Strategy, Finance & Governance
Clear direction, financial oversight, and strong governance practices that support confident leadership and informed decision-making.
Interim Executive Director Services for Nonprofits in Transition
Coordinated interim leadership for organizations facing executive transition, change, or growth.
Your executive director has left, or is about to. The board is doing double duty, staff are watching for signals, and funders are asking what comes next. Blue Heron Nonprofit Consulting provides full-service interim executive director support that helps your organization stabilize, maintain momentum, and prepare for what comes next. Margot Holmes and Angela Kelley co-lead every engagement, bringing coordinated leadership across strategy, finance, governance, operations, communications, and people-centered work.
Coordinated leadership
Areas of Support
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Communications, Marketing & People
Thoughtful communication, strong community presence, and people-centered leadership that builds trust with staff, stakeholders, and partners.
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Operations & Infrastructure
Streamlined systems, clear structures, and practical workflows that improve efficiency and create sustainable, well-supported operations.
Before You Rush to Hire
When an executive director departs, boards often feel pressure to move quickly. That pressure can lead to launching a search immediately, promoting internally without adequate support, or asking board members to step into operational roles.
An experienced interim engagement gives organizations the opportunity to stabilize operations, support staff, strengthen systems, and prepare thoughtfully for long-term leadership.
The goal is not simply to fill a gap. It is to help position the organization, and its next leader, for success.
The Two-Leader Model
Margot Holmes and Angela Kelley work in coordinated partnership, bringing complementary strengths and a long-standing working relationship built over years of leading nonprofits through complex change together.
Boards sometimes ask whether two leaders means two invoices for the same work. It doesn't. The tiered pricing below reflects one engagement, led by two people, scoped to your organization's size.
Read more about Margot Holmes and Angela Kelley.
What Is a Full-Service Interim Executive Director?
A full-service interim executive director is a temporary chief executive with the same authority, accountability, and reporting relationship to the board as a permanent ED. An informal "acting" ED is different: usually an existing staff member covering duties on top of their own job, without that same authority or transition-specific experience. A full-service interim brings outside perspective and transition experience, assessing what is working and what isn't, stabilizing urgent gaps, and preparing the organization so the next permanent leader inherits a stronger foundation.
At Blue Heron Nonprofit Consulting, that full-service model is standard. Margot and Angela step into the seat with real executive authority from the first day of the engagement.
Fit check
This Engagement Is a Fit If You Are
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Navigating an executive director transition, whether planned or unexpected
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Experiencing growth, change, or organizational realignment
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Seeking steady leadership and clear direction
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Looking to maintain genuine momentum through the transition
How We Engage
We take a phased approach grounded in an Organizational Assessment and short, achievable goals. Starting from a structured read of where the organization actually stands keeps decisions during the transition grounded in what's happening, not guesswork. From there we set near-term priorities, communicate regularly with your board, and work to defined timelines.
How the Transition-Out Works
The move from interim to permanent leadership is a planned, deliberate phase of the engagement. We help define the role and qualifications for the permanent search, participate in the search and selection process alongside your board or search firm, and document what we've learned, what we've fixed, and what's still open, so nothing gets lost in the handoff.
We also step back deliberately from long-range initiatives, like capital campaigns or full strategic plans, so the incoming permanent ED can set direction without inheriting half-finished commitments that aren't theirs.
If your board is also weighing a planned transition timeline or wants a written plan for how a departure will be handled next time, Executive Transition Planning and Succession Planning are separate, related services that work alongside interim coverage.
Pricing
Blue Heron Nonprofit Consulting publishes interim executive director pricing in three monthly tiers, set by your organization's annual budget size:
| Organization's annual budget | Monthly fee |
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| Under $1 million | $6,000 per month |
| $1 million to $5 million | $8,500 per month |
| Over $5 million | $12,000 per month |
We publish pricing here because a board weighing this decision shouldn't have to ask for it.
Duration and the specific scope of work are set with your board at the start of the engagement, once we understand your organization's transition.
Proof
Margot Holmes brings 15+ years across direct service, program leadership, and executive management to every nonprofit interim leadership engagement, the same range of experience that shapes our approach across Blue Heron Nonprofit Consulting's services. We work with a small number of organizations at a time, by design, so both leaders can give a board in transition real attention rather than divided time.
See our results for the kind of outcomes we work toward with the organizations we partner with.
Where We Work
Blue Heron Nonprofit Consulting is a Vermont-based, woman-owned business. Interim engagements are primarily remote, with targeted on-site support for organizations in Vermont and New Hampshire. This service asks for more physical presence than our others, so on-site time is built in where it helps.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should our board consider bringing in an interim executive director?
Consider an interim when your executive director has left or is about to leave and the organization needs steady operational leadership before a permanent hire is in place. An interim gives the board time to run a thoughtful search rather than rushing a permanent decision under pressure. Operations, staff, and funder relationships stay stable in the meantime.
How long does an interim executive director typically stay?
The length of the engagement matches your organization's transition rather than a fixed number of months set in advance. We work with your board to understand what you're facing, then agree on duration and next steps together.
Will you run our executive search, or do we still need a search firm?
We actively support your search: helping define the role and qualifications, participating in the search and selection process, and preparing the organization for the incoming leader. Whether you also engage a dedicated search firm depends on your board's capacity and comfort with recruiting. It's a conversation we have together, early in the engagement.
Can the interim executive director become our permanent ED?
It happens occasionally in the field, but it isn't the plan. Margot and Angela are brought in as bridge leadership rather than candidates for the permanent role. That keeps your board's search objective and the transition focused on finding the right long-term fit. If your board wants to discuss that possibility specifically, we can talk through whether it makes sense for your situation.
Talk to Us About Interim Coverage
If your board is facing an executive director departure, whether it's already happened or you can see it coming, Blue Heron Nonprofit Consulting can help your organization move thoughtfully through the transition. Margot Holmes and Angela Kelley co-lead every engagement, so your organization has a steady, experienced hand in the seat while you find the right permanent leader. Email us at margot.holmes@