The main difference between a retained executive search firm and a contingency search firm is when the firm is paid. A contingency search firm is paid only if and when their client hires a candidate that the firm presents. On the other hand, a retained search firm is paid by the client whether or not one of their presented candidates is hired. Retained search firms often take a proactive approach to recruitment, focusing on candidates who may not be actively searching for a career change, but who possess the right skills and experience. This includes conducting executive director search services for your nonprofit organization.

Development Guild falls under the category of a retained executive search firm, specializing in executive searches in the nonprofit sector. While a contingency search firm may be motivated to provide a slew of candidates just to ensure that they do not miss out on their fee, Development Guild will always put the needs of your organization above all else to make sure that we are able to find people with the skills, knowledge and drive to help take your nonprofit to the next level.

The timeline for a nonprofit executive search will vary based on the level of the position and between organizations. When it comes to our fundraising and function searches, we strive to present our clients with a qualified slate of candidates to interview within 4-6 weeks. For C-suite level searches, the executive search process can take slightly longer. 

The answer to this question will always depend on the type of nonprofit executive search services and the size and complexity of the engagement. Please feel free to contact our expert team of professionals at Development Guild for an accurate quotation on our services. 

There are many benefits to hiring a nonprofit executive search firm to help you find the talented leaders that are a perfect match for your organization’s mission and vision. Some of which include:

• Saving time and resources — The most effective executive search processes are thorough, and your HR department may not have the time or resources to carry out an executive search without additional, professional help. By engaging the nonprofit executive search services of Development Guild, we can partner with your HR department and leadership to ensure the executive search process is efficient, effective, and leverages everyone’s time and resources.
• Streamlining the discovery and selection process — At Development Guild, we specialize in nonprofit executive searches. As a professional nonprofit consulting firm, we have made the executive search process as thorough and streamlined as possible — and are constantly looking for innovative ways to improve it. Once we have completed our assessment of your organization and have researched the potential candidates, all you need to do is select the right person for the job.
• Discovering candidates you may not have considered — We have many contacts across the country in a wide range of sectors. Our extensive list of contacts allows us to draw on our professional relationships to discover the perfect candidates, including those who are not actively in the job market but whose profile closely matches the criteria set by our clients. Recruiting these candidates requires a different level of cultivation. We take the time to deeply engage them so they can fully appreciate the opportunity being presented to them and how it may grow their career. The result of this approach is a pool of highly qualified applicants who might not otherwise be available to the prospective employer.

A longtime leader in nonprofit executive search, Development Guild and its team maintain a wide array of relationships with leading professionals from multiple sectors.  Because of the care we take to cultivate potential candidates throughout the search process (include post-search interviews with successful candidates), we foster trusting relationships. We build on these networks for current information on available talent and strategies for identifying additional candidates.