How to Become a Charity CEO

The best thing about being a charity CEO is getting to work with such extraordinary people. The passion of the team at Working Families and the generosity of our donors make it the most rewarding job I’ve ever had.

I first wanted to work for a charity to do what I could, in my small way, to improve the world. I grew up in apartheid South Africa, where ‘injustice’ doesn’t begin to cover the atrocity that was committed. Aware of my privilege, I’ve always wanted to make things fairer.

I found that the more senior I got in roles, the more autonomy I had over what I did—I really enjoyed being able to influence the working culture. But for me, the path to becoming a charity CEO wasn’t linear.

Whatever stage of your career you’re at, and whichever sector you’re in, here are some pointers if you’re aspiring to become a charity CEO.

Identify your transferrable skills

You don’t need to have started out with a long-term career plan. What matters is how you can apply the skills and experience you’ve gained from your current and previous roles.

I’ve always been ambitious, but I’ve had a squiggly career (a term coined by recent Working Families trustee Helen Tupper). My degree was in Industrial Sociology and Psychology, and from that I went into publishing, then into change management. I came to the charity sector quite late, having worked for large organisations for many years.

Some charities still prefer to recruit people who’ve only worked for charities, but I think that’s a mistake. If you’re applying to become a charity CEO from within the sector, you’ll know how to balance the needs of service users and may have a better understanding of co-creation. But if you’re coming from a commercial background, you might bring experience of making tough decisions about an organisation’s sustainability.

Volunteer to gain charity experience

If you’re coming from outside the sector as I did, then volunteering will be helpful. It was when I started volunteering for the Samaritans that I decided I wanted to work in charities.

The role taught me how to listen, and reinforced that everybody experiences things differently. It also made it much easier for me to work toward a more senior role within a charity.

Learn from challenging circumstances

Push yourself to try different organisations and to move into different roles to broaden your experiences and competencies.

I applied for a couple of charity CEO roles before I got the one I’m in now. The role that equipped me best was as Deputy CEO of an organisation with significant governance challenges. I left after a very challenging year—but that experience meant I felt absolutely confident I could become a charity CEO.

Understand yourself

The great charity CEOs that I’ve seen come in all shapes and sizes. There’s no one personality or style best suited to the role. You can be equally good if you’re reflective and introverted as if you’re an extrovert and make decisions quickly. They’re different skill sets.

What matters is that you understand yourself, your strengths and your challenges, and surround yourself with people who help you make better decisions. And be open to other ways of doing things. You may do things a certain way, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t another way that’s different or better.

Don’t be put off if you’re not a generalist

You don’t necessarily have to be a generalist to become a charity CEO. You can be a specialist in an area and then pick up the rest of the skills you need. What’s important is to hire the right people. It’s about making sure those you’re working with really know what they’re doing.

As a previous manager once told me, you don’t want to be the same as everybody in the team—you need a mixture of different people. It’s not only about things like gender and ethnicity, it’s also about diverse ways of thinking. That’s something to be celebrated and explored.

Learn from your colleagues

Experience of giving and receiving honest feedback and managing conflict are essential preparation for becoming a charity CEO. Working closely with a board and a senior management team, you’ll need to be open to challenge without being undermined.

The people who report in to you can probably teach you the most, because they’re the ones who’ll tell you whether the way you’re working with them is reasonable.

Be ready to make tough decisions

I’ve seen organisations go through very difficult times. The best CEOs are those who are passionate about the cause but don’t allow themselves to get lost within the circumstances. They can see a path through, and take people on the journey with them.

Can you show you’re prepared to prioritise the needs of the charity itself? Sometimes tough business decisions need to be made to ensure it continues to exist—to support not just the current service users, but future ones too.

Be ambitious

I regret that I didn’t apply for roles that I probably could have done a good 60% of—I waited until I could do 80%. I would have learned much faster if I’d applied for roles when I thought I was about 60% of the way there.

My advice is to apply before you think you’re entirely ready, because you will learn. It may be bruising, but it’s absolutely worth it.

Aspiring to become a charity CEO? Take the leap and browse opportunities on CharityJob today.