The selection of an executive director in nonprofit organizations is not just an ordinary administrative step; it is a strategic decision that reflects on the organization's performance, reputation, partnerships, and ability to maximize its impact in the community. Because executive director selection interviews are often conducted without sufficient preparation from both parties—the board and the candidate—the chances of making choices that do not represent the best that the organization can achieve increase.
In 1997, I became the executive director of GLAAD, and when I recall the interview for that position, I can’t help but smile because some executive directors get this job after years of working as senior fundraising managers or in other leadership positions in the nonprofit sector. I, however, was not one of them.
I came to this role from the corporate world in America, and I was strong in areas such as strategy, communication, and dealing with people, but I had no experience in fundraising whatsoever. Somehow, the board overlooked this point, and the team was not very enthusiastic about it, but that's a different story.
Like most job interviews, the interview consisted of two main parts. First, the board members asked a series of good questions, and I answered them to the best of my ability. Then it was my turn to ask them questions, and I like to believe that I also asked good questions.
It was a strong interview, and executive director selection interviews should be strong: in the end, you are hiring the most important position in your nonprofit! You must master this selection, and to clarify: when I say “executive director,” I mean the top leader of the team.
You may refer to this person as the CEO, President, Head of Schools, or any other title.
Over the past year, I have trained several talented individuals applying for executive director interviews, and I can say that many nonprofit organizations conduct these interviews poorly; they do not ask the right questions, or they do not truly know what they are looking for.
And frankly, this is not surprising. Board members typically conduct executive director interviews, and most of them are not human resources specialists and have not received training in this area, so how are they supposed to know what questions to ask?
It’s also not surprising that two questions I often hear are from boards: What are good interview questions for selecting executive directors? And from candidates: Can you help me prepare for an executive director interview?
Let’s address both matters together.
Preparing for the Interview
This first part is aimed at helping candidates prepare, and if you are the one conducting the interview, feel free to skip ahead to the section on questions you should ask. But if you are still with me, there are two things I would like you to do before the interview date.
1. Write a draft of your appointment announcement
This exercise will help you understand how you want to present yourself in a way that satisfies the board.
Think of it this way: appointing an executive director is the most important decision the board makes, and when this appointment is announced, they want to look good, as they expect the community your organization serves, volunteers, and donors to see that they managed the candidate search process effectively.
So, write a draft of the statement that will be distributed upon your appointment that doesn’t need to be perfect (and in fact, it won’t be). There will be gaps, and that’s natural. And don’t forget to include a quote you would like to see in the announcement, perhaps from the board chair or even from the former executive director.
Once you finish the draft, jot down some notes for yourself: What made you smile? What made you feel proud? What do you wish were stronger? And what gaps do you see in this image you have created for yourself?
2. Identify your key messages
I had the advantage of receiving media training (which I highly recommend for any leader in a nonprofit organization – and you can often find someone in your community who offers it for free pro bono or someone who has received this training and can spend a few hours with you).
As you prepare for any interview, regardless of its length and regardless of the type of questions that will be asked, ask yourself: What are the three or four key messages you want the listener to remember about you? Yes, regardless of the questions asked, you need to be in control of the interview and of the main messages you want the selection committee to take away about you.
What do you want them to remember? What do you want them to know? What do you want them to feel? And what do you want them to think?
Executive Director Interview Questions
Now we reach the heart of the matter: the questions themselves. Here are the ten questions that every search committee should ask candidates for the executive director position, and these are the questions that every candidate should prepare to answer.
So, we will first present the question and then offer my advice on how to prepare to answer it.
1. Tell us: Why do you want to lead this organization?
How do you answer?
You need to master this answer completely; it is the most important question in the interview. Refer back to the exercise of drafting your appointment statement mentioned above, and build on it. Your answer should reflect the core messages contained in the cover letter that got you to the interview stage in the first place.
There are three key emotions you want to evoke in the selection committee:
-Positive chills (genuine emotion) -A sense of weight and seriousness (professional gravitas) -A deep commitment to the organization and its cause
2. Provide your assessment of the organization’s programs and services
How do you answer?
Here you need to demonstrate strategic and critical thinking, as well as seriousness about the work. As someone conducting the interview, I want to know that you are diligent, that you have made a significant effort to study the organization far beyond just browsing the website (though that is also necessary).
Your way of answering will tell me about your approach to strategy and how you will address any gaps in the programs, and we all know that nothing is perfect; I would like to see if you have the courage to point out anything.
A quick tip here: don’t be arrogant in your own assessment, as that will come across as conceit. Sometimes using questions is a helpful approach here. Instead of making direct judgments, you might say, for example: “Perhaps this isn’t the best time in the interview to ask this question, but I found myself wondering about…”
3. What do you think is the key to success in fundraising? Share with us a story from your experience that illustrates this.
How do you answer?
Let me remind you that when I was appointed as executive director, I had no experience in fundraising; that in itself does not matter. But the right way to approach this question, whether you have fundraising experience or not, is to actually answer a slightly different question:
What do you really think fundraising is about?
I answered this question with a sense of humor, saying it’s about: storytelling, relationship building, and commitment. You should connect these three elements with something from your past experience, and if you can’t come up with one or more examples, then this job may not be suitable for you, frankly.
4. How will you balance internal and external aspects of your role?
How do you answer?
Acknowledge right from the start that this will not be easy, as everyone wants a “piece of the executive director’s time.” As someone conducting the interview, I want to hear how you manage your time, and how you organize your daily schedule.
I see my executive director clients fall into this trap all the time: the schedule controls them, rather than the other way around.
