How We Work: Expected Costs and Length of Service

The Executive Transitions Program of Third Sector New England believes in a whole process (see Philosophy) that includes the search for a new executive director, an organizational assessment, establishing a transition team, developing the job profile and designing a marketing/advertising strategy for the position (but not including the cost of advertising).

Expect a cost of $17,000 to $25,000. You can reduce those costs if your non-profit organization already has a relevant strategic plan, your transition team is in place, you choose to do the first round of interviews with applicants, etc.

TSNE charges a placement fee of $1,500 to find you an interim executive director if you also use one of our transition consultants, or $2,500-3,500 (on a sliding scale) if you don't. You then negotiate directly with the interim EDs for their time, the equivalent of $50-100 per hour for a 24-hour week.

The time a transition consultant spends with a nonprofit depends on the latter’s readiness. Anticipate an average of 6 months. An interim ED is usually in place for 4 to 10 months, with the average being 6.

Next: How the Executive Transitions Process Differs from a Traditional Search