Leave exhaustion behind
and rise.
Nonprofit Executive Coaching
with Ryan Ripperton
You’re a nonprofit leader. You feel a deep commitment to the work and care about helping people. You got into this to make a difference.
But what they don’t tell you: Being a nonprofit executive is one of the loneliest jobs there is.
Add the stresses of the past three years, and you find yourself losing touch with your joy or even on a path to burnout.
You don’t just need someone to talk to. You need someone who’s been here before and understands the unique challenges you face, and the inspiring opportunities ahead of you.
Imagine if you could lead with more margin, more success, less frustration, and more joy.
You can. You’ve come to the right place.
If this sounds like you, schedule a no-obligation session to see if Executive Coaching is a good fit.
Why is Being a Nonprofit Executive So Hard?
“I feel alone in bearing the financial burden. I’m the only one owning the situation.”
“My Board doesn’t support me the way I need. I feel judged and second-guessed, not valued and supported.”
“I put everyone else first – clients, employees, volunteers, donors – which means there’s often no room for what I need.”
“I work all the time, but never feel like I get caught up.”
“I’m not sure where my work persona stops and my unique self-identity starts. They’re completely intertwined.”
“It feels like everyone always needs something from me. Like the sun will forget to rise unless I remind it.”
“Even when I try to get away, my mind and heart can’t get free.”
Sometimes…
You just need understanding and support from someone on the same team.
Someone who can listen and challenge you to unlock the leader inside you.
Someone who can help you identify issues that are draining your batteries and strategies to charge them up instead.
Someone who understands and sympathizes when things aren’t going right, but helps pull you out of it and walks with you toward solutions.
You need someone in your corner, who is devoted to you and your success.
If that’s what would help you move ahead
with excitement, effectiveness, and energy...
Try Nonprofit Executive Coaching
What My Current Clients Are Saying…
-
![]()
“Working with Ryan gave me time and space to prioritize my own restoration and growth after a particularly demanding two years. By asking great questions and attentively listening, Ryan guided me through a reflective practice to help me uncover possibilities for growth. 'Homework' was meaningful, directly related to my goals, and held me accountable. His experience as a non-profit leader lent candor, humor, and empathy to our meetings. My work with Ryan helped me slow down to focus on what is most important and renew my passion for my work.”
Laura Haskins
Head of School
Orchard House School
Richmond, Virginia -
![]()
“Working with Ryan has come at a critical time in my career. His experience leading in the non-profit space sets him apart from many consultants. He’s helped me to simplify my thought processes around what I want to accomplish as a leader, and he’s led me to simple conclusions on what I should be prioritizing and how. Ryan tells it like it is, drawing on his wealth of experience. He’s truly invested in me throughout our coaching relationship.”
Jeremy Evans
Executive Director
Dream Center
Evansville, Indiana
Who I Work With
Executive coaching isn’t for every nonprofit leader. But if any of these are true for you, executive coaching can truly make the difference:
Early-career professional in your first nonprofit executive role
Experienced executive taking the helm of a new organization
Nonprofit leader experiencing less joy and more frustration
Successful executive committed to growth and lifelong learning
I have coached nonprofit executives across the country utilizing online sessions and have found this setting to be conducive for cultivating meaningful coaching relationships. For clients in the Richmond, Virginia, area, I prefer to meet in-person, but can easily host online sessions when needed.
I exclusively work with nonprofit chief executives (E.D., CEO, etc.) in my coaching. If you are seeking coaching for other staff positions, feel free to reach out and I can refer you to some good options.
My Coaching Process
1. Exploratory Call
In a no-cost, no-obligation exploratory call, we’ll talk about your experience as a nonprofit leader and the challenges you face. We’ll explore what got you into the work, how you envision your ideal experience as a leader, and how that compares to where you find yourself today.
This call won’t be a sales pitch – I genuinely want to help, and we’ll both be deciding if we think working together would be fruitful.
If we agree that a coaching relationship would benefit you, I’ll follow-up with an electronic proposal.
