Free Resource
The First 90 Days Checklist for New Executive Directors
A free, practical guide to the first three months in the role — what to do, what to avoid, and how to build trust before you build strategy.
30 years of nonprofit leadership distilled into one checklist.
What's Inside
Week-by-week priorities for your first 90 days
So you don't spend month one on the wrong things.
The 5 landmines most new EDs step on
And how to navigate around them.
How to build board trust before the first major decision
The relationship work that determines everything else.
Used by Executive Directors across the country. Built by the First90 team — 30+ years of combined nonprofit leadership experience.
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- 30-point checklist across all 3 phases
- Phase-by-phase breakdown: Days 1–30, 31–60, 61–90
- The moves that determine your first year
About First90
Who We Are
First90 was built by a group of experienced nonprofit CEOs and executive directors who've navigated exactly what you're facing. We turned our hard-won frameworks into practical toolkits — so you don't have to figure it out alone. This checklist is a distillation of what we've seen work — and what costs leaders their first year.
Ready to go deeper?
The checklist gets you oriented. The New ED First 90 Days Playbook gives you the full operating system.