The Phone Call No Board Wants to Make

What we learned from 24 interim leaders about keeping nonprofits steady when the ED leaves.

It usually starts with a phone call: The executive director (ED) has resigned. Or announced their retirement. Or — in some cases — simply stopped showing up.

Whatever the reason, the board chair is now staring at the organizational chart, wondering “Who runs this place tomorrow?”

If you’ve been in that chair, you know the feeling. Staff are anxious. Funders want reassurance. And somehow, the mission still needs to move forward.

That’s exactly why interim executive directors exist — and why getting this right matters more than most boards realize.

Not a Placeholder — a Stabilizer

We interviewed 24 experienced interim leaders — mostly working with nonprofits in the region of Chattanooga, TN — and heard the same theme over and over: The interim role is profoundly misunderstood.

Boards sometimes treat the interim as a warm body in the seat while the real search happens. The interims we spoke with pushed back hard on that framing.

“They needed someone to steady the ship — and fast,” one told us.

Another described being handed a situation in which staff were “exhausted, overwhelmed, shell-shocked” — and her first job was simply making people feel safe enough to come to work.

Interim leaders often make the necessary, and typically difficult, decisions that a departing ED avoided:

• They tackle the HR issues that were swept under the rug.
• They talk frankly with funders.
• They clean up messes that nobody wanted to own.

When it works, good interims don’t just hold the organization together — they leave it in better shape than they found it.

How can a board best select a new interim ED? It takes careful interviewing — in a variety of formal and informal settings (over a meal, perhaps?) — and clearly communicating the mission and charge to your candidates.

What Boards Get Wrong (and How to Fix it)

The most common mistake? Not giving the interim a clear charge.

Nearly every interim ED we spoke with said the same thing: Before Day One, they needed to know what the board expected. What decisions were theirs to make? What was the timeline? Were they allowed to manage personnel? Were they involved in hiring the next ED?

“I asked for a specific charge when one wasn’t offered,” one interim told us. It was the single best thing she did. This charge clarified the direction the board expected by setting forth goals.

The second mistake? Disappearing once the interim is in place.

Here’s a pattern we didn’t expect to find — boards were heavily involved in selecting the interim, then largely went quiet during the actual tenure.

The interim would be named, the press release would go out, and then… not much.

No regular check-ins. No structured updates. The board that worked so hard to fill the seat seemed to assume the job was done.

It isn’t.

Interims need active, ongoing support: Regular check-ins with the board chair, clear communication channels, and a board willing to engage — not just when a crisis hits, but throughout their tenure.

Boards also face an early choice that shapes everything: Do you promote from within, or bring someone in from outside?

Both paths have real trade-offs. Internal interims already know the culture, the staff, and where the bodies are buried — which means a shorter learning curve and an immediate sense of familiarity for the team.

But that same familiarity can create awkwardness.

Several interims described the strange experience of suddenly being the boss of people who had been their peers. Former colleagues wondered about their “marching orders.” Some quietly competed for the role and didn’t get it.

External interims face a steeper ramp-up, but they carry a different kind of freedom.

They’re not managing their former friends. They don’t owe anyone a favor. That independence can be exactly what a struggling organization needs.

As one participant put it, they can make difficult decisions “without the long-term political baggage.”

There’s no universally right answer, but boards should make the choice deliberately, with eyes open to what each path asks of the person stepping in.

Three Things Every Interim Should Do in the First Week

Based on what we heard, here’s what separates interims who thrive from those who struggle:

1. Listen before you lead.

Hold listening sessions with staff. Ask what’s working, what isn’t, and what people are afraid of.

This isn’t just relationship-building — it’s intelligence gathering. You can’t fix what you don’t understand.

2. Read everything.

Budgets, cash flow, HR files, grant deadlines, strategic plans, etc. — don’t wait for someone to give you a briefing, pull the files and read them yourself.

Several interims told us they discovered critical problems in week one — just by reading what was already there.

3. Be visible and build trust.

Staff need to see that someone calm and competent is at the helm. Show up. Be accessible. Eat lunch in the breakroom.

One interim described this simply: “You must be present. That’s half the job.”

The Exit Is as Important as the Entrance

One of the most overlooked parts of interim leadership? The handoff.

The best interims we spoke with prepared detailed transition binders for their successors — summaries of open issues, key contacts, funder notes, and decisions that still needed to be made.

One interim told us the binder he inherited was “a lifesaver.” He made sure to create one for the new, permanent ED.

They also knew when to step back. Once the new ED arrived, they didn’t hover. They didn’t second-guess. They let go — even when it was hard.

And many described something surprising: A real sense of loss when it ended.

“There’s grief in it,” one interim told us. “You care about these people.”

Boards can help here. A small acknowledgment — a thank-you, a brief public recognition — goes a long way toward honoring the work the interim did and offering genuine closure.

The Bottom Line for Boards

Executive transitions are stressful. But they don’t have to be chaotic.

The organizations that navigate them best are the ones that take the interim role seriously: They choose their interim thoughtfully — inside or outside — give them a real charge, stay genuinely engaged throughout the tenure, and honor the work when it’s done.

And the interims who thrive? They’re not just keeping the lights on. They’re doing some of the most meaningful leadership work in the sector.

“It changed my mindset,” one interim told us. “I became a more positive person.”

Deborah Arfken, Marilyn Helms, and Mary Tanner are researchers and practitioners in organizational leadership and have either served as interim Eds or been on boards that recruited and employed. Their full academic study, “Findings and Practical Guidelines for Interim Leaders,” was published in the SAM Advanced Management Journal (2024, 89(3), pp. 177–200).

You might also like:

• Never Waste a Good Crisis: Why, When & How to Hire an Interim Executive Director
• Creating A Board That Works
• I Wanted to Be the Cool Boss — and Almost Destroyed My Organization
• How to Stop Managing Your Nonprofit and Start Leading
• When the Board Becomes the Problem: Reclaiming Power in Nonprofit Leadership 

 

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