2. Initial Sessions
In our first two or three sessions, we will delve deeper into the “why” behind your career choice and how you define your ideal leadership experience. I’ll help you set goals for our coaching and walk you through assessments of your current leadership and the assets you bring to the role.
The longer we work together, you might choose to define new goals based on current needs or the feeling that you’re heading into next-level leadership performance.
3. Deep Work
The most important factor determining your success is you – the energy and intention you bring to the work, and the fire you build to fuel your own progress. Just like executive leadership isn’t for everyone, neither is honest self-reflection about areas where you have room to grow.
But you can count on me to be walking beside you all the way, helping to bring perspective, resources, and accountability to your path.
4. Periodic Reevaluation
Some executives choose long-term coaching, finding comfort and value in having regular sessions with a trusted advisor who can listen, nudge, challenge, and strategize with them. Who can help them see what’s next in their leadership and create a plan to get there.
Others find that at the end of a year of work, they’re ready to go it alone for a while.
Both are valid, and I’ll work with you to find the path that best suits you.
I get it. You have no extra time to burn.
But if you believe that setting aside 2-4 hours a month (sessions plus other self-guided work) to invest in yourself will pay dividends, then coaching is right for you.
Why Work With Me?
I spent more than 20 years as a nonprofit executive director.
I know exactly what it’s like to feel you carry the weight of the entire organization on your shoulders. To lose sleep over the budget, over the personalities on your staff and board, and over the well-being of your clients. What it’s like to be on-call and never truly get away.
But I also know the feeling of joy of doing your highest and best work. Of building up others to achieve success. Of raising more money than anyone expected.
And I know what executive coaching did for me in my own career:
It helped me achieve success and find more sustainable approaches to leadership.
It prolonged my tenure and the overall length of my career.
It helped me find my vision and achieve success in fundraising.
It helped me reconnect with my own persona, as a distinct and valuable individual separate from my job.
When you engage with me in Executive Coaching, you get…
Goal-setting
and strengths assessment
Monthly one-on-one
private sessions
Email support
whenever you need it
Progress
toward your ideal experience as a leader
The cost for my Executive Coaching program is $497 per month. Progress is a flywheel building momentum over time, and a commitment of twelve (12) months is recommended. That said, our agreement can be canceled at any time.
Schedule a Free Call
Let’s hop on Zoom and see where you are.
Maybe you have questions about what to expect and what you might achieve.
Maybe you’re sure you want an executive coach but want to see first if we click.
Either way, let’s get to know each other.
Take this step so we can take the next ones together…
My Background as a Nonprofit Executive
I’ve been where you are, having served as a nonprofit Executive Director for over 20 years. My experience as an E.D. proved that nonprofit life is filled with paradoxes. It was thrilling but also laborious. It was energizing but also completely draining. I loved it and hated it at the same time. You know what I mean.
I was just 26 when I got my first nonprofit E.D. role, and quickly realized I needed to go back to school to be equipped for the job. So I got my MBA, thinking I needed more “know-how.” But much to my surprise, when I started applying what I was learning, it taught me more about the soft skills of nonprofit leadership than about the technical stuff.
Over the 19 years that followed, I was (and continue to be) a voracious reader and lifelong learner. I love digesting new resources and perspectives, and my interest in progressive personal growth has only grown throughout my career.
Most recently, I was Executive Director of SPARC, a highly acclaimed youth performing arts nonprofit in Richmond, Virginia. During my tenure, our team quadrupled the operating budget, built a major gifts program, completed a capital campaign, renovated an entire facility, magnified our local reputation, and brought international attention to the organization. But it wasn’t always easy, and I learned as much – if not more – from the painful challenges of leadership as I did from the fleeting moments of celebration.
I’m a frequent speaker and guest on topics such as Executive Sabbaticals, Sustainable Infrastructure, Board-Staff Partnership, Board Development, and the Executive’s Role in Fundraising.
I believe in the role of the nonprofit executive. I’m focused on helping others achieve success in a way that is sustainable for themselves and effective for their organizations.
Take this step so we can take the next one together…