Finding Leaders for America's Nonprofits: A Response to the Leadership Deficit

The Bridgespan Survey Update
David L. Simms, Partner, The Bridgespan Group

In the spring of 2006, the Bridgespan Group released an extensive study of the leadership requirements of nonprofit organizations entitled "The Nonprofit Sector's Leadership Deficit." The paper noted that "nonprofits increasingly do the work required to fulfill our desire for a civil, compassionate, and well-functioning society … [and] … their ability to consistently deliver results depends more on the quality of their people than on any other single variable."

The study found that these organizations will need to attract and develop some 640,000 new leaders over the next decade — the equivalent of 2.4 times the number that were employed at the time. Since then, anecdotal evidence has borne out the prediction of an impending "leadership deficit," but no quantitative data has emerged to either confirm or challenge the assertions.

In pursuit of this data, with the support of American Express, Bridgespan conducted a survey of 433 nonprofit organizations for the purposes of determining the nature and dimensions of the deficit nationwide. The study data indicate that over the next several years, the "Leadership Deficit" may actually be greater in scope than originally anticipated — notwithstanding short-term hiring deferrals due to a troubled economy.

The reasons are both expected and unexpected. In this session we will describe the study and its dramatic results, concluding with a discussion of what we as nonprofit leaders can and should do to help ourselves and our colleagues find nonprofit leaders.

List of Sessions