Our CEO sucks but a major donor won't let us fire them. Help me, Nic!

Author Elisha Dacey

Happy Friday, FOGians!

(I’ve decided that’s what our readers are now called. It probably won’t stick like my Snimbit joke from last week.)

I’m actually away today. I decided to take yesterday and today off to celebrate my birthday (solidarity to all my fellow December babies) and when the editor is away, anything can happen.

So, as a birthday present to myself, I decided to get me an advice columnist for Future of Good. I am a sucker for advice columns and when I came across one on LinkedIn that dealt with non-profit boards, I couldn’t resist!

Let me introduce you to Nic Gagliardi, who runs Board Stories and has kindly partnered with us to let us run their column. Board Stories will run here every other Friday.

Now, this is an experiment. I’m hoping you’ll find their mix of sage advice and solutions useful. I will also be encouraging them to mix in more sarcasm because I’m also a sucker for snark. (They are infinitely more professional than I, however, so that may not happen.)

But if you do enjoy their column, let us know by replying to this newsletter or sending me an email directly. (I am also a sucker for feedback.) And ask Nic ALL your questions! They can help.

Without further ado, onto Nic’s answer to a tricky question:

A major donor won’t let our non-profit board fire an underperforming CEO

Q: Our charity’s CEO is no longer able to perform effectively and should retire. Our organization has only one major annual donor, who also sits on our Board. The major donor has threatened to stop her donations if the CEO is removed, so the board is doing nothing. The senior staff person who could have been promoted into the CEO role has given up and quit. As a board member, I am worried about the future of this organization! How can I change this situation?

A: I can understand why you’re worried: you have performance concerns with your CEO, attrition among senior staff, a tenuous revenue stream, and a board that’s being held hostage by a donor. Nevertheless, I think there is a viable path forward for the organization that will strengthen your governance over the long term.

Before I get into solutions, this is a good opportunity to share one of my most controversial nonprofit opinions: the primary role of the board is governance, not fundraising! Don’t use the board to steward prospects. Don’t use board appointments as a token of appreciation for a major gift. And do not recruit directors solely for their access to wealth.

These common practices lead to blurred boundaries and tricky power dynamics that can easily compromise the integrity and effectiveness of both governance and fund development. Save yourself the headache and keep major donors and board roles separate.

Read the rest of Nic’s advice here. Future columns will contain their entire answer.

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  • Elisha Dacey is a seasoned journalist with more than two decades of experience in the field. She has worked in various newsrooms across Canada, ranging from small-town papers to major outlets like CBC Manitoba and Global News. Dacey began her journalism career in Manitoba and has held roles such as managing editor, senior producer and digital online journalist. Notably, she launched Metro Winnipeg, the city’s only free daily newspaper, which quickly became the second most-read paper in Winnipeg.

    Elisha Dacey is the Managing Editor for Future of Good.

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