Desired competencies and job duties of non‐profit CEOs in relation to the current challenges

Abstract

Purpose: Aims to focus on non‐profit leadership and use information from advertised job announcements, in the USA, of non‐profit CEO positions to identify required competencies and job duties. The objective is to assess their relevancy and adequacy in dealing with the current challenges of the sector.Design/methodology/approach: Uses content analysis to analyze CEO job advertisements that were posted in The Nonprofit Times during the 1999‐2004‐time period.Findings: Among those who list educational requirement, a predominant majority requires degree in academic areas related to the non‐profit sector. The bias to emulate the private sector's competencies, a source of the identity crisis of this sector, is not found in the educational requirement. Fundraising experience is the most common area of requirement under experiences. Fundraising is also listed as the major job duty.Research limitations/implications: The sizes and life cycle stages of the non‐profit agencies are not incorporated. Future research could incorporate the above variables.Practical implications: Design training using the findings to prepare future leaders. One of the findings suggests that non‐profits are not emphasizing the value of ethics in their search for executives. Considering the importance of this value in maintaining accountability, academicians could emphasize more of this as they design different non‐profit courses.Originality/value: Assesses the adequacy of the currently emphasized competencies in leadership to deal with the current challenges of the sector (accountability, fiscal, competition, identity crisis etc.) and their implications.