Executive Search for Nonprofits · New York, NY · Est. 1998 · Budgets $1.5M–$3B
PBR is a retained executive search firm working exclusively with nonprofits since 1998 — arts, education, human services, foundations, museums and beyond. A deliberately small senior team, original phone-by-phone research, and a near-100% completion record across searches from $1.5M to $3B. First vetted slate in 21 days. Most searches closed in 3–6 months, not the industry's 6–9.
SEARCH COMMITTEE REVIEW — WEEK 9 · SHORTLIST OF 4 · CONFIDENTIAL
The deliverable boards remember: a referenced, personality-matched shortlist — not a stack of résumés.
FILE №25-114
01 · The Record
SOURCE: PBR PLACEMENT FILES 2019–2025
03 · Approach
Generic firms send résumés. We send leaders — people we've interviewed in depth, referenced thoroughly, and matched against your mission, your board's character, and the specific functional weight of the role. Six values govern every file we open:
Every search begins with a talent map of 100+ currently-employed leaders, built by phone. The map itself is a deliverable you keep.
A team of six — no bait-and-switch to junior recruiters after the pitch. The people who scope your search are the people on the phone.
Functional skill · industry knowledge · leadership · culture fit · character. 3–5 names, fully referenced, personality-matched to your board.
Discreet outreach, anonymized specs, controlled disclosure. Staff never panic; donors never hear it from anyone but you.
"Nine months with a national firm gave us a stack of résumés. PBR's first slate arrived on day 19 — three candidates, all employed, all mission-fluent."
04 · Executive Search
LIMITED TO 5 NEW SEARCHES / MONTH
CORE ENGAGEMENT
For Executive Directors, Presidents & CEOs, CDOs, CFOs, Chief Curators and Program Officers at organizations from $1.5M to $3B. One senior team, one mandate, near-100% completion.
INCLUDED, NOT INVOICED
Governance coaching, transition architecture and onboarding for the new leader and the board — woven into every engagement.
See the Board Governance VisualizerSEARCH ROI CALCULATOR · REAL MATH
Methodology: donor momentum typically decays ~30% during a leadership vacuum (lapsed appeals, paused major gifts, stalled capital campaigns). A bad hire adds re-search costs, board conflict and mission drift — boards consistently put that figure at $500K+.
Enter average monthly fundraising between $50K and $2M — e.g., 250.
POSITIONING & TALENT ADVISORY
Role re-scoping, compensation benchmarking and organizational readiness work — for boards that suspect the job description is the problem.
FOR CANDIDATES
Employed and open to the right mission? We build relationships before mandates exist — and never circulate a résumé without permission.
Submit Résumé ConfidentiallyINTERIM & TRANSITION
Succession architecture, interim advisory and hand-off choreography — the 90 days that decide whether the next hire stays.
05 · Board Services
Transformative leaders stall under misaligned governance. Every PBR engagement includes governance coaching, transition architecture and a 12-month follow-through cadence — because our 92% retention rate is a board outcome, not a recruiting statistic.
Four inputs → your governance effectiveness snapshot. A free, one-step sample of our board services.
Recommended 90-Day Plan
06 · The 2025 Ledger
Filter the ledger the way a skeptical board should. Select any row for the placement file.
SHOWING 26 OF 26 · 2025
No placements match that combination.
Try widening the budget band or sector — or reset the ledger.
PULLING FILES FROM THE 2025 LEDGER…
07 · Active Searches
Client names are confidential by design — details are shared in conversation. If your profile fits a file below, we'd rather hear from you this week: searches move on 21-day slate cycles.
FOR JOB SEEKERS — FREE
The PBR Job Search Guide (PDF)
How retained search actually works, what the five-dimension lens looks for, and how to get on our radar before a mandate exists.
Download PBR Job Search Guide PDF08 · Clients & Sectors
BUDGETS $1.5M–$3B · NEW YORK & NATIONAL
09 · Process
The proprietary eight-step methodology behind this spine completes near 100% of searches — against an industry completion rate of roughly 80%.
21
Days to first vetted slate
3–6
Months, vs industry 6–9
96%
Completion, 8-step methodology
10 · The Team
Large firms sell you partners and staff you juniors. PBR runs the opposite model: 1–10 personalized, retained engagements, 50+ years of collective nonprofit search experience, and the same six names on every file.
Pamela Riess
CEO & FOUNDER · EST. 1998
NEW YORK, NY · BROWN BA, VARSITY CREW · MFA NYU · MACDOWELL FELLOW
Pamela founded PBR in 1998 on a contrarian bet: that nonprofit leadership searches deserved the same rigor — and the same senior attention — as any Fortune 500 mandate. Twenty-seven years and hundreds of placements later, she still personally maps and calls the talent landscape for every search. Her sincere enthusiasm for mission is the reason sitting leaders take her calls.
Write to Pamela — pamela@pbrsearch.com11 · The Evidence
26
Placements in 2025
94%
Offer acceptance
50+
Years collective experience
92%
12-month retention
12 · Free, No Strings
Forty pages for nonprofit executives and board chairs: the five-dimension assessment explained, the 47-point search launch checklist, and the seven mistakes that quietly kill searches. Free because it answers the question you're Googling anyway.
13 · Begin Confidentially
One retained engagement. Everything below included. We respond within 24 hours, and every inquiry is handled with strict confidentiality — including the fact that you inquired at all.
Total Value
$50K+
Your Investment
Retained Fee
You Avoid
$500K+
The 3–6 Month Guarantee
We fill your position within 3–6 months, or we continue the search at no additional fee. A service guarantee on everything we control: setup, strategy, vetting, offers, follow-up.
CAPACITY · ONLY 5 NEW SEARCHES PER MONTH — 2 OF 5 OPEN THIS MONTH
