Some key findings from the 2000 survey were:

• The average length of tenure of area executive directors was 6.1 years and nearly 51% of the respondents stated that they intended to stay in their current position from one to five more years. Length of service ranged from 1 month to almost 38 years on the job.
• 17% of respondents were the organization's first executive director. Some of those respondents were also founding members of their organization.
• Roughly 34% of respondents had prior permanent executive director experience and 19% had prior interim director experience.
• 32% of respondents indicated that they would take another executive director position.
• Of the executive directors that said they would not become an executive director of another agency when they left their current job, 43% said "no" because they plan to retire.
• 60% of executive directors indicated that they took their job because they believed in the organization's mission. Over 75% also stated that the mission was one of the aspects they liked most about their job.
• 56% would leave their job because of burnout and 55% would leave their job for professional growth opportunities. 
• Roughly 41% of executive directors stated that they had strong support from their board of directors. Further analysis revealed that board support positively influences an executive director's length of service.
• 267 respondents discussed the positive implications of executive director turnover in their organization. Of those respondents 39% said that the turnover reinvigorated the organization and introduced new skill sets. 14% identified improved relations with the community and funders.
• 199 respondents revealed the negative implications of the last executive director turnover for their organization. 38% pointed out that transition is simply hard to deal with. 12% noted that the community and funders lost trust in the nonprofit. 18% said that the previous executive director left the organization in poor financial shape.

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