Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN), announced his retirement from the state association leadership organization after 16 years at the helm. He’ll leave on July 10 and head to the University of Notre Dame and its Inspired Leadership Initiative.
The NCN Board of Directors has initiated a search for the next leader of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
Delaney evolved NCN from a quiet trade association into a network focused externally to champion charitable nonprofits. The data sent to the network informed state leaders on federal legislation they could tap into and to help them pressure elected officials.
Expansion created the largest network of charitable nonprofits in North America. On his watch the NCN absorbed the former Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, created the State Policy Ally program to leverage nonprofit power in state capitals, expanded into Canada, and most recently included the Leap Ambassadors Community.
Delaney was included 11 times in The NonProfit Times’ annual “Power & Influence Top 50” of influential nonprofit executives. He also received the “Influencer of the Year” award this past September at the annual gala honoring those executives.
Delaney liked to say the NCN staff was made up of “workhorses rather than showhorses,” meaning that the staff quietly got things done on behalf of the network, rather than being flashy as some operate in the nation’s capital.
“Make no mistake, Delaney and his team are formidable on Capitol Hill, said Paul Clolery, vice president and editorial director at The NonProfit Times. “We jokingly referred to him as ‘the godfather’ or ‘Don Delaney.’ I know he was always one of the first calls we made – if not the first call — to get information.”
According to a statement from the NCN, Delaney told the board: “I cannot imagine a more fulfilling role than getting to advance and protect the vital work of America’s crown jewels — charitable nonprofits — that improve countless lives daily in ways both visible and invisible.” The statement continued: “I’m extremely grateful to my past mentors and role models who influenced my approach of leading with core values, including serving others by listening, earning trust in everything we do, respecting every person as valuable, being action oriented, and speaking truth to power.”
He also praised the NCN staff, calling the members “a true Team with a capital ‘T’ for the greater good.”
Delaney and NCN were leaders helping to secure $50 billion for nonprofits from Congress in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans that helped preserve more than 6.2 million nonprofit jobs during the pandemic.
“Tim is an extraordinary champion for this network, the nonprofit sector, and people in local communities throughout the country,” said Liz Moore, NCN’s board chair and executive director of the Montana Nonprofit Association. “His leadership over the last decade and a half has been unparalleled, and he will be deeply missed. Thanks to Tim’s vision, his tenacity, and the remarkable team he has built, NCN and the network could not be better positioned to continue making meaningful, lasting gains for the work of charitable nonprofits.”
Delaney has served as a National Training Fellow for the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, the national Steering Committee member for Nonprofit VOTE, and North American representative on the Steering Committee of the international Affinity Group of National Associations. Additionally, he has delivered hundreds of keynotes and other presentations for a diverse range of groups, domestic and international, and he writes extensively about nonprofit advocacy, nonprofit operations, and public policy issues for a variety of publications.
