Minnesota Council on Foundations Blog – Philanthropy Potluck

What defines the leaders of grantmaking institutions? How are leaders being chosen within the philanthropic sector? The national Council on Foundations (COF) recently published a baseline report entitled Career Pathways to Philanthropic Leadership that attempts to answer these and other questions concerning leadership selectment, inclusivity and advancement within the field.

The report was precipitated by COF’s broader Career Pathways to Philanthropic Leadership Project, which was initiated to increase the amount of talent competing for top positions at philanthropic organizations, and to encourage inclusivity within the field.

The research findings resulted in six key highlights, with the most notable being:

• The majority of the successful candidates transitioned from fields outside of philanthropy—primarily from the business (24.3%) and nonprofit (24.8%) sectors.

The other key findings include:

• Most of the successful candidates (63.4%) held executive positions in their immediate prior position as either chief executive (38.9 %) or vice president (24.5%) before successfully landing in their current position.
• The majority (79.5%) of the 440 foundations appointing CEOs and executive directors during the study period filled them not through internal promotions but from outside the foundations.
• Twenty percent of the successful candidates were from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and about half (48.7%) were women.
• Thirty percent of field leaders who were interviewed said that mentors played a major role in their career advancement.
• About 85 percent of the interviewees expressed significant skepticism about the willingness of trustees, search consultants, and other hiring decision makers to be influenced by leadership development efforts as they contemplate hiring decisions about the executive candidates.

The full report is available to download for free at the COF website.