Recently (and I’m still in the midst of it) I left an economic development non profit I founded 10 years ago. We recruited a pretty brilliant guy over a year ago to replace me - someone well suited to take the organization into a new era.

With lots of preparation and advance notice, having an A+ transition is still a challenge: I think it’s probably harder to maintain a strong four-person organization through transition than it is to maintain the strength of a Fortune 500 in a similar situation. With the multitude of non-profits out there, it was a great surprise to me that so little guidance literature exists on this issue. Fortunately, the Annie E. Casey Foundation published a pithy ‘Founder Transition’ handbook which spells out all the basics in a way you don’t have to be a social entrepreneurship geek to understand. If you need it, check it out — and if you’re a non profit founder thinking about leaving - start prepping 18 months ahead in order to be fair to your organization.

Chris Carmody / Carmody & Company
www.christophercarmody.com