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succession plan

Asking Powerful Questions

By Lizzy Mottern, VP of Talent. A transition is a chance to think creatively, consider different perspectives, address challenges and opportunities, and celebrate successes. When moss+ross gets a call to assist with temporary staffing through moss+ross interim solutionsTM or an Executive Search, we ask many, many questions to gather input and feedback, build trust, nurture relationships, and explore various solutions with a client. The questions we ask, how we ask them, and whom we ask have a huge impact on our ability to understand a situation and develop meaningful, results-oriented approaches that allow clients to navigate a transition and maximize their investment in the staffing and search support we provide. Asking the right follow-up questions is another important way to dig in and fully explore challenging situations. Here's how we work to gain an understanding of an [...]

2023-08-28T16:18:57-04:00August 28th, 2023|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Staffing, Team Expertise|
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Transitions Create Opportunities

By Lizzy Mottern, VP of Talent. Transitions are part of every organization’s life cycle. The good news is they are incredible opportunities to rethink, adjust, and become even stronger. We join clients in times of transition in multiple ways: providing interim contractors through m+r interim solutions, helping boards find their next great leader through our Executive Search services, and providing counsel during succession planning, assessments, and strategic planning work. Specific to staffing needs, moss+ross has provided temporary placements since our founding in 2009, and we formalized this service as our m+r interim solutions division in 2018. Our contractor database has a strong pool of 200+ highly-qualified, local nonprofit professionals who understand the Triangle and take great pride in adding value to the important work of nonprofits. These hand-picked contractors work side-by-side with clients, offering their professional experience [...]

2022-11-22T10:50:40-05:00November 22nd, 2022|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Staffing, Team Expertise|
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Next Gen Board: Recruiting for a New Day

By Susan Ross, Founding Partner. If your Board nominees look like mirror images of your current board, perhaps it’s time to try a new approach. Most of our nonprofit clients are actively seeking ways to embrace Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. A stated commitment to DEIB is a good step, but it needs to be followed by actions and outcomes. Nonprofit leaders need board members to be their trusted advisors on strategic questions. If your whole board has the same perspective or the same skillset, you won’t get the best guidance. Board members play important roles as ambassadors and outside eyes, for which you need multiple networks represented. Our clients tell us that they know their boards need new blood, but they don’t know how to find new people. Great candidates are all around us, but it [...]

2022-11-06T09:43:56-05:00October 26th, 2022|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter|
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Tips to Ease Future Staffing Transitions

By LisaCaitlin Perri. Often a staff transition means losing that person's institutional knowledge of documents, processes, and decision making. From our years of experience stepping into organizations as interim contractors, we see several key areas that can mitigate the turmoil of a turnover, improve internal efficiency, and streamline communication. Prioritize the following areas for up-to-date documentation that is readily accessible to the full team or at least to more than one staff member: Reports – For data reports or filters/queries that supported an appeal or event or board meeting, document how or why final decisions were made and the names of any final reports or filters. Be sure that the final criteria or lists are available in a secure shared location. This applies to financial and program reports to funders or other stakeholders, too. Examples: For your [...]

2021-11-05T15:03:01-04:00November 4th, 2021|All Posts, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Staffing, Team Expertise|
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UMD Board Announces New Executive Director

DURHAM – Durham’s emergency homeless shelter and free meal provider has hired a new executive director with more than 20 years of experience leading human services agencies, the board announced Wednesday. The Urban Ministries of Durham board unanimously selected Sheldon Mitchell, previously at Habitat for Humanity of Wake County. He will take charge March 14. Board Chair David Sotolongo said the seasoned nonprofit executive stood out among the dozens of qualified candidates attracted by the national search. Mitchell succeeds outgoing Executive Director Patrice Nelson, who last summer announced that she would be ending her nearly 7-year tenure leading the nonprofit. UMD helps 6,000 homeless and poor residents of Durham each year using a cash and in-kind budget of $3 million. Mitchell said that UMD’s core values of respect, accountability and collaboration speak to his own deep belief in treating everyone [...]

2016-03-30T12:30:24-04:00March 30th, 2016|All Posts, Client Highlights, Staffing|
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Making the best of unexpected circumstances by Mary Moss and Susan Ross

Perspectives on change and the unexpected from moss+ross co-founders and partners Mary Moss and Susan Ross... Over the course of our consulting careers, we have worked intimately with more than 100 organizations. Some embrace change, planned or not, while others grit their teeth and hope they make it through. Our perspective is that change can be a wonderful catalyst for leaders to step back and rethink, reorganize and restructure operations for the best. And in the 21st century, change is a given in almost every environment. An organization that is not changing is probably withering. Sometimes forced change offers opportunities that were not there before. Maybe you have an unspent salary to invest in strategic planning or an assessment you know you need. Perhaps you have been organizing your staff workload around a person’s strengths or weaknesses, and the change [...]

2020-02-21T19:20:18-05:00November 19th, 2015|All Posts, Fundraising Counsel, Staffing, Strategic Planning|
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Succession planning: What can you do now?

While the departure of an executive director is not something that can always be planned, there are things that can be done along the way to ensure the organization is not crippled when this happens, because sooner or later, it will. Executive directors play such key roles representing an organization to all of its constituents. Often, he or she really is the face of what you do, so it’s not surprising that a departure can send waves of anxiety through an organization’s staff and board. Succession planning applies also to boards of directors. Many boards have a founding board chair who has become the driving force of the organization, functioning almost as staff. It is just as critical that the board members have a plan for what happens when that person wants to step down or cannot serve any longer [...]

2015-08-20T01:45:31-04:00August 20th, 2015|All Posts, Staffing, Strategic Planning|
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