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Nonprofit Executive Succession Planning : Israeli Perspective

While there is ample literature regarding the rapidly growing Israeli nonprofit sector, scant attention has been paid to the particular considerations, challenges, and opportunities pertaining to succession planning in this unique sector. Consequently, this exploratory study investigates the degree to which Israeli nonprofit organizations prepare themselves for executive succession. Based on a survey developed by Santora, Sarros and Cooper (2009), the authors collected data on succession planning from the executive directors of 100 Israeli nonprofits and conducted comparative analyses on nine succession planning indicators. The findings suggest that most Israeli nonprofit organizations do not plan for succession, and they are also ill-prepared for succession. While these findings echo those of nonprofit organizations in other countries, they appear to signal a warning sign for the Israeli nonprofit sector given its importance as a dominant provider of services not provided by the public sector. Furthermore, the authors explore the major organizational impediments to succession planning in the context of Israeli society. Finally, practical organizational implications are considered, followed by suggestions for future research. The leadership role of top management is crucial in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) (Ritchie & Eastwood, 2006) and entails the unique challenges of " integrating the realms of mission, resource acquisition, and strategy " (Herman, 2010, 157). The executive leadership role deals with distinct managerial challenges, including the following: • Executive directors (EDs) have to maintain the financial stability of their organizations, which are highly dependent on fund-raising. • EDs have to manage the work of volunteers, who are not employees in the conventional sense. • EDs function in a vulnerable position between their boards of directors and their organizations' staff. • EDs are the individuals with the most formal power in the nonprofit organizations, but they are pressured to satisfy the demands and fulfill the expectations of 3 multiple stakeholders with often conflicting agendas, both inside and outside their organizations. Despite the complexity of the ED's role, Sherlock and Nathan (2007, p. 35) highlight the lack of organizational infrastructure dedicated to the development of their managerial talents: These CEOs have no internal supervisor who is responsible for their development, and staff development efforts directed by the human resource function are typically focused on developing people in other positions in the organization. As a result, CEOs in nonprofit organizations must be self-directed in their learning to a greater extent than those in other organizational positions. This neglect can be viewed …