The Executive Director’s Survival Guide was developed to provide nonprofit Executive Directors (EDs), and those who work with them, tools, resources, and insights to strengthen the individual, the profession, and the entire nonprofit sector.

We wrote the Survival Guide because our work with Executive Directors has shown us there is a need for nonprofit leaders to go beyond the basics of how to do their job. As we listen to both new and seasoned Executive Directors, we hear them say again and again that simply learning specific skills and academic theory is not enough. They struggle with how to do all the tasks required of them, and to a greater degree, struggle with how to put the pieces together, be effective, and still have time for themselves.

The Executive Director’s Survival Guide provides ideas, stories, wisdoms and warnings to help Executive Directors navigate the complex position they are in, and find practical ways to deal with some of the obstacles they are most likely to face along the way. We hope this book will increase Executive Director’s resilience, help them explore new ways of managing and leading their unique organizations, find their own path to personal and organizational balance, and thrive fully as nonprofit leaders.

We invite you to explore this website, read the Survival Guide, and contact us with your own insights and stories. We learn continually from our own work and from those other dedicated individuals who have chosen the nonprofit leadership profession as their own. Thank you for making this career choice, and for creating a better world for us all.

Mim Carlson
Margaret Donohoe