one that can be easily rectified with a CEO job description and annual goals for the ED.
If you’re a CEO, start writing your own job description now. Review it with your Personnel Committee or the President of the Board. Make sure the entire board sees and agrees to your job description. Be persistent if you think the board disagrees about your scope of responsibility and what the board expects you to accomplish.
Once you have a job description, make sure you have 3-5 annual goals that state your expected accomplishments for the year. These goals will be the changes you are expected to make, the new programs you will start, the improvements you will oversee, the people you will hire, or the funds you will raise. Each goal should be specific, measurable, and time-bound. The more specificity you can put into annual goals, the better. Again, make sure the Chairman of the Board, the Personnel Committee and the entire board agree on your Objectives.
This list outlines the five basic areas of responsibility of any CEO. Use this list as a starting point for writing your own job description and for your discussions with our board today.
The Executive Director is responsible for these five critical areas:
1. Program Management: Manage all programs and projects. Create a strategic 3-5 year vision that enables all staff, volunteers, and board members to understand the near-term future of the organization, its programs, and the key factors for success.
2. Fundraising: Develop and execute an annual fundraising plan that includes donor database management, donor communications, solicitation of major donations, corporate sponsorship, grant applications and reporting and donor management (thank you process). This fundraising plan will target fundraising for 130% of the annual spending budget and could include managing staff, volunteer, and board member resources.
3. Staff Management – Managed a staff of four full-time office employees and six part-time field employees. This includes providing them with job descriptions, defining annual goals with them, supporting their efforts and program implementations, developing their talents, transferring knowledge to these employees, conducting an annual appraisal, and helping them develop a personal development program to ensure they are achieving their goals. own goals. personal leadership goals
4. Budgeting: Work closely with the Board’s Finance Committee to develop program- and organization-specific annual budgets. (The annual budget will be approved by the board during the fourth quarter of each year for the following year). Manage all cash flow, accounting and record keeping while ensuring sound fiscal processes and procedures are established and maintained. Hire an outside accountant to conduct an annual audit of the organization’s fiscal operations.
5. Communication – with various key stakeholders:
has. Local partners: to plan, implement and evaluate local programs.
b. Funding Sources: To maintain a relationship with current and potential funding sources as dictated by projects and programs.
Against Donors: All existing and potential donors, grantors and sponsors.
d. Board – Reports monthly to the board and ensures positive board-staff relationships are maintained.
me. Work directly with the Chairman of the Board on an ongoing basis to ensure mission achievement and manage projects and programs in a legal and ethical manner.
NOTE: The Executive Director reports to the President of the Board and is responsible for managing all staff and volunteer staff for all programs and projects in support of the mission. Annual goals will be set for this position and the Board President will conduct an in-person review during the last month of each year.