How to run a confidential CEO or executive director search
Hiring your organization's top leader is the most important thing a board does. Here is a plan a volunteer search committee can actually follow.
1. Form a small committee with a clear charge
Five to seven people is enough. Include board members with different perspectives, and decide up front whether staff or community members have a voice. Write a one-page charge from the full board: what the committee decides, what it recommends, and the date the board expects a finalist.
2. Agree on what the job really needs
Before anyone reads a resume, agree on the three to five things the next leader must be able to do in their first two years. Update the job description to match. These priorities become the yardstick for every rating, which keeps the conversation about the job and not about personalities.
3. Set confidentiality rules before the posting goes live
- Applications go to one secure place, never to personal inboxes.
- Only committee members can see who applied. Staff and other board members hear about candidates only at the finalist stage, and only with the candidate's permission.
- Nobody contacts references or a candidate's current employer without the candidate's consent.
- Committee members sign or verbally agree to these rules at the first meeting.
4. Make applying easy and respectful
Use one apply link, ask only for what you need (resume, cover letter, and maybe one or two questions), and send every applicant a confirmation that says what happens next. Senior candidates notice how they are treated, and they talk to each other.
5. Review independently first, then together
Have each member rate every application against the agreed priorities before the committee meets. Consider a blind first pass that hides names and personal details. When the committee meets, start with the applications where ratings disagree. Those conversations are where the real thinking happens.
6. Interview in rounds
A short first-round conversation with eight to twelve people, a deeper second round with three or four, and a final round with the full board or key stakeholders for one or two finalists. Ask every candidate in a round the same core questions so you can compare fairly.
7. Close the loop with everyone
Tell every applicant where they stand, promptly and kindly. Thank internal candidates in person. Keep records only as long as you need them, then delete them.
Where SealedApply fits
SealedApply handles steps 3 through 5: one private apply link, encrypted applications only your committee can open, individual ratings and notes with split votes flagged, blind review, and an AI hiring advisor that summarizes each application against your job description. See how it works for search committees.
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