Why Transparency About Leadership Transitions Builds Donor Trust (and Future Funding!)


(that email we just sent didn't have the promised video link - oops!)

​

Leadership transitions are inevitable—but silence isn't strategy. In this video, I share why naming change early and honestly can actually build deeper donor trust, not weaken it.

​

video preview​

​

💬 Closing Reflection Questions:

  • For nonprofit staffers: What assumptions do you think your donors hold about leadership transitions?
  • For funders: When has transparency (or the lack of it) changed how you felt about an organization?

​

(Hit reply, I'd love to hear your thoughts!)

​

​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

Leaving Well in the Workplace

Your Leaving Well guide to navigating workplace transitions 🧡 I normalize workplace transitions one organization + person at a time. Leaving Well is the art + practice of leaving in the workplace, with intention + joy.

Read more from Leaving Well in the Workplace

*We are experimenting with a longer form email structure. Less quick + easy, more deep + thoughtful." Would love to hear your thoughts! I just finished a podcast conversation about sabbaticals with Alexander Lapa, and he said something that stuck: "I always had the perception of sabbatical as being a one-time thing, but I just realized there's no actual limit to it." That moment of recognition? It's exactly what needs to happen in boardrooms across the nonprofit sector. Let's Address the...

The biggest business challenge in launching my Leaving Well work has been convincing boards, nonprofit leaders (and funders) to plan for something they don’t want to think about. Succession planning feels like writing your estate plan, or planning your own funeral—uncomfortable and seemingly premature.I’ve watched organizations hemorrhage talent, lose major grants, and damage community relationships because they waited until leadership crises hit to start thinking about transitions. The...

Target's CEO succession is giving every nonprofit board some homework they probably don't want to do. Brian Cornell stepped down last week after 11 years, and the board promoted COO Michael Fiddelke to CEO. Clean, planned, internal promotion. Textbook succession planning, right? Except for one uncomfortable detail: Target has been losing ground to competitors for years under the leadership team Fiddelke was part of. Here's the question Target's board just forced into the open: Should the...