5. If I invited one of your current direct reports to coffee and asked them to tell me “the real story about you,” what would their answer be?
How do you answer?
Be honest here, because ultimately they will arrive at the truth, and that’s why I love this question.
I hope to hear phrases like: “I’m more like a thought partner than a boss” and I would love to hear words like: “approachable,” “we have regular meetings that combine day-to-day executive aspects with the overarching vision,” and I would be eager to know how you provide feedback: what works well and what could be better.
Personally, I also like to hear words like: “fun” and “delightful,” but perhaps that’s just me.
6. How do you see the role of the board and its value in your success as an executive director? Can you give us some examples?
How do you answer?
For the organization to succeed, there must be a genuine partnership between you and the board. The best image of a successful nonprofit is that it resembles a plane with two engines, where the executive director and the board chair have a relationship of “shared leadership,” with the understanding, of course, that the executive director ultimately reports to the board.
I personally want to hear clearly that you recognize the need to “feed” the board with what it needs to perform its function effectively: information, tools, stories, networking opportunities, and more.
7. An executive director often finds themselves “working the room” at a fundraising event, reception, or community function. What is your style in such situations?
How do you answer?
It may be helpful to start by referencing an experience you had at a fundraising event where perhaps no one approached you. Or perhaps there was another executive director staring past you while assuming they were talking to you, while in reality, they were searching with their eyes for the person they really wanted to talk to.
You should also make it clear to me that you find people interesting, and I always say that everyone is interesting for at least two minutes, so you need to explain your approach to spending meaningful time with each person before moving on to the next.
8. Tell me about a professional failure you experienced, and what you learned from it.
How do you answer?
Think about this question in advance because it doesn't work to come up with a small story that seems insignificant. On the other hand, the failure should be real and have weight, and the lesson learned from it should be strong and clear. So go back to the “key messages” you prepared before the interview because it’s ideal for your answer to this question to be reinforcing those three or four messages you want to solidify about yourself.
9. As an executive director, you will be both a leader and a manager. How do you see the overlap between these two roles?
How do you answer?
This question may seem similar to question number 4, but I advise you to use it to talk about leadership opportunity and responsibility, and what kind of leader you will be.
I want to hear in your answer a degree of respect for the responsibility of leadership, and I want your answer to this question to be very eloquent. When you finish speaking, I want to feel ready to follow you.
10. After six months on the job, how will we know that we made a great hiring decision?
How do you answer?
This partly depends on the organization's status at the moment you take the position and its position on the path to success.
Do not overpromise here and try to balance between tangible and intangible indicators. Your list might include, for example:
-Rich, engaging board meetings where members’ opinions are valued. -Clear ability to handle numbers and understand the budget. -The first employee you hired turns out to be a “real star.”
-Moving someone out of the organization (if necessary) without generating a significant amount of drama. -You requested and closed donations/grants for a certain amount. -Excellent impressions after a major donor gala about the remarks you made. -An unexpected call from a key stakeholder congratulating a board member on this successful hire. -Clear evidence of building strong relationships with all key stakeholder groups. -Several nominations for new board members who could add real value to the organization’s work.
It’s also good to suggest holding a formal dialogue with the board chair after six months to discuss this specific question instead of waiting for the year-end review, as just as a car performs better on a long trip with regular maintenance, so do organizations need “continuous engine tuning” along the way.
Bonus Question
So these are the ten questions that every search committee should ask, along with my perspective on how every candidate should approach their answers. But you will likely be asked one final open-ended question:
What else should we know about you?
Or:
Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
Do not mess up your answer to this question because this question is like a “softball” right in front of the hoop! If your answer is, “No, I don’t think so,” you’ve squandered a big opportunity. Your goal here is to prepare and rehearse a closing statement that doesn’t sound pre-scripted or delivered in an automatic manner.
This will be the last thing the committee members hear from you, and it should be two to three minutes summarizing your core messages. Don’t use the phrase: “As I mentioned earlier,” and you don’t want to remind me that you might have said this before.
If you can wrap these messages in a powerful short story that is compelling, humorous, or gives chills, that would be even better. Also, this closing shouldn't really revolve around you, but rather around what the organization needs, who it serves among beneficiaries, and stakeholders, for example, what the “movement” or cause that this organization works for requires, and why you are the right person to meet this need.
What should candidates ask the selection committee?
Well, I’ve covered the ten questions, then added a bonus question, but there remains a final question that most people are asked at the end of the interview: Is there anything you would like to ask us about the organization? About the team? About our programs? About the nature of work here? Anything at all?
You may have conducted the interview up to this point in the best possible way, but if your answer here is: “Not really,” you will leave a very poor final impression. Do you think after that you will get the job? I have much to write about the questions candidates should ask their interviewers, and that will be the subject of a future article.
Ultimately, an executive director selection interview is a true test of the organization’s maturity before it is a test of the candidate's competence. The way the board prepares its questions and the candidate’s ability to present themselves and their key messages reflect the level of seriousness with which this sensitive position intersecting funding, governance, leadership, relationship building, and long-term impact is treated. Therefore, reevaluating current interviewing practices, adopting deeper and more conscious questions, is no longer a luxury but a necessity to ensure attracting the right leadership and protecting it from failure from day one.
Boards of directors and candidates can approach this guide as a starting point for developing interview models and selection mechanisms, rather than a closed or final recipe. Every organization has its own context, but the general rules of asking questions, preparing for them, and crafting first and last impressions tend to be common, and with experience accumulation, it becomes possible to tailor these questions and add what fits the nature of each entity, allowing each board to develop its own professional model for selecting its executive leaders.
See you soon!
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