Purpose-Led Placements: Elevating Non-Profit Leadership with Precision and Care
October 9, 2025 – Mariya Yurukova is president and CEO of Charity Search Group, a recruitment firm that specializes in hiring for non-profit and charitable organizations across North America. The firm focuses on filling leadership and executive roles within mission-driven organizations. It operates remotely, with a team of consultants and recruiters located in various regions. Ms. Yurukova has a rich background in fundraising, having managed various fundraising programs throughout her career. With over $20 million raised for the organizations she has represented, she has a proven track record of success in growing fundraising portfolios through a wide range of fundraising programs. Her fundraising style is authentic, open, and strategic, which also reflects their approach to recruitment.
Ms. Yurukova recently sat down with Hunt Scanlon Media to discuss how her firm finds senior leaders for top non-profit organizations.
Mariya, how do you ensure mission alignment between candidates and the non-profit organization?
Mission alignment is the cornerstone of a successful non-profit placement. At Charity Search Group, we begin every search by understanding how the organization defines its mission—not just in words, but in actions, values, and culture. This alignment is the first thing we look for in candidates. It’s the first question we ask on every application and a key topic in interviews. But more importantly, we empower candidates to ask questions of their own—about strategy, programs, community impact, and organizational culture—so they can assess for themselves whether there’s a true match. We also move beyond surface-level alignment. For us, it’s not just about whether someone supports the mission on paper; it’s about understanding how a candidate’s personal values, lived experiences, and leadership style complement the organization’s approach to change. We explore impact areas, leadership priorities, and the organization’s theory of change to ensure clarity. When both sides can visualize a shared future, that’s where alignment becomes real—and powerful.
What is your process for identifying, evaluating, and presenting candidates?
Our process is intentionally rigorous, inclusive, and tailored to each organization. It starts with what we consider the most important phase: the organizational assessment. We conduct listening sessions, focus groups, and surveys across the organization—board, staff, and key external stakeholders—to build a 360-degree profile of the ideal candidate. This includes not only technical competencies and leadership traits, but also organizational values, team dynamics, and future goals. With that profile in hand, we launch a dual strategy: targeted outreach and open posting. We’re proactive in reaching out to leaders who may not be actively looking but who would thrive in the role. Because we’ve done the work to understand the organization deeply, we can approach candidates with a clear and compelling message: here’s why this role might be the right next step for you. This helps build trust from the outset and ensures that we’re talking to candidates who can see themselves in the mission—and in the day-to-day reality of the job. Our evaluation tools are equally robust. We use a mix of behavioral interviews, essay questions, leadership assessments, and work product assignments to assess candidates holistically. We’re looking for alignment, capability, growth potential, and readiness. When we present a candidate slate, we aim for each person to meet 75 percent of the profile with 25 percent room to grow. That growth piece is critical—we’re not just hiring for today’s challenges, but for tomorrow’s leadership.
How do you promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in your search process?
DEI isn’t a standalone initiative for us—it’s built into every layer of our work. As a diverse and values-driven team, we bring a personal and professional commitment to equity in executive search. Our outreach strategies are designed to access a broad range of networks, with an emphasis on community-specific, identity-based, and mission-aligned groups. We commit to presenting shortlists that are at least 50 percent representative of the communities our clients serve—though many of our placements exceed that benchmark. But numbers alone aren’t enough. We also invest in making sure the hiring process is inclusive—that means preparing search committees, mitigating bias in evaluation tools, ensuring accessible interview formats, and offering support to candidates throughout the process. We believe that transparency and psychological safety are key to building trust, especially for candidates from historically excluded backgrounds. Post-placement, we help organizations think about long-term inclusion and retention. We often negotiate professional development, mentorship, or executive coaching as part of the offer package. Our goal is to not only recruit diverse leaders, but to ensure they’re set up to succeed and thrive in the roles they’re stepping into.
What is your typical timeline for an executive search, and how do you manage delays or challenges during the process?
Our typical search for small to mid-sized non-profits takes about four months from kickoff to final offer. For larger or more complex organizations, especially those undergoing transitions or structural shifts, the process can take closer to six months. We take a highly collaborative approach, setting expectations early and building a clear project plan that includes touchpoints, deliverables, and timelines. One key to managing timelines is preparation—before we even sign a contract, we talk through the time commitment required from board members and leadership, including meeting rhythms, stakeholder availability, and decision-making processes. This helps ensure everyone is aligned before the search begins.
Can you discuss the volume of assignments for consultants?
Our consultants manage no more than three to four active searches at a time. This allows us to maintain momentum during prescreening, outreach, and interview phases, even when clients have competing priorities or scheduling constraints. When challenges do arise—as they inevitably do—we stay nimble. Whether it’s adjusting timelines for holidays or navigating internal leadership changes, we keep communication open and proactively recalibrate the plan as needed. Clients often tell us that our ability to stay organized, responsive, and calm under pressure is one of the things they value most.
“Leading in the non-profit sector requires a distinct set of competencies. Resource constraints are part of the reality—but increasingly, our clients are also navigating funding instability, shifting community needs, political pressures, and strategic ambiguity.”
How do you assess a candidate’s ability to lead in resource-constrained or mission-critical environments typical of non-profits?
Leading in the non-profit sector requires a distinct set of competencies. Resource constraints are part of the reality—but increasingly, our clients are also navigating funding instability, shifting community needs, political pressures, and strategic ambiguity. We look for leaders who can operate in complexity with calm and clarity. During our evaluation process, we probe for these qualities directly. We ask behavioral interview questions that explore how candidates have led during times of uncertainty, made difficult trade-offs, or managed teams through change. We assess their ability to balance vision with pragmatism, and strategy with execution. We also use leadership assessments and real-world scenarios to understand how a candidate might respond in high-stakes or high-pressure situations. And we look for strong communication skills—not just the ability to inspire, but to clearly articulate the what, the how, and the why. That kind of clarity is what staff, funders, and communities need most from their leaders during challenging times.
What support do you provide after a placement is made to ensure long-term success for both the organization and the candidate?
We believe the placement isn’t the end of the search—it’s the beginning of a new chapter. That’s why we provide structured post-placement support to ensure a successful transition for both the organization and the new leader. For executive directors, we offer monthly ED roundtables, where our placements come together to share challenges, learn from one another, and build a peer support network. These sessions are often described as a lifeline—especially for first-time EDs or those stepping into high-pressure environments.
